Caution - Google strongly recommends you keep the
Auto-Save option checked to ensure that your valuable work is retained.
SketchUp's application preferences are used to set various global behaviors for SketchUp. Activate the Preferences from the Window menu.
Use the Compatibility preferences panel to identify component and group highlighting and mouse wheel setting preferences.
Bounding box only: Click the Bounding box only checkbox to toggle between displaying only one bounding box or displaying a bounding box for each component and it's corresponding edges when selected.
Use the Drawing preferences panel to define global mouse (or other input device) behavior.
The Click Style options allows you to define how your input device reacts to clicks.
Click-drag-release: Click the Click-drag-release radio button to force the Line Tool to draw by click and holding the mouse button to define the start point of the line, dragging the mouse to extend the line, and releasing the mouse to establish the end point of the line.
Auto Detect: Click the Auto Detect radio button to use either Click-drag-release and Click-move-click as necessary.
Click-move-click: Click the Click-move-click radio button to force the Line Tool to draw by clicking and releasing the mouse button to define the start point of the line, moving the mouse to extend the line, and clicking again to establish the end point of the line.
Continue Line Drawing: Click the Continue line drawing checkbox to force the Line Tool to treat an end point as the start point of a new line, saving you one extra click required establish a new start point for the second line.
The Miscellaneous options define other global mouse behaviors.
Display crosshairs: Click the Display crosshairs checkbox to display a set of colored crosshairs (corresponding to axes colors) when drawing.
Use the Extensions preferences panel to add or remove SketchUp extensions from the user interface. An extension can be an add-on tool or feature created by Google that is not necessarily a part of core SketchUp functionality.
Click in the check box next to the extension that you want to enable in SketchUp. The extension will be available (menu items and optional toolbar) the next time your run SketchUp.
The Files preferences panel defines various locations for files used by SketchUp (such as the default location for Components and Materials).
Use the Models field to define the default location for all of your models. SketchUp uses this location as the starting point for all open and save file operations.
Use the Components field to define the default location used when you open or create a library using the Component Browser.
Use the Materials field to define the default location used when you open or a create a library using the Materials Browser.
Use the Styles field to define the default location used when you open or a create a library using the Styles Browser.
Use the Texture Images field to define the default location for all images that can be used as a texture. SketchUp uses this location as the starting point for all File > Insert > Image as Texture operations.
Use the Watermark Images field to define the default location for all images that can be used as a watermark.
Use the Export Models field to define the default location for all models that are exported. SketchUp uses this location as the starting point for all File > Export > 3D Model operations.
Use the General preferences panel to define global save and user interface settings.
Click on the Create Backup checkbox to automatically create a backup file whenever you save a drawing. The backup file is the previously saved version of the file. This file will be saved to the same folder as the drawing file. For example, if your drawing is hotel.skp, the backup will be called hotel.skb.
Click the Auto-Save checkbox to automatically save changes to your drawing into a temporary file at specific time interval. This temporary file is available on the file system should SketchUp abnormally exit. Type the auto-save interval, in minutes, into the minutes field.
The temporary file's name will be a combination of the word "AutoSave" with the original filename, such as AutoSave_hotel.skp. This file is saved in the directory where the original .skp file exists.
Caution - Google strongly recommends you keep the
Auto-Save option checked to ensure that your valuable work is retained.
SketchUp checks your model for unrecoverable errors during the auto-save, preventing the overwriting of a good auto-save file. Sketchup will display a dialog box in the rare case that unrecoverable errors are found in your model. This dialog box contain the option to quit SketchUp and send a report. Google recommends you click on the quit SketchUp and send report button to terminate SketchUp and preserve your previously valid auto-save file. This report contains valuable information regarding the unrecoverable errors.
SketchUp has two differently sized Tool Bars. The large tool buttons are easier for some users to see and use (they provide larger areas to click with your mouse) and are easier to use with a pen and tablet. Smaller buttons save screen space, allowing a larger drawing area.
Use Large Tool Buttons: Click on the Use large tool buttons checkbox to toggle between large and small tool buttons.
The Check Models for Problems options allow you to enable problem checking for your SketchUp models.
Automatically check models for problems: Check the Automatically check model for problems checkbox to check for minor problems with your model. These problems can occur given the infinite flexibility that SketchUp provides when designing in 3D. Your model is assessed for problems when it is loaded or saved. Google strongly recommends checking this box to ensure that problems are corrected proactively, allowing your model to perform optimally. You must manually check for problems using the Fix Problems button in the Statistics panel of the Model Info dialog box if you leave this checkbox unchecked.
Automatically fix problems when they are found: Check the Automatically fix problems when they are found checkbox to have SketchUp fix problems found in your model automatically (without having to display a dialog box). Leave this checkbox unchecked if you want SketchUp to display a dialog box (with the Always fix my models, Fix it now, and Fix it later options) when a problem is found.
The Scenes and Styles options allow you to enable warnings for style changes.
Warn of Style Changes When Creating Scenes: Click the Warn of style changes when creating scenes if you want to be notified when a style has changed when adding scenes to your file.
Use the OpenGL preferences panel to define how the OpenGL standard should be applied within SketchUp.
Note - You might notice intermittent streaks or small
spots of light within face shadows. A minimal amount of these artifacts
is to be expected on most systems, and can vary greatly with the quality
of your OpenGL
driver.
Caution - Certain OpenGL
drivers do not fully support casting shadows on faces.
Caution - SketchUp's Shadow feature can have a severe
performance impact on slower computers or those using software rendering.
The Acceleration options allow you to speed up OpenGL drawing.
Use Hardware Acceleration: Click on the Use Hardware acceleration checkbox to use the hardware acceleration features of a video card. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of 3D drivers in the consumer video card market are 100% OpenGL compatible and can use this feature (though many cards claim to be 100% OpenGL compatible). Most 3d drivers are designed for games, and are rarely tested using other 3D programs. Consequently, numerous incompatibility problems can occur requiring a fix from the video card manufacturer. Disable this option if you are having problems with the 3D rendering of your models or if your video card is not 100% OpenGL compatible and does not support hardware acceleration.
Note - Hardware Acceleration might only be available
on your system for certain resolutions and color depths. Check
the system settings for your graphics card to see if it supports hardware
acceleration (using the Control Panel
on Microsoft Windows).
Google cannot control the quality of the OpenGL driver on your computer system. Video card device drivers are proprietary and are maintained solely by the manufacturer of the video card in your system. Therefore, Google cannot guarantee that SketchUp will work with hardware acceleration on your system. Refer to the OpenGL topic for further information.
Check the Correct reversed picking driver bug checkbox to correct an issue whereby some video card device drivers cause SketchUp to select the reverse of faces with the Select Tool. This setting provides a solution to this problem.
Check the Use fast feedback checkbox to increase performance when editing large models. SketchUp runs a test to assess whether your video card can support this option on startup. SketchUp will activate (check) this option if fast feedback is supported. You can also attempt to use this feature by checking the Use Fast Feedback checkbox manually, however you will be warned by SketchUp that enabling this option could cause problems on your system if fast feedback is not supported.
Google strongly recommends that you set your driver's anti-aliasing setting to application controlled (which is normally the default setting for most graphic card drivers) to ensure that fast feedback functions properly. It is possible that you will see rendering anomalies, such as blurring of the model, when using fast feedback under a non-application controlled setting.
The capabilities table lists one or more different graphic card settings combinations that might work well within SketchUp. These combinations were selected by SketchUp, on execution, from a large list of settings combinations supported by your graphics card. SketchUp defaults to the most basic of these combinations to ensure your models will be rendered properly. Choose a different combination if you want to alter your graphics capabilities within SketchUp.
Anti-Alias: SketchUp generally defaults to a combination with a zero anti-alias value. Higher anti-alias values, such as 2x or 4x, can create smoother looking lines in SketchUp. However, you might experience some flickering and reduced rendering performance if a higher anti-alias value is selected.
Details: Click on the Details button to view details about your video card.
Use the Shortcuts preferences panel to define keyboard shortcuts for most SketchUp commands.
Keyboard shortcuts can dramatically speed up your drawing by allowing you to change tools while keeping the mouse cursor near the drawing area. To assign a keyboard shortcut:
Note - The list of commands available in the Shortcuts
panel is dynamically generated and includes all menu items and active
context menu items. Some context menu items become active only after performing
another task. For example, select a face to activate the Reverse Faces
command and then open Preferences > Shortcuts to set a keyboard shortcut
for Reverse Faces.
You can have multiple keyboard shortcut combinations for each command. SketchUp will prompt you before allowing you to assign a keyboard shortcut that is already assigned to another command. Some keys are reserved for use by Microsoft Windows and can not be assigned as a keyboard shortcut.
Note -
You can save your shortcuts to a .dat
file for copying to other computers. See the Files panel in this topic
for more information.
Temporary focus is given to the VCB when you type a number while in the drawing area. Therefore, numbers cannot be used as shortcut keys. The letters S, R, X, and the symbols / and * can be used within keyboard shortcuts and as you enter values in the VCB. Prepend any of these letters with a number in the VCB to ensure that a command with a corresponding keyboard shortcut letter is not invoked. For example, 7s would be the correct entry to redefine a segmentation in the VCB. However, s7 will activate whatever command is invoked with the letter S as a keyboard shortcut.
Tip
- Do not use the spacebar or backspace keys as keyboard shortcuts
to avoid conflict with values entered in the VCB.
Use the Template preferences panel to designate a SketchUp file that you would want to use as a template for all of your subsequent models.
A template file contains default settings from the Model Info dialog box and base geometry. To create a template:
You can load a template SketchUp file manually using File > Open every time you want to create a model. Or, you can identify a file as a template using the Template section of the Preferences dialog box to load the template automatically when you run SketchUp.
Select a template from the list of templates to load a template (if your SketchUp template file is in the Templates directory). Click the Browse button to locate templates that do not appear in the drop-down list.
Your template will load every time you run SketchUp.
Import and export your keyboard shortcuts and file preferences using the Import and Export buttons at the bottom of each preferences panel. These preferences are exported as a Preferences.dat file, by default, that can be imported into other SketchUp installations. For example, if you use SketchUp on a desktop machine at work, but want to use it at home, export the Preferences.dat file at work and import it on your home machine.
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SketchUp User Guide (Microsoft Windows): Application Preferences |
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