Introduction to the SketchUp Interface

The SketchUp user interface is designed to be simple and easy to use. The main parts of the SketchUp user interface are the title bar, menus, toolbars, drawing area, status bar, and the value control box.

Note - The previous image contains a screenshot of the Google SketchUp Pro application. The Google SketchUp (free) application looks the same.

Title Bar

The title bar (at the top of SketchUp) contains the standard Microsoft Windows controls (close, minimize, and maximize) on the right, and the name of the currently opened file.

A blank drawing area appears when you start SketchUp and the name of the currently opened file is "Untitled" in the title bar, indicating that you have not yet saved your work.

Menus

Menus appear below the title bar. The majority of SketchUp tools, commands, and settings are available within these menus. The menus that appear by default are: File, Edit, View, Camera, Draw, Tools, Window, and Help.

Toolbars

The Toolbars, appearing below the menus and along the left side of the application contain a user-defined set of tools and controls. Toolbar visibility is toggled under the View > Toolbars menu item.

Drawing Area

The drawing area is where you create your model. The 3D space of the drawing area is identified visually by the drawing axes.

Status Bar

The status bar is the long gray rectangular area at the bottom of the drawing area.

The left side of the status bar displays tips for the currently used drawing tools, including special functions accessible using keyboard shortcuts. Watch the status bar to discover advanced capabilities of each of the SketchUp tools.

Note - Use the resize handle to make the drawing area larger so you can see the entire message in the status bar.

Value Control Box (VCB)

The value control box (VCB) is located on the right side of the status bar. The VCB displays dimensional information while you draw. You can also enter values into the VCB to manipulate currently selected entities, such as creating elements of a specific dimension. Other behaviors of the VCB are as follows:

• You can type a value in the VCB before or after an operation is complete as long as the value is entered prior to the start of a new operation. Detailed information on the VCB values accepted for each tool appears in the Drawing Tools and Modification Tools sections of this user's guide.
• You must press the Enter or Return key to accept a typed value.
• You can change the value of the geometry as many times as you like before you start a new operation.
• The VCB cannot be used again to enter values for a tool once you have exited the tool.
• SketchUp will display a tilde (~) before the number to indicate that a number is not precise (not within precision settings as set in the Units panel of the Model Info Dialog Box).
• It is not necessary to click in the VCB before typing. The VCB is always awaiting input from your keyboard.
• You can type values in the VCB using an alternate measuring system than the default system. SketchUp will convert the value to the default system. For example, you can type in 3' 6" even if you are using metric system as your default. Units are set within the Units panel of the Model Info dialog box.

Window Resize Handle

To the right of the VCB is the window resize handle which is used to change the size of the drawing area.

Scene Tabs

Click on a scene tab to switch between the scenes in your file. Scene Tabs are created for each scene as each scene is created using the Scene Manager.

Scene Tab Context Menu Items

Scene Tabs contain their own context menus. Context-click on a scene tab to access its context menu.

Move Left/Move Right

The Move Left and Move Right menu items are used to reposition a scene in the series of scenes.

Add

The Add menu item is used to add a new scene to the current file.

Update

The Update menu item is used to update a scene if you have made changes to the scene.

Delete

The Delete menu item is used to delete the currently selected scene.

Play Animation

The Play Animation menu item starts an animation. See the Scenes and Animations topic for further information.

Scene Manager

The Scene Manager menu item invokes the Scene Manager dialog box.