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 Rectangles are simple shapes, but for those of you who like pizzaz in your rectangles, LayOut has four rectangle tools. Each tool does a little something different with the rectangles lines or corners, as shown in the following figure:

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:

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 To draw the most basic lines in your LayOut document, you can use the orderly Line tool to draw straight lines or its freewheeling cousin, the Freehand tool, to draw loopy swerving lines any which way you like. You see an example of both in the following figure.

LayOut's line and shape tools make it easy to draw visual elements that give your document a polished look. These tools can help you organize content on each page so your audience can easily follow along. For example, you might add a titleblock to convey basic information or highlight a detail in your project with a clipping mask, as shown in the following figure. With LayOut's line and shape tools, you can

To select an on-screen element in LayOut, you just click it with the Select tool (). You can then move, resize, rotate, or otherwise edit the selection. If only changing an actual building were that easy! Like SketchUp, LayOut has a few tricks for selecting multiple entities, too:

Choosing a Template The first thing you will see when opening LayOut is the Welcome Window.

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.

LayOut is packed with tools and features to help you create high-quality documents and presentations of your SketchUp models.

LayOut and SketchUp Pro are designed to work together. After you insert a SketchUp models into a LayOut document, you can design the document to highlight your 3D model's best features. If you ever need to change or update your original SketchUp model, you can update the model in LayOut so that all the details are synched automatically.