start measuring the distance that will change (in this case, the riser height) and then click again to stop.Type the desired dimension (7 for 7 inches).
In the dialog box, confirm the resize by clicking Yes.
The whole model is resized proportionately to the dimension that was entered.
Note that everything is resized by the ratio of the original distance versus the new distance!
FIGURE 3-17: You can move the box 5 meters, change your mind, and move it 15 meters instead.
Selecting what you mean to select
If you want to move, rotate, copy, scale, or otherwise manipulate existing geometry in your model, you need to select it first. Your selection tells SketchUp what geometry you want to change.
Technically, every single thing you see in your modeling window is an entity. SketchUp has three kinds of entities:Elements are basic pieces of geometry, like edges and faces.Objects are made up of elements. Components and groups, which we cover in Chapter 5, are objects. Anytime you want to make a separate thing with its own name and metadata, you make an object. In SketchUp, objects are everywhere.Annotations are things like text, guides, dimensions, and section planes. Annotations is kind of a catch-all category; anything that isn’t an element or an object is an annotation.
Click anything in your model to select it — while you’re using the Select (E) tool, of course.
To select more than one thing, hold down the Shift key while you click all the things you want to select. The Shift key works both ways when it comes to the Select (E) tool. You can use it to add to your set of selected things (as we mention earlier), but you can also use it to subtract something from your selection. In other words, if you have a bunch of stuff selected, and you want to deselect something in particular, just hold down Shift while you click it; it isn’t selected anymore.
Selected entities in SketchUp look different depending on what they are:Selected edges turn blue.Selected faces change from plain gray to blue-gray (if you’re using the default style).Selected groups and components have a blue box around them.Selected annotations turn blue.
A much fancier way to select things in your model is to double- and triple-click them. When you double-click a face, you select that face and all the edges that define it. Double-clicking an edge gives you that edge plus all the faces that are connected to it. When you triple-click an edge or a face, you select the whole conglomeration that it’s part of. See Figure 3-18.
You can select several things at the same time by dragging a box around them. You have two kinds of selection boxes; the one you use depends on what you’re trying to select (see Figure 3-19):Window selection: If you click and drag from left to right to make a selection box, you create a window selection. In this case, only things that are entirely inside your selection box are selected.Crossing selection: If you click and drag from right to left to make a selection box, you create a crossing selection. With one of these, anything your selection box touches (including what’s inside) is selected. The Window selection box (left to right) is shown using solid lines, while a Crossing box (right to left) uses dashed lines.
FIGURE 3-18: Try single-, double-, and triple-clicking edges and faces in your model to make different kinds of selections.
FIGURE 3-19: Dragging left to right selects everything inside your selection box. Dragging right to left selects everything that your selection box touches.
Whether you have color blindness or the default selection colors and other colored modeling cues simply don’t work for you, know that you can change the selection color, the axis colors, and several other visual cues. You control these colors with SketchUp styles and preferences settings. See Chapter 10 for details. The doctor told the patient that they were color-blind. That came right out of the magenta…
Moving and copying like a champ
Moving things
Using the Move tool usually involves several steps:
1 Tap the spacebar to invoke the Select (E) tool.
2 Select the entity or entities that you want to move.
3 Activate the Move tool.
4 Click a starting point for the move and then move the cursor.As with most SketchUp tools, it’s best not to hold the mouse button down while moving; just click at the destination.
5 Click the destination point.
The maneuver isn’t complicated, but getting the hang of it takes a bit of practice.
Click, move, and click; don’t drag your mouse. Many new SketchUp users are tempted to move stuff by clicking and dragging. That works, but in the long run, moving things is harder that way. Instead, practice clicking to pick something up, moving your mouse without holding down any buttons, and clicking again to put down whatever you’re moving.
Click a point that will let you position whatever you’re trying to move. Figure 3-20, for example, shows two boxes. To stack one