Chiefwoodworker's Blog

CutList Bridge 2.5 is now available for download. CutList Bridge comes with a CutList Bridge User’s Guide that will explain installation procedures and all features and functionality. The User’s Guide gives three examples of types of woodworking that benefit from its features. You can download CutList Bridge 2.5 with this link. Please report all strange behavior or bugs to jpz@srww.com and don’t hesitate to write if you need help.

Changes In Version 2.5

Version 2.5 fixes a bug introduced in version 2.4 and is a must upgrade. This bug will cause the user to potentially loose work and attributes. In version 2.4 I changed and included code to make it unnecessary to use the Save Attributes key to save attributes. Each input change is saved as it is entered. If multiple components are selected and an attribute is entered or changed, only that attribute will be changed in all selected components. Blank fields, unless one or more became blank due to an intentional change, will not be written to all components. This eliminates the need for the Save Attributes button. The button remains but is harmless and it will be removed in version 3.0.

In the process of making this change to version 2.4 I introduced a bug that is fixed in version 2.5. Sorry folks.

Help With Installation

Download the CutList Bridge User’s Guide and locate the Installation section in the index. After reviewing this section also review Installing Ruby Plugins and follow the instructions under the heading “Older versions of SketchUp and .rb files”.

CutList Bridge Tutorial Series

I have begun a series of tutorial videos to help you learn the features of CutList Bridge. Part 1 of 3 was recently released and can be found at CutList Bridge Tutorial – Part 1. Part 2 was released today and can be found at CutList Bridge Tutorial – Part 2. Stay tuned for Part 3.

Attention MAC Users

Known Issue With Version 2.5

If you are a MAC user and have the latest Safari Version 6.0.2 but do not have the latest OSX Mountain Lion installed, you will not be able to use CutList Bridge to add component attributes. Safari 6.0.2 in older versions of the OSX make text input fields black instead of white masking the black characters entered by the user. This is a MAC problem and not a CutList Bridge 2.5 problem.

However, I have provided a work around. If, after you install CutList Bridge as instructed above, your input fields show up with black backgrounds, follow these instructions:

1. Download alternate_cutlist_bridge_css.zip by clicking on this hyperlink.
2. Extract the file cutlist_bridge.css from the ZIP folder and move it to the folder …. \Plugins\cutlist_bridge\cutlist_bridge (note the two levels of cutlist_bridge folder). This replaces the file of the same name that is already in your Plugins file under folder \cutlist_bridge\cutlist_bridge (note again the two levels of cutlist_bridge folder).
3. Close SketchUp and reopen it. You CutList Bridge input fields will still have a black background, but your entries will be red characters making them visible.

Models To Practice With

There are three models which you can download that already have attributes assigned. You can use these models to produce a cut list and experiment with changes to the attributes. The Shaker Tall Clock demonstrates most of the basic features of CutList Bridge. Base Cabinet, thanks to Matt Richardson and Greg Larson of NESAW, demonstrates most of the special Cabinet Mode features. SketchUp Home demonstrates a very large cut list whose Sub-Assembly names are automatically generated with the Sub-Assembly by Layer feature. Click the links below to download each model.

Shaker Tall Clock
Base Cabinet
SketchUp Home

Below is an image of a SketchUp cut list exported to OpenOffice. Not all lines are shown.

You may not be aware, but there is a free application called OpenOffice that is largely equivalent to Microsoft Office. It can be downloaded at http://download.openoffice.fm/free/ . One note of caution; there are a few extra applications that get installed with OpenOffice that are marketing data gathering software. You are supposed to be able to opt-in at install time, but the opt-in process is so obscure that most people will miss it. However, you can remove these application after installation if you miss the opt-in process.

I have downloaded Open Office and gave it a test drive with CutList Bridge 2.0. It works with one very minor problem. First, when exporting from SketchUp use the File/Export to Microsoft Excel command. Next, when importing to OpenOffice Spreadsheet use the File/Open command with All files (*.*) selected for Files of type:, and then a dialog box will appear. See the image on the left (click to enlarge). Clear any single quote or double quote (‘ or "") in the Text delimiter drop down box. You don’t have a choice of blank in the drop down, but just select any character(s) in that box and delete them. Make sure you have the Comma check box selected and none other. Hit OK and you will get a cut list similar to that shown in the image at right.

The double quotes in the left hand column should not be there. They are a result of a bug I have in my script which Excel overlooks, hence I have never seen it. I will fix it in the next bug fix release. This bug does not affect either CutList Plus or Excel. Simply select these cells and delete their content.

So far I am quite impressed with Open Office. I don’t know why I haven’t tried it before today. If you are looking for a complete free solution from 3D modeling of woodworking projects to shop cut lists then the combination of SketchUp, CutList Bridge 2.0 and OpenOffice is your answer.

At the suggestion of Greg Larson, owner and operator of the New England School of Architectural Woodworking, and with his help, I have developed a cut list export tool for SketchUp. Why another cut list tool? Don’t we have enough already? Well, this has some unique features that are tailored to architectural cabinetmaking design and build, though these features can be used for all types of woodworking models.

This release is Revision 1.0. It comes with a CutList Bridge User’s Guide that will explain all features and functionality. The User’s Guide gives three examples of types of woodworking that benefit from its features. You can download CutList Bridge with this link. Please report all strange behavior or bugs to jpz@srww.com and don’t hesitate to write if you need help.

There are three models which you can download that already have attributes assigned. You can use these models to produce a cut list and experiment with changes to the attributes. The Shaker Tall Clock demonstrates most of the basic features of CutList Bridge. Base Cabinet, thanks to Matt Richardson and Greg Larson of NESAW, demonstrates most of the special Cabinet Mode features. SketchUp Home demonstrates a very large cut list whose Sub-Assembly names are automatically generated with the Sub-Assembly by Layer feature. Click the links below to download each model.

Shaker Tall Clock
Base Cabinet
SketchUp Home

Happy Bridging!

Major Features of CutList Bridge

1. Seamlessly bridges SketchUp and CutList Plus fx or Microsoft Excel
CutList Plus fx is a highly functional cut list creator, costing tool, proposal generator and inventory manager for woodworking shops. Google SketchUp is a powerful 3D drawing tool ideally suited for furniture and architectural cabinet design and photorealistic rendering. These two tools do not naturally work together. CutList Bridge solves that problem by seamlessly bridging these two applications. If you do not use CutList Plus fx, no problem. You can export your cut list to Microsoft Excel.

2. All cut list attributes are entered in SketchUp and remain with the model file
CutList Plus fx requires the user to manually re-enter dimensions and other component attributes such as material type, material name, notes and banding. Attributes that can be generated automatically from the design’s 3D model and which ideally belong with the design file. CutList Bridge allows the user to enter and store all attributes with the model file and provides features for editing and exporting. Attributes which can be automatically generated from the 3D model, such as component dimensions and grain direction corrections are also handled in CutList Bridge.

3. Sub-Assembly names can be assigned in SketchUp explicitly or automatically by Layer name
In CutList Plus fx a Sub-Assembly name is typically used to group a collection of components. For example: in a model of a chest-of-drawers you may want two Sub-Assembly names; one called Carcass for all the components that make up the basic support structure, and one called Drawers for all components that make up the drawers. A grandfather clock may have Sub-Assembly names of Hood, Waist and Base. A trundle bed might be divided into Headboard, Footboard, Sides and Trundle. A kitchen cabinet may have sub-assemblies of Cabinet, Face Frame, Drawers and Doors. CutList Bridge allows the user to assign Sub-Assembly names in SketchUp prior to exporting to CutList Plus fx.

Sub-Assembly names can also be assigned by layer using the layer’s name. For example, as stick frame house designed in SketchUp may be organized with layer names such as Footing, Foundation, 1^st Floor Joists, 1^st Floor Framing, 2^nd Floor Framing etc. These layer names can automatically be used as the Sub-Assembly names in CutList Bridge fx.

4. Assign oversize/undersize dimensions in SketchUp via the Cabinet Mode Resize feature
<Info> is a CutList Plus fx field that is intended as a short note. However, it has two significant differences from the Notes field provided by CutList Plus fx. First, <Info> shows up in the CutList Plus fx spreadsheet whereas Notes only appear on the Parts printout. Second, if a CutList Plus fx spreadsheet is locked to prevent accidental change, <Info> can still be changed allowing for cutting status to be input. See the CutList Plus fx User’s Guide for more information.

CutList Bridge extends the use of <Info> when used in a special mode called Cabinet Mode. In Cabinet Mode parts can be oversized or undersized in length and width using the Resize feature, and these dimensions will appear in the CutList Plus fx <Info Field>. The user has the choice of displaying the increment of over/under size or the over/under sized finished dimension for each of width or length.

5. Assign Notes in SketchUp while designing the model
Notes can be assigned in SketchUp for each component. These will be exported to the Notes field in CutList Plus fx.

6. Both Milled Parts and Other Items are supported
CutList Plus fx supports two classes of components: Milled Parts, which are typically Rough Lumber, Dimensioned Lumber or Sheet Goods that are milled into a component in the shop. CutList Bridge also supports Other Items such as drawer pulls, consumables such as screws, biscuits, dominos or any other non-milled components which are typically purchased.

7. All Milled Part attributes can be assigned in SketchUp
Milled Parts, as mentioned, are components milled from Rough Lumber, Dimensioned Lumber or Sheet Goods. Each Milled Part component can be assigned the following:

a. Material Type – Rough Lumber, Dimensioned Lumber or Sheet Goods

b. Material Name – e.g. Tiger Maple

c. Banding – A code to indicate which sides are banded and which banding material to use.

d. Swap L/W – The user can specify in SketchUp any component whose length and width should be swapped. CutList Plus fx assumes the length field specifies the grain direction. However, there are times when the short dimension of a board should be the grain direction. Check Swap L/W to accomplish this.

e. Can Rotate? – Many material types have no grain. To assist CutList Plus fx in optimizing material use you can specify in SketchUp which Components can be rotated by CutList Plus fx.

8. Cabinet Mode provides Auto-Swap of L & W and Over/Under sizing of cut list parts
Cabinet Mode is a sub-mode of Milled Parts. It is selected in CutList Bridge by checking its checkbox. When selected <Info> is no longer available in the usual way. However, when selected another very useful and key option becomes available in addition to three more fields.

a. Enable Auto-Swap – This is a feature that automatically determines which components should have their lengths and widths swapped, independent of dimensions, based on a Component’s Type. In cabinet design there is a basic box with components that can be labeled Back, Bottom, Shelf, Side or Top. Based on these attributes L & W will be automatically swapped when needed such that grain runs up a side, across a top, down a side and across the bottom to the starting point. Back grain will always be in the vertical direction. Shelves will have a grain direction that is horizontal (side to side) while its cross grain direction is perpendicular to the Back’s plane.

b. Component Type – As mentioned is assigned with a drop down list and can be either Back, Bottom, Shelf, Side or Top.

c. Resize Width By – The user can specify a dimension to resize the width by (the increment, or decrement when preceded with a minus sign). The Width column in CutList Plus will contain this resized dimension.

d. Resize Length By – The user can specify a dimension to resize the length by (the increment, or decrement when preceded with a minus sign). The Length column in CutList Plus will contain this resized dimension.

The user is able to choose display options for the <Info> and Description fields that will modify what information appear in these fields in CutList Plus fx. More on this later.

9. Other Items can be specified while modeling in SketchUp
Components that are not milled in the shop, but are purchased, may be specified in the Other Items’ Item field. If the name specified in the Other Items’ Item field exists in the Raw Materials library of CutList Plus fx this component and its quantity will be appropriately categorized and added to the BOM in CutList Plus fx. If the name specified does not exist in CutList Plus fx it will still be imported but added to the [Not Categorized] Other Items category.

10. Exporting is a Selection and One Menu Command
Exporting a .csv file from SketchUp is as simple as selecting a complete model and choosing menu command File/Export to CutList Plus fx. That’s it. A .csv file is generated with the same name as your .skp model file name and placed in the same folder.

With a lot of help from Steve Baumgartner I added a Face To Face tool to the Construction Plus Toolbar. Face To Face tool’s icon is shown at left. Excuse my artistry; the tool’s icon is supposed to be two faces looking at each other representing the Face To Face tool. If there is a real artist out there who wishes to donate a better icon please feel free to do so.

So what does Face To Face do?

Have you ever wanted to make the face of one object align with the face of another object, on the same or parallel plane, facing each other? Well now it takes just two clicks. Better yet, neither face has to align with a major plane (red/green, red/blue or blue/green). Both faces can be at any angle to any of the major planes.

In addition to aligning the faces on the same or parallel planes and facing each other, you can select a point on an edge of one object and move it to a point on the edge of a second object, just like the Move tool. You will see in the included video that Face To Face is often a better move tool that Move tool itself.

Lastly, if the points chosen in the previous paragraph are each end points of an edge that are brought together, then the edges themselves can be made collinear (brought together).

This may all seem complex, but it isn’t. I will demonstrate the tool completely in the accompanying video. But first I need to explain a few things. The tool asks for Reference and Subject Faces, Reference and Subject Points and Reference and Subject Edges. Reference simply means the object that will not move, but serves as the face, point or edge that the Subject object will align to. To complicate things a little bit more, but in the name of flexibility, the Reference and Subject objects do not have to be the same objects for Face, Point and Edge alignment. The only restriction is that a Subject object must be a non-nested Group or Component Instance. The Reference object can be a primitive (Face or Edge), Group or Component Instance.

Lastly, there are six modes of operation: Face To Face; Point To Point; Edge To Edge; Face & Point To Face & Point; Point & Edge To Point & Edge; and Face, Point & Edge To Face, Point & Edge.

• Face To Face aligns the selected Subject face to the selected Reference face such that they are on the same or parallel planes with the two faces facing each other. The exception is when one of the faces are reversed and the other is not i.e. facing inward to the object. In that case the two faces will be facing in the same direction.
• Point To Point moves the Subject object to the Reference object, joining them at the selected points.
• Edge To Edge aligns the selected Subject edge such that it is collinear with the selected Reference edge.
• Face & Point To Face & Point performs the Face To Face operation first and then the Point To Point operation.
• Point & Edge To Point & Edge performs the Point To Point operation first followed by the Edge To Edge operation.
• Face, Point & Edge To Face, Point & Edge performs Face To Face operation first, Point To Point second and Edge To Edge third.

The cursor provides guidance by telling the user what the tool is looking for as explained below:

The cursor will have an arrow pointing to the object you wish to select. The letter R or S will be prominent; R for Reference and S for Subject. There will be a face, line or point to indicate what the user should choose. The icon at left asks the user to choose a Reference Face. The icon at right asks the user to choose a Subject Face.

Similarly, the cursor at left asks the user to choose a Reference Point, while the one at right asks the user to choose a Subject Point.

As you probably guessed, the cursor at left asks the user to choose a Reference Edge while the one at right asks the user to choose a Subject Edge.

Modes can be changed with the Tab key. The last mode selected becomes the default. When you reopen SketchUp the default mode will be the active mode it opens to.

The Esc key has two functions: first, if you need to use a camera tools such as Orbit, Pan or Zoom, you can return to the Face To Face tool where you left off by pressing the Esc key; second, if you wish to abort an operation and reset the tool simply press the Esc key.

The Undo/Redo tools can be used to Undo/Redo each step of the operation.

When might you use the Face To Face tool?

Often, especially when you are working with furniture or home design where faces are at angles to major planes, you find it easier to draw a component in place. Shortly thereafter you discover that the bounding box is misaligned to the part. This causes real problems for tools such as Cut List and Get Dimensions. With Face To Face you can easily align the component instance to a major plane and axis, explode it and remake the component. Now the bounding box will supply the correct dimensions to Cut List or Get Dimensions.

Imagine the problem in reverse. You draw the component aligned with a major plane and axis resulting in a bounding box that is correct, but now you need to move the component instance into place. You realize that the face of the component instance is not aligned to a major plane or axis. An example is moving a roof rafter into place. The end of the rafter must align with the surface of a ridge board; a perfect application for the Face To Face tool.

Does this occur in the design of furniture? Yes, a lot if your furniture has trim or sides not aligned to a major plane and axis. This is especially true with complex miter joints. Face To Face is not a tool you will use all the time, but when you need to align irregular faces, it is the perfect tool.

The video below will give you a complete demonstration of Face To Face tool. The Construction Plus toolbar and its tools can be obtained by downloading the zip file here and extracting it to your plugins folder. A SketchUp Face To Face Practice File can be downloaded here to help you follow along and practice using Face To Face.

Viewing The Face To Face Tutorial

You can view Introducing SketchUp Tool Face To Face by pressing the play icon below or by downloading it to your system.

The video file is mp4. It can be viewed with most video players including QuickTime and Media Player. If you have a default, or user specified, file association for .mp4 you may have to delete it or use a download manager to download this file. Otherwise the associated application may be invoked and file streaming will prevail over downloading. There are numerous free download managers on the internet. Be careful, and do some research to locate one that is not loaded with spyware or viruses.

If you are on a PC platform running Windows OS and have Internet Explorer or Firefox you don’t have to change file association or use a downloader. Simply right click on the link(s) below and choose Save Link As. When Explorer opens choose a destination folder and select Save.

To download Introducing SketchUp Tool Face To Face click on or paste

http://blip.tv/file/get/Chiefwoodworker-IntroducingSketchUpToolFaceToFace803.mp4

into your browser or download manager.

Full Screen Viewing

You may find it easier to view the video in full screen mode. Start the video before selecting this mode. To enter full screen mode click the little screen icon at the bottom of the video player. When in full screen view hold your cursor near the bottom of the screen to access the video

Steve Baumgartner (http://www.slbaumgartner.com) discovered a bug in my Get Dimensions tool and sent me code changes to fix it. He also changed the Status text box to be consistent with the Outliner names. The latter may be marginally helpful if the group or component name is longer than the Status text box; SketchUp does not permit stretching this box to accommodate longer names.

The bug Steve fixed is significant. You should download the Construction Plus Zip file and update your Plugins folder. However, there is still a potential problem in using this tool. The picture at left shows two solids; one not desirably aligned with its bounding box (misaligned) and the other correctly aligned. Hence, the dimensions the tool will display for the misaligned solid are not the dimensions you would expect. This can occur whenever you create a part and rotate it before you make it a solid, or when you draw it relative to current components and then make it a solid. An example of the latter might be drawing a rafter of a house in place, using the ridge board and wall plate to assist in creating it.

In the case of groups, since there is always one instantiation of a group, all you need do to correct this problem is align the group to a major plane (red/green, red/blue or blue/green) and axis, explode the group and re-make it. If you made copies of a misaligned group you will have to fix each one independently; but shame on you for using a group.

In the case of components, misaligned instances are not a problem (thanks to Steve’s fix) provided the original creation of the component (the one in the library) was aligned properly. If the component in the library is misaligned you can fix it by using the context tool Change Axis. But be careful, this will transform all instances of that component.

As a general rule you should align all groups and components to a major plane and axis (preferably the red/green plane and red axis. If you need to create a solid in place, and it is misaligned as a result, fix the first instance or copy before proceeding to use other instances of a component or copies of a group. This will ensure that tools like Get Dimensions and Cut List will always provide the expected dimensions.

I have added a SketchUp Ruby script drawing tool called Drawer Side to the Construction Plus tool set. Drawer Side creates the Drawer Side component of a traditional drawer, including front and back tails and dado for the drawer bottom to ride in. A Left Drawer Side instance is placed at the model’s origin. This instance can be copied, placed and mirrored (flipped) to create the Right Drawer Side. From there the front and back can be easily created using the Intersect Faces tool.

The tool’s Drawer Side command shows up in the Draw menu and also on a tool bar called Construction Plus. Its human interface is user friendly and allows for the quick creation of multiple drawers, such as needed for a high boy. Each time you use the tool a new drawer side is added to the In Model Component library with a unique component name. To create a series of drawers with the same depth, but progressively deeper, simply change the drawer side width, and perhaps the number of tails and re-Draw.

Drawer Sides accepts Metric or Imperial inputs and user inputs are saved when the tool is used or closed so that they can be restored on the next use. User instructions can be displayed by clicking the Instructions button. Help buttons are also provided for each category on user inputs, as is a helpful picture showing the input information requested. The Drawer Side window will adjust size to accommodate older and smaller screens.

Download Construction Plus and check out Drawer Side. I will probably evolve this tool to add functionality such as drawing the front, back and bottom of the drawer, drawing general tail or pin boards (without dado) and with the same  or different ends. Stay tuned.

I have taught SketchUp to a large number of students, mostly through my tutorials. Based on feedback I have gotten from them, and conversations I have had with other instructors, it is clear there are two dominant areas students struggle with.

1. The stickiness of SketchUp is stumbling block number one. Anytime two primitives touch they become connected. This is useful if those primitives are meant to touch, such as when they are pieces of the same part. But if they are pieces of different parts they create huge problems. The solution is for students to download and follow the Six Rules for Modeling in SketchUp. I have found that students who follow these rules, particularly Rule 4 – As soon as a part takes 3D shape make it a component, escape this problem entirely.

2. The second largest stumbling block for students is the accidental or intentional violation of Rule 2 – Layer0 (Layer Zero) should always be active when modeling. To see the kind of havoc this can cause see my Primitives, Components & Layers tutorial. To help students avoid this problem I have added functionality to the Layers Management Tool which will warn of a Rule 2 violation.

Purpose of the New Functionality

The intent of this functionality is to let a beginner know when he/she is about to change from active Layer0 (Layer Zero) to another layer. By default the new functionality is enabled the first time layers.rb is installed. When enabled layers.rb will monitor the active layer; the layer with the radio button to the left of its name selected. If a layer other than Layer0 is made active, a warning message will appear as shown here.

Notice that the message tells you which layer will become active and also how to disable the warning. If a layer other than Layer0 is active and then Layer0 is made active, no warning is given because Layer0 is the desired layer for modeling.

IMPORTANT: Follow These Installation Instructions Carefully

Download the layers.zip file. Before using the ZIP Extract tool be sure all files and folders are selected. Extract all contents to the SketchUp plugins folder. When completed be sure to check that a layers folder (containing eight icons) and the layers.rb script reside in the SketchUp Plugins folder. See the picture at left (click image to enlarge).

Also check the layers folder to be sure the eight tool icon files are present. See the picture at right (click to enlarge image). If you previously used either add_hidden_layer.rb or layers_show_hide_all.rb, be sure to remove them from the plugins folder.

When you first open SketchUp go to menu View/Toolbars and check Layer Tools. This will place the Layers Toolbar somewhere on the SketchUp window (or possibly even on your desktop area outside the SketchUp window). You can drag and drop it where you want.

Under the View menu you should see the following new tool.

 
Notice the Layer0 Warning is checked: Layer0 Warning is enabled when checked and disabled when not checked. Also notice the Layer Tools toolbar. You don’t need the toolbar checked in View/Toolbars, but it is a good idea to verify that installation has been completed correctly. Your toolbar will appear where you locate it on your desktop which is likely different than floating in the work area.

Normal Behavior of the New Functionality

As mentioned earlier, when you open SketchUp for the first time after installing Layer0 Warning, is enabled by default. From then on the last state of Layer0 Warning will be stored and recalled upon opening SketchUp again.

There will be no change in SketchUp behavior until you change to an active layer other than Layer0. Then the warning will appear. Click OK and the active layer will change to the one you have chosen. The tool makes no attempt to stop you from changing the active layer to other than Layer0, it merely warns you of doing so.

If you wish to disable the warning go to menu View/Layer0 Warning and uncheck it.

If you wish to re-enable Layer0 Warning go to menu View/Layer0 Warning and check it.

Description of layers.rb

Menu Items:

• View/Add Visible Layer
• View/Add Invisible Layer
• View/Show All Layers
• View/Hide All Layers

Toolbar: Layer Tools – Includes four large and small icons. It is available under View/Toolbars.

Context-Menu: None

Description:

Add Visible Layer adds a visible layer to the current scene, but invisible to all existing and new scenes.
          

Add Invisible Layer adds an invisible layer to all existing and new scenes.
     

Show All Layers makes all layers visible.
             

Hide All Layers makes all layers invisible.

I hope this script improves your efficiency a little. Please report all bugs and strange behavior to jpz@srww.com.

One of my readers sent me a note one day and asked if I had tried 3Dconnexion’s SpaceNavigator. He sang enough praises that I decided to give it a try. Now there are at least two of us singing its praises.

The SpaceNavigator is essentially a joy stick similar to what you may find in the cockpit of a fighter plane. However, instead of three degrees-of-freedom (pitch, roll & yaw), it has six degrees-of-freedom interfaced to six sensors. In essence it allows you to zoom in or out, pan right or left, pan up or down, spin, tilt and roll. Of course, in practice, all six of these are combined to provide fluid and smooth control of your 3D workspace. The really nice part of the SpaceNavigator is that it allows you to do this with your free hand (left if you are right handed and right if you are left handed), while still maintaining complete use of the mouse.

For those of you who do not care to read the details of my review, I will summarize it up front, including a test drive video. However, I encourage you to read the entire review, especially if you find the SpaceNavigator interesting.

Summary

After a few hours trying to understand this device and a few more practicing with it, I have come to the conclusion that it is a must for improving the efficiency of drawing. It gives me an additional, much needed, hand and more control over my model as I draw. As mentioned, the SpaceNavigator is much smoother than the mouse, comfortable in your hand and has a very natural control feel. It does have a learning curve that you need to get through but the effort spent is well worth it. The price is quite reasonable and the quality seems superb. I give this the old Siskel & Ebert two thumbs up. And, oh yeah, I can get rid of that old hard drive I have been keeping on my desk as a paper weight; this device is heavy.

I do have a few complaints and some wishes. The menu is a little clumsy. For example, Center of Rotation is grayed out unless other tools are deselected, forcing you to use the menu and toolbar to do what should require only the toolbar. The Help button on the toolbar is a waste since you only need it while learning the device. The Disable Rolling tool has questionable value in my opinion; I would get rid of its toolbar icon too. That frees up two icons which could be replaced with Auto Center of Rotation and Center of Rotation on Selection buttons. I would change the behavior of the three rotation tools such that whichever is selective is active and the other two are not.

Lastly, to quote MLK, “I have a dream”. Devices such as the SpaceNavigator, which have SketchUp specific drivers (or SketchUp specific modules within a driver), ought to expose all device hooks to the SketchUp Ruby API. This would allow users to: select which configuration of degrees-of-freedom they wish to use for different uses via a toolbar icon; adjust the speed either discretely or dynamically; customize the toolbar; and put the menu under any top menu they desire. I suspect this is easy to do from and engineering standpoint and it would motivate the SketchUp Ruby community to write all sorts of enhancements for this device.

But, as I said, . I really like this device!

A Video Tour Of A Hutch

I have a model I used for this purpose. It’s a Six Pane Oak Hutch which you can download for practice if you like. In this video I have the SpaceNavigator set up to simulate Orbit, Pan & Zoom tools – all in one left hand operated mouse. My right hand mouse is free for other purposes such as selecting and using the Center of Rotation tool (this requires that Auto Center of Rotation and Center of Rotation on Selection be de-selected). The feel of the SpaceNavigator is comfortable and natural. I strive to make deliberate and gentle movements. Click on the video to see how I do.

My Review In Detail

Let’s start at the beginning. When the SpaceNavigator arrived and I opened the package, I had three first impressions (there’s an oxymoron there somewhere). First, it was well packaged, encased tightly in a plastic container which in turn held it tightly in its box. Second, it is heavy and well built. And third, the fit and finish are high quality. It is designed to stay in place on your work surface. The SpaceNavigator is small, which takes up little of your precious workspace.

The SpaceNavigator comes with a self-starting CD which includes the necessary software and documentation. However, I recommend that instead of using the CD in the package you download the most recent driver from 3DConnexion. It’s likely that the driver on your CD is not the most recent and doing this will save you an unnecessary install. The driver is about 70 MB, so download may take a while if you don’t have broadband service.

Plug the SpaceNavigator’s USB connector in. After downloading the driver to a folder of your choice, click on the self extracting file and follow the instructions. You will be shown a quick video tour  to familiarize you with SpaceNavigator’s controls. Spend some time with the video, but in the end, only using SpaceNavigator will teach you its capabilities.

An 3Dconnexion Control Panel icon will likely be placed on your desktop or in your system tray or task bar.  Open it. If no other application is open the drop down box at the top will indicate “Any Application”. Now open SketchUp and the drop down box indicates SketchUp, meaning that the driver and plugins exist to interface the SpaceNavigator to SketchUp. Any changes you make in the configuration can be saved as SketchUp specific.

The Control Panel has four tabs. Select each one, one at a time and familiarize yourself with them. There is a Help file under the Help menu to explain the controls. On the Device Configuration tab you can choose the degree-of-freedom motion you assign to  Zoom In/Out from a choice of two degrees-of-freedom. Pan Up/Down will be assigned the other. You can also set the overall speed (sensitivity) of the device. I suggest you slow the speed down if you are a new user.

On the App Configuration tab you can restrict the SpaceNavigator to just Tilt, Spin and Roll by deselecting the Pan/Zoom check box, or alternatively, restrict it to Pan and Zoom by deselecting the Tilt/Spin/Roll check box. You can not deselect (uncheck) both at the same time but you can enable both, and that is the default case.

Checking the Dominant check box will restrict movement to one degree-of-freedom at a time, the one that the user inputs the most pressure. This may be helpful to the novice. The default case is unchecked.

The Reverse All Axes button reverses the behavior for each degree-of-freedom. However, this is probably better controlled on an individual basis in the Advanced Tab.

The SpaceNavigator has two buttons on the side which can be assigned to any number of commands including custom macros. This is done in the Button Configuration tab. I have assigned my left button to “Zoom Extents” and my right button to open the 3Dconnexion Control Panel. The left button “Zoom Extents” is very useful, especially for beginners who often lose their model off screen.

The advanced tab allows you to individually configure each degree-of-freedom. The choices are active-or-not via check boxes, speed and reversed-or-not via check boxes. You will spend a lot of time in this tab, configuring and re-configuring the active degrees-of-freedom, which is why I assigned the right button to it.

The SpaceNavigator also places a sub-menu on the Plugins menu called 3DxSketchUp. See picture below left. Under it are Auto Center of Rotation, Center of Rotation on Selection, Camera Mode, Center of Rotation, Disable Rolling, Toggle Toolbar and Help. Right off the bat I am going to suggest that woodworkers ignore Camera Mode and always leave it unchecked. I’ll explain in a moment. Check Toggle Toolbar to make the SpaceNavigator toolbar is visible. This is a redundant command in that it is the same as checking 3DxSketchUp under the View/Toolbars menu.

The SpaceNavigator operates in two modes: Camera mode when selected via the toolbar or 3DxSketchUp menu, or Object mode when not in Camera mode. In Camera mode the viewing scene will respond to what the camera sees as it zooms, pans, tilts, rotates or rolls. In other words it is like holding a camera, looking through the view finder, and moving the camera or zooming the lens. This mode is not very useful to the furniture designer. If you are an architect or landscaper it is very useful. I recommend leaving Camera mode deselected and operating in Object mode.

In Object mode, the model responds to the SpaceNavigator input and the Camera remains fixed. In other words we tilt, spin, roll, or otherwise move the object and what we see in the view is what the Camera would see. For example, imagine what a camera sees when mounted on a tripod and focused on a person dancing while move closer or away from the camera. This is how a furniture designer would naturally manipulate a model.

When in Object mode there are three choices for how the model responds to spin, tilt and roll: Auto Center of Rotation, Center of Rotation on Selection or Center of Rotation.

In Auto Center of Rotation mode the SpaceNavigator driver (software) analyzes the point-of-interest on the model and chooses the optimal center of rotation around which spin, roll or tilt will then occur. If you change the scene by zooming in or out, or change the viewing angle, the point-of-interest will change and hence the point of rotation. So each use of the SpaceNavigator could operate from a different point of rotation allowing for relatively easy loss of control if you are not an experienced user.

Center of Rotation on Selection allows you more control. What you do in this mode is select an object(s), group(s), or component(s) and the driver will find its center of volume to determine a point of rotation. When you deselect the object(s), group(s), or component(s) the point of rotation reverts to the center of volume of the entire model.

Center of Rotation allows the most control. This option will be grayed out on both the toolbar and the menu if either Auto Center of Rotation or Center of Rotation on Selection is chosen. Choosing Center of Rotation produces a magenta dot or X as you hover over the model. Click to choose a single point of rotation. This will essentially pin the selected model’s 3D point to a 2D display point of rotation and will ensure you don’t lose the model off screen – unless you pan it off. Center of Rotation is a good place for beginners to start.

Disable Rolling is a function that is a little difficult to understand. Being an engineer I needed to characterize this function to get a full understanding though not necessarily a full appreciation for it. Selecting it allows the driver to add intelligence to the SpaceNavigator control, presumably by throttling its sensitivity to certain degrees-of-freedom as the view changes.

To understand it I created a simple SketchUp model; a cube aligned with the axis and with one corner at the origin. I colored each side the color of the axis normal to it i.e. red, green and blue. Under the Advanced Settings tab in the Control Panel I chose Tilt, Spin and Roll one at a time with all Pan and Zoom check boxes de-selected. With Parallel Projection selected and for each selection of Tilt, Spin and Roll I chose Front view and observed how the SpaceNavigator responded. Next I chose the Side view and did the same. Next Top view and finally ISO view. I recorded my finding and then repeated the whole process with Disable Rolling enabled. Here are the results.

Let me define my nomenclature. R, G and B indicate the axis of rotation. H indicates a horizontal line across the 2D display as the axis if rotation. O indicates the origin as the point of rotation. And N indicates an axis normal to the screen as the axis of rotation. R(H) for example means the axis of rotation was the red axis which also happened to be the horizontal line in the 2D display. ISO was a view achieved by first selecting front and then ISO. Note this is different from say, Back and then ISO. So be aware I didn’t characterize all views necessarily.

Notice that Tilt always occurred around the horizontal axis no matter the view. Spin on the other hand occurred around the vertical axis in all views but ISO. In ISO view the blue axis started out vertical, but as I began the Spin the axis tilted about 30 degrees and then rotation was about the origin and vertical axis. This indicates something about how the engineers implemented the code but I am not sure of the intension yet.

Roll occurred in the axis normal to the screen in all cases. In the ISO case none of the major axes were normal to the screen and the point of rotation was the origin.

Notice the only “odd” behavior is the Spin condition in the ISO view, where the driver tilted the blue axis.

Next I checked Disable Rolling in the 3DxSketchUp menu (or on the toolbar) and repeated everything obtaining the following results.

There are four noticeable changes here. In the Spin/Top case Disable Rolling disables spinning around the green vertical axis. In the Roll/ISO case Disable Rolling switches to rolling around the blue vertical axis versus the normal origin axes. In both the Roll/Front and Roll/Side case rolling was disabled.

To understand a possible intention on the designer’s part with the Disable Rolling function you need to realize that in normal situations all six degrees-of-freedom are enabled and the view is likely to be an analog combination of Front, Side and Top. So as you operate the SpaceNavigator what you are doing is smoothly changing from each of these boxes to another. I believe the designers, in an effort to favor movement in the horizontal and vertical axes and the front and side views (which is our normal viewing range), desensitized roll or spin around the blue axis with this function. This is just a guess on my part.

After many months of using SketchUp, I have become accustomed to the Orbit and Zoom tools in SketchUp for manipulating a model. It does a very good job, though a little choppy, especially when creating videos. The wheel on my mouse is the Zoom function and the mouse itself is the Orbit function. The only problem is that the mouse is tied up manipulating the model and not available for tools at the same time. This means I need to switch tools frequently to both draw and manipulate the model.

Recognizing that the Orbit function is a combination of rotation around the horizontal and vertical screen axis, I can recreate this with the SpaceNavigator. I can also include Zoom, Pan Right/Left and Pan Up/Down, all in the same control. To do this I select all degrees-of-freedom and uncheck Disable Rolling. It helps to use Center of Rotation and pin the point of rotation near the center of your model. Now the mouse is free for other tools such as drawing. If you wish to create a video you have very smooth control of the model, and no cursor need be in the video.

As you are learning to manipulate the model with the SpaceNavigator set the speed to a slower position. Move the point of rotation frequently; keep it set to the point of interest in your view, using the Center of Rotation tool on the 3DxSketchUP toolbar.

You will discover there are a lot of combinations of settings on the Advanced Settings tab that are useful under various conditions. For example, when dimensioning a model it is often useful to zoom in very close to end points or intersections in order to ensure selecting the correct inference point. When doing this the model is so large that most of it is off screen. You can limit the SpaceNavigator to just a left/right pan degree-of-freedom (no zoom, tilt, roll or spin) and quickly find endpoints in image extremes without losing control of the model. This saves several tool selections when only using the mouse.

I will post a review of the SpacePilot PRO, SpaceNavigator’s biggest brother, in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

In this post we will complete the template we started in Creating A Custom Shop Drawing Template With LayOut 2 – Part 1 of 2. If you haven’t read that post please do so before reading any further. Hopefully you saved your .layout file from part 1, but if you didn’t you can download mine and pick up from there. When we left off our template looked as the picture at left. Everything we had drawn resides on layer Logo & Outline which is visible on all pages and locked to protect it from changes.

Now we are going to create a Date Box layer. This layer will contain the date the drawing set was completed and my website and blog addresses. It also will appear on every page. Add this layer by clicking on the + symbol in the Layers dialog box. Layer 3 appears and is selected. Notice it is unlocked and has one sheet of paper in the Pages icon. Click the Pages icon to change it to four sheets of paper (appears on all pages). Make sure the Visible eye icon is dark (not grayed out). Do not lock it at this time. We want to make changes to it which we can do now since it is selected (active). Rename this layer to Date Box by right clicking on the layer name and choose Rename. Leave this layer selected before going any further.

Remember we have a tall and narrow box that is 6 1/4” by 1/4” through which the grid is visible on the left side of the sheet. We want to place the contents of the Date Box in that tall and narrow box. First we have to create the contents by following these steps carefully:

1. In the Text Style dialog box click on the Align Center and Anchor Center icons in the Format tab. For Family, Typeface and Size choose Verdana, Regular and 8 pt.
2. Using the “Text” tool, and with the aid of the grid, click-drag-release a text box with the dimensions 6 1/4” by 1/4”, however, create the box such that the long dimension is in the horizontal direction. Before doing anything else with your mouse, notice the blinking cursor in the box.
3. Type the line of text immediately following this numerical list of instructions into the text box. Do not cut and paste this line of text unless you first paste it into Notepad and re-copy it to remove formatting. You will have to re-choose Align Center and Anchor Center if you do this.
4. Between .com and Blog insert 9 more spaces. Between /blog and Date insert 9 more spaces. This spreads things out using the entire box.
5. Go to the Window/Shape Style menu to open the dialog box. With the text box still selected click on the Fill button in the upper left hand corner of the Shape Style dialog box. The text box should now have a white background (assuming you didn’t change the color in the Fill color box next to the Fill button). Close the Shape Style box.
6. With the “Select” tool deselect and reselect the text box. Hover the cursor over the center of the test box just over the blue dot until you get a rotate cursor as shown in the picture below.
7. Rotate right by click-dragging the cursor approximately 90 degrees. Notice the measurement box at the bottom reads Angle and approximately minus 90 degrees. Release the cursor and type –90 into the Measurements box. The text box now runs vertically in the long axis.
8. Hover over a corner of the selected text box until a curser with four opposing arrows appears and click-drag-release the text box into position. With the “Select” tool deselect the text box.
9. Lock the Date Box layer by clicking on the Lock icon next to the layer’s name.

Website: http://www.srww.com Blog: http://www.srww.com/blog Date: MM/DD/YYYY

Our template should now look like the picture at right. Notice that the Default layer is now selected and that you cannot change the Date Box text. The only layers that can be selected are unlocked layers. Since the Default layer is the only unlocked layer it is selected.

We are now going to customize the Cover Page. The cover page is the page that comes first in a shop drawing set. It informs the reader of the customer or client’s name, the project’s name, the customer or client’s address and provides a short project description. Of course this is all a matter of personal choice, but for the purpose of this tutorial, that is what we will use as the definition of the cover page.

Before creating the content of the cover page we need to create a Cover Page layer. Click the + sign in the Layers dialog box and change the name of the layer to Cover Page by right clicking Layer 4 and choosing Rename. Type Cover Page and enter or just bring your cursor to the drawing area. This time leave the Pages icon set to a single page since what we will include on the Cover Page layer will exist only on one page.

We need four text boxes to be placed in the lower right hand corner box that is now blank. They will be roughly the same size so we start in the upper left hand corner and with the “Text” tool click-drag- release a text box roughly one quarter the size of the open area. Type the following into the text box:

Prepared For:
First-name Last-Name

Using the Text Style dialog box select the first line of text and format it to: Family, Typeface and Size choose Verdana, Regular and 8 pt respectively. Select the second line of text and format it to: Family, Typeface and Size choose Verdana, Italic and 10 pt respectively. This will make the client’s name stand out a little. Your template should look like that at left.

We can use the same process to create three more text boxes or use the copy/paste method. If you use the copy/paste method be aware that you may paste the text box exactly on top of the one you copied. That is not a problem; just use the “Select” tool and the opposing four arrow move cursor to move the pasted text box into position. Either type into the text box, or change the text if you used the copy/paste method, such that it looks like that at right. Notice the Prepared For: and Project: text boxes make use of larger italic 10 pt text. The remaining two boxes use regular 8 pt text.

Notice that the small red arrow is trying to tell us that one or more of the text boxes runs off the page. The Client Address: is the culprit in this case. I used the copy/paste method to place the text boxes so they are all the same size. Each can be customized based on its needs. Since the Prepared For: text box is never likely to use more than one line I can shorten its height and give that height to the Client Address: text box. The same is true for Project: and Project Description: In addition, Project description may need more width. We make these changes using the “Select” tool and the appropriate cursor to change the size of each box. Try to keep vertical and horizontal alignment of the starting point of each box. To keep the white area of the text boxes from covering part of the Logo & Outline lines you may need to turn off Grid Snap under the Arrange menu. This will allow analog placement of text box edges giving you more control. Turn it back on afterword. Having made these changes the Cover Page information should look like that at left.

Lock the Cover Page layer. In the Pages dialog box Page 1 is selected (it is the only page available at this point). Right click on it and choose Rename. Change the name to Cover Page. We now have a cover page template, but we also need and every page template for all the drawings that will go into the drawing set. In the Pages dialog box click the + sign to add a page. It will be named Page 2 by default. We are going to change this name to Inside Page the same way we renamed Page 1 to Cover Page. With that done and Inside Page selected, in the Layers dialog box make the Cover Page invisible by clicking on the eye icon to gray it out (it is not visible anyway because we created it on the Cover Page and made it appear only on that page with the single paper icon selection, but this is a good habit anyway).

In the Layers dialog box add a layer and call it Inside Page. Make it appear on all pages with the four page icon. Inside Page should now be selected in both the Pages dialog box and the Layers dialog box. Add one text box to the upper left hand corner of the open text area in the lower right. Insert the text:

Drawn By:
Drafter’s Name

Format the first line with Veranda Regular 8 pt text and the second line with Verdana Italic 10 pt text. Like before make this text box a little shorter and less tall to make room for other information. Again you may have to turn off Grid Snap under the Arrange menu. Turn it back on when you are done. Lock the Inside Page layer. Now the Default layer is selected as is the Inside Page in the Pages dialog box. What we just did held the assumption that the same person, Drafter’s Name, would draw the entire SketchUp model and create the shop drawings. With that assumption we fixed that information in the Inside Page layer and locked it.

To finish our template all we need it drawing title, drawing description and page number text boxes that will change on a page-by-page basis. This information we will put on the Default layer and we will leave it unlocked.

Create and place these text boxes using the same techniques as before and the following text:

Drawing Title:
Front View – Overall Dimensions

Description:

P2

Note that the Drawing Title: is pretty specific. That is simply because my custom is to have a front view with overall dimensions as the first page after the cover page (page 2) in all my shop drawing sets. Description: is a place holder; it could be Scale:, or Note: or anything else the drafter desires. Since the Default layer remains unlocked it is changeable at any time. As mentioned, the first page inside the cover page is always P2 in my convention. It too can be changed at any time.

There is one last little detail before we can save this file as a template. We added and Inside Page layer and made it appear on all pages, but actually we want it to appear on all pages but the Cover Page. In the Pages dialog box select the Cover Page and make Inside Page layer invisible by graying out the eye icon. Before saving this file let’s be sure everything looks correct. In the picture at the upper right is the completed Cover Page template. Checkout the dialog boxes on the right for content to be sure your setting are the same. Do the same for the completed Inside Page template shown in the upper left picture.

If you are satisfied go to the File/Save As Template menu to open the Save As Template dialog box. In the Template Name box give the template a useful name, e.g. SRWW Letter Landscape. This tells me it is a Swamp Road Wood Works template for 8 1/2” x 11 paper in landscape orientation. If you wish this to be the default template when you open a new file select Default Templates under Template Folder (although there is one more step to make it the default template). To make this the default template, go to File/New From Template to open the Getting Started dialog box. Select your template from the list and check the Always use Selected Template check box. Click Open. A new untitled file is opened and ready to go.

If you had trouble along the way you can download my template file and peruse it to see what I did. This post completes Creating A Custom Shop Drawing Template With LayOut 2. However, stay tuned for Creating Shop Drawings With LayOut 2, which will explain how to use this template with a SketchUp model to create a shop drawing set.

I recently purchased a Google SketchUp Pro license. A major difference between the free version of SketchUp and the Pro version is that LayOut 2 and Style Builder are included in the Pro version. Style Builder is an application that allows you to create your own drawing styles. I haven’t used it, and its not likely I will in the near future. Style Builder seems most suited to architects and marketing types.

LayOut 2 is another story. I have used it on a couple of projects to create shop drawings from my SketchUp models. LayOut 2 is a presentation package that can be used stand alone or tightly coupled with SketchUp. Using it stand alone you have many of the 2D drawing, lettering, labeling and dimensioning features of SketchUp. To create shop drawings I use it tightly coupled with SketchUp. In this two part post I will describe how to setup LayOut 2 for this purpose and I will walk us through how I created my own custom template for shop drawings. In subsequent posts I will demonstrate how to create the shop drawings themselves.

See the figure above left, which shows a completed shop drawing cover sheet. The template we will create will look like this one. Use this for reference as we proceed. Follow along with me on your own system as we create my custom template. First we need to setup LayOut 2. Open LayOut 2 to a blank page using the File/New menu. In the Window menu select the Pages, Layers, SketchUp Model and Text Style dialog boxes. Click on the picture at right to see an enlargement showing these selections. I use these dialog boxes frequently and leave them open all the time. Notice in the upper right hand corner that these dialog boxes are placed in a Default Tray. LayOut 2 allows you to create a number of trays with different dialog boxes, sort of like a pallet.  If you wish you could go to Window/New Tray and open a tray called Tray 1 by default. You can label it anything you want. Check all the dialog boxes that you didn’t include in the Default Tray and choose Add. Now you have two trays that are selectable from tabs along the bottom; the Default Tray contains the dialog boxes you frequently use and Tray 1 has the remaining dialog boxes you seldom use. This may be a handy way to work, but it is all about personal preference. I don’t bother with anything besides the Default Tray. If I want another dialog box I just use the Window menu and temporarily open it in the Default Tray.

To define the paper size and orientation use the File/Document Setup menu. This command opens the Document Setup dialog box. and we choose the Paper selection. In the Paper section choose Letter (8.5 in x 11 in) from the drop down box and the Landscape radio button. The Print Paper Color check box will remain unchecked.

Check the Margins check box, and for Left, Right, Top and Bottom use 1/2”, 1/2”, 3/4” and 1 1/2” respectively. Leave the Print Margin Lines check box unchecked. The Margins Color is Light Gray. In the Rendering section we will select High for both Edit Quality and Output Quality, a personal preference choice. Your dialog box should look as that at left.

Next we will set up a grid which will aid us in placing SketchUp model scenes on our shop drawings. Using the File/Document Setup menu open the Document Setup dialog box. Select the Grid item. Check the Show Grid check box because we want the grid to show on our shop drawing pages as we create them. You can choose between a grid constructed of lines or points; personal preference again, but I suggest we choose the Lines radio button.

The grid can have major and minor grid lines with different colors. I am accustomed to one inch major grid lines with eight sub-divisions for the minor grid lines. That provides a 1/8” grid which is appropriate for furniture design in US customary units. If we were drawing in the metric system we might choose one centimeter for the major grid and five for the number of sub-divisions. Check both the Major Grid and Minor Grid check boxes, and enter 1” for the Major Grid and 8 Subdivisions for the Minor Grid. The colors are purely personal choice. I suggest Light Sky Blue for the Major Grid and Light Gray for the Minor Grid. To select a color click on the Color box and the Colors dialog box opens in the Default Tray. There are a number of options for choosing a color. You may use the color wheel, input a color in either RGB (Red, Green, Blue) or HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness), choose a gray or color from sliding scales or choose a color from a List. We will sue the latter. After choosing a color close the Colors dialog box to get back to our original dialog box choices for the Default Tray.

We will eventually choose the Clip grid to page margins check box, but for now leave it unchecked. Why we do this will become clear later. Leave the Print Grid and Draw grid check boxes unchecked because we don’t want the grid printed when we print our shop drawings, and we don’t want the grid obscuring our drawing while creating it. Click close to save these setup choices. Our blank page is now a sheet of grid paper.

Now that we have grid paper to assist us in placing objects, we need to instruct LayOut 2 to use it. Using the Arrange menu click the bottom two menu items until they read Object Snap Off and Grid Snap On. We are now ready to begin drawing our custom template. Use the  “Lines” tool (pencil) to draw a rectangle  whose sides are 3/4” in from the top and 1/2” in from the sides and bottom. Note we using the “Lines” tool, not the “Rectangle” tool, and we draw individual (separate) lines to create this box. To make each line separate, after drawing each line press the Esc key. If we didn’t do this, or we were to use the “Rectangle” tool, we would cover my grid with a white face (though I could use the Shape Style dialog box to inhibit this) and the lines would be connected which would cause a problem later when rounding the lower corners.

Draw a horizontal line 1 1/2” up from the bottom and stopping 1/2” from each side thereby terminating on the sides of the box we just completed. This creates a box 1” high and 10” long. We now draw a vertical line to sub-divide this box into a 1” by 4” box on the left and a 1” by 6” box on the right. We need one more straight vertical line to complete our boxes. This one will be parallel to the left edge, 1/2” to its right and extend from the top horizontal line to the first horizontal line that is 1 1/2” up from the bottom edge. At this point our rough template should look exactly as the picture above left.

To complete the boxes that outline our template we will use the “Arcs” tool to round the bottom two corners. The arc will be one quarter of a circle with a radius of 1/4” (2 grids). Refer to the picture at left. Using the “Arcs” tool click on a grid center point (Point 1). Next click on the 90 degree radius point (Point 2). Lastly click on the second 90 degree radius point (Point 2). Now we have a rounded corner, but still have the original square corners. To fix this we simply select each line, one at a time, with the “Select” tool and move the endpoints back 1/4” (two grid points). After selecting a line with the “Select” tool, hover over an end point until the cursor turns to two opposing arrows. Click and drag the endpoint back 1/4” with the assist of grid snapping. Be careful not to move the entire line but just the endpoints.

Now we will place my Swamp Road Wood Works logo (click the hyperlink to download it). With the File/Insert menu open the Open dialog box and locate the logo file you just downloaded. Highlighting it click on Open. The logo now appears in the center of the page and is selected, indicated by the blue bounding box. The logo is too big and in the wrong position, but correcting these problems is easy. Hold the cursor over the logo until you see the cursor change to four opposing arrows. Click and drag the logo and place the upper left corner where it should be (refer to the picture at right below). Next hover with the cursor over the lower right hand corner until the cursor turns to two opposing arrows on a diagonal. Click and drag the corner, but while doing this hold the Shift key down as well. This forces the scaling to be uniform. Place this corner where it belongs. You may need to repeat moving the corners until you get the optimum placement and size. Be sure to use the Shift key to maintain the aspect ratio. While the logo is still selected use the Arrange/Send to Back menu command to place the logo behind the lines we have drawn. This is to ensure the logo doesn’t obscure any of the lines.

We placed the logo as far to the left in the 1” x 4” box as possible and made it use all of the 1” vertical space. This leaves an area to the right where we can place my contact information. With the “Text” tool, click on the upper right hand corner of the logo and drag to the lower right hand corner of the 1” x 4” box. In the Text Style dialog box located in the Default Tray, choose Verdana Regular 8pt text. Now type my address and contact information as follows:

Joseph P. Zeh
325 West Street
Worthington, MA 01098

(413) 238-0338
jpz@srww.com

Getting the spacing right may require tricks like placing a blank line before may name to create a little spacing at the top.

Let’s go back to File/Document Setup and choose Grid again. Let’s check the Clip grid to page margins check box as we said we would eventually do. Now we have a page that looks like that at right.

So far we have had one page titled Page 1 and one layer called Default. They are shown in the Pages dialog box and Layers dialog box in the Default Tray. We are now going to add a layer called Logo & Outline. First add a layer by clicking the + sign in the Layers dialog box. A new layer is added call Layer 2, and it is selected indicated by the pencil to the left and the blue shading. Right click on Layer 2 and choose Rename. Type Logo & Outline and press Enter. With the Edit/Select All command select all the objects drawn so far. Note this outlines all objects in blue. Right click on any object and choose Move to Current Layer. This places all objects on the Logo & Outline layer.

Everything we have drawn so far we will want to appear on every page of our shop drawings. We will never change what we have drawn so far unless my logo changes, I move, get a different telephone number or change my email address. These are all unlikely to happen in any foreseeable future – I hope. To protect this information from change and to force it to appear on every page of the shop drawing we will make it visible, locked and apply to all pages. We do this with the three little icons to the right of the layers name. Click until the little eye is dark (not grayed out), the lock is locked and there are four sheets of paper in the last icon. The eye indicates the layer is visible on the selected page, the locked lock means it can’t be changed and the four sheets indicates it applies to all pages (of course we only have one right now). Now that this layer is locked it can no longer be selected so the selected layer has become the Default layer. To select the Logo & Outline layer again you must first unlock it. Locked layers cannot be selected (active).

Before we end Part 1 let me point out a few things. The page margins chosen were designed such that there is room along the top to punch three ring binder holes. The page will be placed in the binder in the portrait position. The grid only appears in the working area (actually it also appears in the little strip in the left, but that will be fixed in the next post). The grid is there to help place objects in the shop drawings by giving us something visual to snap to, but will not be printed with the shop drawings.

Stay tuned and we will complete the template in Creating A Custom Shop Drawing Template With LayOut 2 – Part 2 of 2. In subsequent posts I will demonstrate how to place the SketchUp drawings in the shop drawing pages for printing.