Navigating the SketchUp Interface

The SketchUp interface is designed to provide an easy way to navigate the tools and features available to you. At the same time, SketchUp offers robust customization options to better match your workflows.

The Menu Bar

Found at the top of the interface, the Menu bar provides access to menus containing most of SketchUp's tools, commands, and settings. The following menus appear on the Menu bar:

• SketchUp (MacOS Only) – Provides access to SketchUp’s About page, Preferences, and MacOS-specific options.

• File – Options to open, save, import, export, or print your models. You can also find Add Location here. 

• Edit – Basic editing options along with a few visibility and grouping options.

• View – Interface visibility and model appearance options.

• Camera – Camera controls.

• Draw – Access to basic drawing tools.

• Tools – An extended list of tools to choose from.

• Procedures – Access to Procedural Tools for Copy Along, Follow Me, and procedural components for Solid Tools.

• Window – Tray and panel management along with component options.

• Extensions – Access to Extension Warehouse and installed extensions.

• Help – Links to helpful resources and the option to sign out.

Toolbars

When you first open SketchUp, you’ll see the Getting Started toolbar along the top of the window. This default toolbar contains all the basic tools you need to begin creating 3D models.

When enabled, the Large Tool Set appears on the right side and contains access to even more tools and features. You can also add toolbars that represent groups of tools, or create your own toolbars. For more information on SketchUp’s toolbars, see Toolbars.

Model and Scene Tabs

Just below the Getting Started toolbar, you’ll find the docks for your model and scene tabs.

Model Tabs

The model tabs are on top and allow you to open and switch between different models within the same SketchUp window. Each tab represents a different model. If you hover over a tab, you’ll see a preview of the file that tab represents. You can reorder these tabs as needed. 

Dragging a tab off the dock or double-clicking a docked tab opens a remote modeling window you can arrange outside of the current SketchUp window.

All toolbars and panels remain in your primary workspace, but can still be used to edit the model or document in the floating window as long as it is your active window. You can return the window to its original tabbed state by dragging it back or double-clicking its name.

Closing all open tabs will return you to SketchUp’s Welcome Window.

Scene Tabs

The scene tabs appear just under the model tabs. With the scene tabs, you can switch between the different scenes you’ve created for your model. Just like the model tabs, you can add a new scene, rearrange tabs as needed, and hover over a tab for a preview.

The Drawing Area

The Drawing Area is where you create your model. The drawing axes define the 3D space of the drawing area and provide a sense of direction in 3D space while you work. When you first open a model, you may also see a simple model of a person to help give you a sense of scale. 

The Status Bar

The Status bar appears at the bottom of the window and contains four important parts:

• Geo-location – If you have geolocated your model, you'll see location data if you hover over the pin icon. Clicking the icon opens Geo-location options.

• Model Info – A quick link to the Model Info dialog. For more information on these options, see the Model Info section in Model Templates. Hovering over the Model Info button will show you who created the currently selected entity using SketchUp’s Credits feature. For more information about adding credits to your model, see Using the Credits Feature.

• Tooltips – Whenever you use a tool, you will see helpful information about that tool in the middle area of the status bar including usage and modifiers.

• Measurements – As you draw, you'll see the corresponding measurements appear in the Measurements section of the status bar. You can also type values here to modify the measurements of selected entities or create evenly spaced copies.

More Interface Options

SketchUp offers several ways you can customize your interface to help you model the way you want to. Take a look at these articles for more information:

• Model Templates – Templates help determine a model’s default settings. SketchUp includes several default templates, but you can also create your own.

• Units of Measurement – SketchUp offers multiple options for more precise measurements.

• Toolbars – SketchUp is nothing without its tools. You can use SketchUp’s default toolbars or create your own.

• Dialog Boxes and Trays – Modeless dialog boxes, also known as trays, help to organize a lot of SketchUp’s features and provide easy access to them while modeling.