Sketchup1

Sketchup Introduction

Sketchup is a computer aided drafting (CAD) program that you can get for free. Click on the following link to go and find it. @http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/index.html Sketchup is a very powerful program but it will also work on older machines. Once you have down loaded it you will need to start the program up and then we can get started.

The first thing you will see after you start the program up will be a small screen and on the top right it will have a button that says (Choose Template) click on that button. Then it will give you several options such as if you want to work in feet and inches or in meters, etc. Scroll all the way to the bottom and select "Beginning Training Templete - Inches" Then click on the bottom right button (Start using Sketchup). Then we can get started working.

Our first lesson will be how to use the line tool. There are two ways to select the __**line**__ tool, 1-click on the icon or type the letter "__**L**__". Now to go back to curser all you have to do is press the space bar and it will bring you back to the arrow. Once you have selected the line tool move your mouse around and click somewhere on the screen. Now the mouse away from the point you just clicked and it will have a line extending from the initial point you clicked. The first place you click will be your starting point. Now move your mouse in a circle slowly and you will see every time the line is parallel with the green line it will also turn green and when you are parallel with the red line it will turn red. This will be helpful in the future when you are drawing and you are trying to build shapes.

Now the first project I want you to build is a box. With the line you already have move your mouse to the right and up and down until the line is red and then click the left mouse button and this will set the other end of your line and will turn black. Now move your mouse down and you should see that it has started another line that started where you ended last. Now move down and to the left and right until your line is green. Then click your mouse again and set your line. Now I want you to start another line and go to the left and I want you to make it the same length as your first line. An easy way to do this is to take and move your tool over the point that you want your line to be the same length as, then hover there for a moment and then go down. You should see a dotted green vertical line, then keep moving downward until your line turns red which will be parallel with your first line since you drew it parallel to the red plane. Finally draw a vertical line until it snaps to the first corner and complete your rectangle. Once you have done this your rectangle should be a shade darker. This tells you that all of your lines are connected and your lines are all on the same plane, and you have a closed loop.

Once you have done this we need to talk about single and double clicking and clicking and holding. If you single click and let go of the mouse button then move the mouse your line moves with you. Then you can click again to set the end of your line our your end point. Another way to do this is to click and hold your mouse button down to set your first point then while you are still holding the mouse down you can move it to where you want the line to end and when you let the button up it will set the end point of your line. It is a matter of preference of how you do this.

escape key