In the last few weeks I’ve answered questions from a number of SketchUp users related to printing their drawings. These questions seem to fall into two basic categories. The first is just printing views of their model and getting to fill the page. The other questions relate to printing to scale. I’ve done some blog posts in the past on the topic of printing to scale but it’s been a few years. The following video attempts to answer some of these question.
A key point to consider when printing to scale from SketchUp is that the drawing window often needs to be adjusted in size so its proportions closely fit the model. The window length to height ratio directly affects printing. Adjusting the window proportions in SketchUp 2013 and earlier on the PC was somewhat problematic because it rearranged the toolbars. Switching back to full screen meant you had to reposition the toolbars, too. Since SketchUp 2014, the toolbars don’t get rearranged so you can adjust the window size and return it to full screen with no problem at all.
Although I don’t show it in the video, there’s an extension called Eneroth Viewport Resizer which you might find helpful for resizing the window. It’s available from the extension Warehouse.
Another option that I didn’t show is to draw a rectangle the size of the paper you’ll be printing on and use it as a guide when resizing the drawing window. This will help you make sure the drawing window proportions are close to the proportions of the paper.
It’s much easier to print to scale using SketchUp Pro because you can do it through LayOut. You can make higher quality prints and create PDF files which can be sent to others for printing. For large patterns, you could set the paper size such that the entire pattern will fit on a single sheet. The PDF can then be sent to an office supply store or a printer for printing on large paper or perhaps even on Mylar film. If you need to print full size patterns frequently, you might find the ease and improved quality of the prints worth the price of SketchUp Pro.
–Dave
Comments
Dave
I noticed when you were in layout you rendered before you converted to a PDF. Can you elaborate a bit on this option and should we always render before we convert to a PDF?
Thanks for another great blog post
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
By default, SketchUp viewports are rendered as Raster images. Printing directly from SketchUp results in raster images, too.. Vector and Hybrid render modes in LayOut convert edges to vector lines which tend to look crisper than raster lines in the PDF. I prefer the look of vector lines to lines rendered as raster but there's no requirement to do that. If you get satisfactory results leaving them rendered as Raster, that's fine.
Raster renders are fastest so if you need to make changes to the model and then update the reference, you might find it works better to leave them in Raster. If you want them rendered with vector lines for the PDF, change the render mode right before export.
Raster images tend to look pretty rough on screen but that's due to the Display Resolution render setting in Document Setup. You can increase the display resolution but it slows the rendering down and may not be worth the wait. The export quality is generally higher so you might also find that the PDFs look fine.
Also note that textures are raster images. If you render in Vector you'll get flat colors instead of textures. Shadows won't be displayed either. Hybrid render will give you vector edges, raster textures, and shadows.
I'm glad you found the blog post helpful.
-Dave
So, how many out there besides Dave have Sketchup Pro? I don't see many hands. Maybe more info on how to make larger full size drawings from Sketchup Make would be appropriate?
@dabotofus, I showed how to make larger scale drawing in the video and although I used SketchUp Pro, the exact same process applies to SketchUp Make. Printing large drawings typically gets tiled onto multiple sheets as shown in the video but that is going to be determined by the capabilities of the printer. If your printer can handle larger paper and the print driver recognizes that large paper, SketchUp will be able to print to it.
-Dave
Hi,
I purchased SketchUp Basic a while back. I want to use it but I cannot find it on my page. There are other video tutorials I have purchased but I cannot find them. I forgot how to access these items from fine woodworking. Would you send me a reminder how to access these?
Willis Davis
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