To create a 3D model in SketchUp, you're constantly switching among the drawing tools, views, components, and organizational tools. In this article, you find several examples that illustrate ways you can use these tools together to model a specific shape or object. The examples illustrate a few of the different applications for creating 3D models in SketchUp: woodworking, modeling parts or abstract objects, and creating buildings. The examples are loosely ordered from the simple to the complex.

As you draw 3D models in SketchUp, the ability to divide edges and faces enables you to create and manipulate your geometry in complex ways. You can also explode entities, such as circles and polygons, into the individual segments.

Your model is more than just straight lines. SketchUp can help you create curved geometry using arcs. Before you begin drawing arcs, here are a few handy details about the way arc entities work:

Tip: Inserted SketchUp files can now contain Dashed Lines, to learn more about managing those new line types with inserted files, see Working with SketchUp Dashes in Imported Models Whether you want to draw the long arc of history or just a precise section of a circle, LayOut has four arc tools that enable you to draw an arc any way you like:

If you're new to creating documents and presentations in LayOut, a quick tour of the interface and few mousing tips can help orient you to LayOut's basic tools and features. Parts of the LayOut interface, like the Measurements box and some of the mousing tricks, look and feel like SketchUp. Other parts, like some menus and dialog boxes, are unique to LayOut. Ready to tour the interface? Let the following sections be your guide.