I have been an avid SU / layout user for 19 - 20 years and in every one of those years, I have been waiting for the dimension scale and offset to jive between SU and Layout so we can dimension things one-time, in Sketchup, perhaps on a Tag and then take it to layout and then have different pages so there’s one with the dimensions tag visible, and another without. But when we want visible dimensions in our (probably) 2d representations in Layout, it would be really nice if we didn’t have to take it into a third party application to fix text SU text dimension offsets. I assume everyone knows what I am talking about but a picture is provided. I usually set linear dimensions in SU w/ arial 5, 6, 8 pt font size and that seems to work out about right on most models in layout as scaled to letter. The text will always be set far to the right of the rotated start position on the text dimension’s x axis…if that makes any sense. I know this must have been discussed before. Yes, I know layout has its own dimensions, but what I don’t understand is on a technical level, why can’t this be fixed? Its really annoying and frankly, I have paid a lot of money for the software over the years and feel like these glaring annoyances should not be that complicated to correct, or at least provide some tools to the user to make global adjustments to that text crop box or offset so the text does not run into the dimension line and thus become unreadable or look unprofessional. If it was just a scaling issue, and the program not knowing how large an area the font might occupy, that seems like a calculable quantity, or something the user ought to be provided with as a means to center these text boxes.
Looks to me as if you’ve set up the dimension text to be right justified. You can change that for existing dimensions as shown below. Also select the Dimension tool and change it to Centered. If this happens frequently you should check your template to see if it needs fixing.
Thanks for the reply Dave, but no this is a dimension set up in sketchup rather than in Layout and with hybrid or vector checked inside Layout. Raster works ok, but it is usually much too low resolution, even with both the viewport and images set to High in document setup. If we take that exported PDF into illustrator, and lasso highlight the points, you can see the issue, the text box offset is all wrong, it is starting the text from the center of the dimension correctly, but then the box is not centered, its left aligned to the center of the dimension, causing the text to flow into the right most dimension line. I acknowledge you may say, well that is just not how Layout works, but I do’nt think its so difficult to fix that it should go ignored considering how helpful it would be to not have to dimension on two occasions as SU dimensions also have a lot going for them (typically quicker to set up in my experience).
No difference. Just confirmed. BTW this behavior has remained the same for dozens of releases so it is doubtful its that. I toggled from new graphics engine to use classing, restarted layout, updated model, re exported, exact same results. I would assume its more something to do with the hybridizer or the vector check box, whatever that triggers in the software to get the vector linework to Layout, that’s where I assume the calculations occur, and where I would look to put a band-aid or user control if its not easily calculable.
sketchup dimensions are not here for proper pdf export and all. they are here to help you make your model.
if you want to add dimensions in your documents, then it’s layout.
because you dimension stuff that is on paper right now. and it sizes according to the paper you picked. and you can edit / change them.
I’m pretty sure the solution to the problem you’re having exporting SU dimensions is precisely layout and its dimension tool
I wonder, is it quicker to dimension in sketchup, then later edit the pdf in illustrator, or to make it as intended in layout and not export ?
with respect, that’s gaslighting. You can only change all the dimensions in a Layout file by hitting control a and then making edits restricted to the dimension panel. For example, if you wanted to change the font of the dimensions after the fact, you would need to manually deselect all other objects as Layout lacks that extensibility for something like selection toys, or the select all and update dimensions options in model info SU has. I know this is not the first time we have had a false economy argument but this should be a relatively easy fix. I would also not say Layout’s dimensions are necessarily better, especially since you have to specify each shape style start and end if you wanted say slash or something (maybe you can set that up in a template but I’m not sure). I would say generally deploying them takes longer than in sketchup, in part because of scale and zoom factors (precise picking of start and end points). All I am saying is, this seems like extra work you should be willing to contribute on a proper “paper-space” project, but for quick output and discussion w/ markup on a plan, its a bit limiting and it seems very fixable.
That isn’t an issue if you use layers correctly. In my LO templates all dimensions are on a single layer. Annotations are on another. If I want to change the font of only dimensions I lock the Annotations layer so the only text entities that can be selected are dimensions. There is titleblock and other text like sheet numbers but those are on appropriate layers that are always locked.
That’s a trivial thing to do and yes, it can (and should) be set up in your template along with the font for dimensions, labels, and other text. You shouldn’t have to be selecting all the dimensions on a page to change their font.
a very simple solution is to change one dimension.
then in the top bar, click on the eyedrop. and the dimension.
the bucket appears, it means that
A) you can now click on all your other dimensions do update them.
B) all your future dimensions are gonna have that change you made.
(technically, if you already pre selected all of them, just using the eyedrop will update them all, no need to “repaint” them.)
very fixable ? maybe. don’t get your hopes up, and expect a solid 2-3years before a fix. if the devs consider that it’s a bug.
open a blank layout file. draw a dimension in the grey area. set it as you want. file/save as template.
ans from now on, if you pick the right template, just eyedrop your prototype dimension before placing them all and it’s done.
and if you don’t want to make a template, then it’s fine. whenever you need to place dimensions, place one, configure it, eyedrop it, and place all the other.
Agree with @DaveR - build some templates, don’t look back. Even when it’s
‘quick and dirty’ I send to LayOut and dimension there. The only time I change fonts or dimension styles is when I run out of paying work and start tinkering with my systems.
The only time I use dimensions in SKP is if I’m sharing my screen with a client and we want to check something.
If you build your template properly and use it properly you can right click on a Layer ‘select all’ and change fonts, line weights, etc etc. all at once. Of course you have to be careful with dimensions that might have been pulled off of the baseline - but the only time I had to do this on an entire document was when I produced shop drawings for a project in Poland. An American crew was cutting the timber frame on site in Poland and requested imperial dimensions. At the last moment the museum requested a set for submittal to the city but it had to be in metric. I saved as, went through all 20 pages - right click dimensions layer, select all, change to centimeters… took less than 15 minutes.
I’m reading this, absolutely gobsmacked that I never thought of using layers in Layout. I haven’t had any real issues because of it, but dear lord would it have made things simpler in a lot of cases! Funny how I’m insanely dilligent about tags in the model, yet never considered the concept in Layout past the title blocks and first page.
Art Text is for annotations and other text that doesn’t fit into the Title Text or On Every Page Text. Art Text and Dimensions are at the top of the list so those entities will always appear on top of viewports and such. Dashed Lines and Hatches are really holdovers from years ago when I had to manually add those things in LO. They rarely get used these days and I could probably remove them.
The Model layers are for viewports. I frequently use stacked viewports and each one goes on its own layer. This makes it easy to access a viewport lower in the stack without moving the ones above out of the way. I don’t often have four viewports in a stack these days since there’s more control over things like line scale and color within a single viewport.
This template for shop drawings uses Arch E paper (36" x 48") and originally the client sold the drawings already printed, folded, and contained in a zip-loc bag. The Fold Lines were added so I could keep important content off the intersections of the creases. Avoids things going missing like those little towns on printed road maps do.
All of the title block stuff, page numbers, page borders, and so on go on those three bottom layers which remain locked. I use auto text for the title block content so I have no need to edit those entities directly on the page.
And finally, since the first thing I always add when I use this template is the SketchUp model, the Model layer is the active layer when the template is opened so the first viewport automatically goes to that layer.
Now if we could just select the element type with “Select All Dimensions” etc, they could then be quickly moved to the correct layer if wrongly placed.
