Push/Pull Tool

Use the Push/Pull Tool to push and pull Face entities to add volume to or subtract volume from your models. You can use push/pull to create volume out of any face type, including circular, rectangular, and abstract faces. Activate the Push/Pull Tool from either the Modification Toolbar or the Tools menu.

Keyboard Shortcut: P

Note - Push/Pull works only on faces, and therefore does not work when SketchUp is set to a Wireframe rendering style.

Creating a Volume

Push/Pull Tool is used to expand or decrease the volume of geometry in your models. To push or pull faces:

1. Select the Push/Pull Tool. The cursor will change to a 3D rectangle with an up arrow.
2. Click on the face that you want to expand or decrease.

3. Move the cursor to create (or decrease) volume.

Note - Press the Esc key at any point during the operation to start over.

4. Click when the volume has reached the desired size.

Note - You can also press and hold the mouse button, drag the mouse, and release the mouse button to create a volume.

Note - When you create a single face, as shown previously in step 4, on the ground plane (the red/green plane), SketchUp assumes you are going to be using that face as the floor of a structure. The front of the face (gray) points down and the back of the face (purple) points up. When you use the Push/Pull Tool on this single face (in the blue direction), you are really pulling up from the back of the face. The positive blue direction temporarily acts as the "below ground" or negative blue direction. A double-click, after performing the initial push/pull, applies a positive amount and returns the entity to the single face you started with.

Repeating a Push/Pull Operation

Double-clicking on another face immediately after a push/pull operation will automatically apply another push/pull operation, of the same amount, to the other face.

Note - The side of the face that you double-click on affects the direction of the repeated push/pull operation. If your last push/pull was on a front face, and you double-click on the back side face, the push/pull will occur in the opposite direction.

Creating Voids

Push/pull will implode the shape into the volume and toward the back face of the volume when you use push/pull on a shape that is part of another volume. SketchUp will subtract the shape and create a 3D void if the shape is pushed completely out of the back of the volume as in the following example.

Note - This operation only works when the front and back faces are parallel. Such as when you have two parallel walls in a house and you want to create a void for a door or window.

Creating a New Push/Pull Starting Face

Push/Pull a face (click on the face, move, and then click again) and then press and release Ctrl (the cursor will contain a plus sign) and push/pull again. The lines that represent the edges of the top-most face will remain as the starting point for a new push/pull operation. This mechanism is useful for creating quick multilevel buildings. The following image shows a face that was pulled up (left), then the user pressed and released Ctrl and pulled again (middle) and then the user pressed and released Ctrl and pulled again (right).

This operation is particularly useful for creating quick space planning diagrams (such as for an office building). Simply use a combination of push/pull and push/pull with Ctrl to create offices, halls, break rooms, meeting rooms and so on (with walls created when Ctrl is pressed).

Pushing and Pulling a Curved Face

You can use the Push/Pull Tool on faces that have an arc as an edge similarly to using the Push/Pull Tool on regular faces. The curved face that results from the push/pull operation is called a Surface entity. Surfaces can be adjusted as a whole, but are comprised of a number of faces or a curved face set.

Tip - Select View > Hidden Geometry to view and manipulate the individual faces in the surface.

Specifying Precise Push/Pull Values

The displacement of a push/pull operation is displayed in the Value Control Box. You can specify an exact push/pull value either during or immediately after your push/pull operation. Negative values will perform the push/pull in the opposite direction.