Selecting Edges to Offset
In the previous task, we offset surfaces with the Offset tool. But sometimes, you don’t want to offset a whole surface—you just want to offset selected edges.To see what that means, take a look at the door in Figure 9.6.
FIGURE 9.6 A door.
Now suppose that you’d like to draw a frame around the door. Using the Offset tool to offset the door’s surface leads to trouble, however, because the frame the Offset tool is drawing overlaps the lintel (the board at the bottom of a door), as you can see in Figure 9.7.
FIGURE 9.7 An offset overlapping the lintel.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just offset the top three edges of the door, as shown in Figure 9.8?
That way, you could use the Offset tool to draw the door frame without having the frame overlap the door’s lintel.
You can do this if you use the Offset tool with edges, not surfaces. Here’s how it works:
1. Click the Start Using SketchUp button.
2. Select the Line tool in the Getting Started toolbar.
3. Draw the door and lintel as shown in Figure 9.6.
4. Select the Select tool in the toolbar.
FIGURE 9.8 An offset using edges.
5. Hold down the Ctrl key (Option key on the Mac) and click the three upper edges of the door. Holding down the Ctrl (or Option) key means you can make multiple selections just by clicking them with the Select tool.
When you’re done, the top three edges of the door should be selected.
6. From the Large Tool Set select the Offset tool (open the Large Tool Set from the View menu if necessary).
7. Click inside the door.
8. Move the mouse to make an offset appear. The Offset tool draws an offset following the edges of the current surface, as you can see in Figure 9.8.
9. Size the offset surface by moving the mouse.
10. Release the mouse button. This locks the offset into place, as you can see in Figure 9.9.
FIGURE 9.9 A new door frame.
As you can see, offsetting surfaces is easy.
Thanks :
Steven Holzner,
SamsTeachYourself Google SketchUp 8 in 10 Minutes
