#Sketchup line color and weight how to#
#Sketchup line color and weight software#
#Sketchup line color and weight series#

For example, take a look at the vertical joint between the cased opening and the floor base trim. This is also the pen weight I choose when I have a line that delineates either a material change or a seam in the material that is in the same plane. As a result, most of my hatches are the lightest pen weight on my drawings. Since I tend to be a fan of material specific hatches, I donвЂ™t want my drawing, which is composed of several lines very close together) to turn into one big fat dark line. ThatвЂ™s because I have reserved the heavy line weight for the perimeter outline of the room.ДЇinally, you have the pochГ© or very light line weight. As a result, this inner line is drawn with a medium line weight. Moving in you have the cased opening вЂ“ and the inferred space beyond ( as far as you know) is set at an infinite distance вЂ“ but we know itвЂ™s something between a few feet and a bunch of feet (just not infinity). the outer line of the casing sits in front of the wall, but only by a very small amount (3/4вЂі typically.) As a result of this tiny distance, this outer line of the casing is drawn with a light line weight. I am going to say that the surface of the wall is our 0вЂі plane. Everything is related to the distance between adjacent surfaces, so letвЂ™s focus in on the cased door opening right in the middle. If you were in my office sitting next to me, I would sketch up something like this elevation to walk you through my logic when I choose my line weights.

#Sketchup line color and weight how to#

The irony of this sketch вЂ¦ it isnвЂ™t very good ( look at how I wrote вЂњmediumвЂќ, itвЂ™s like I forgot how to spell it halfway through) but I thought that I should come up with something that might quickly explain the whole heavy-medium-light line weight decision-making process. See? ThatвЂ™s not so bad, and with just a teensy amount of additional effort, the improved line weight will have a significant impact on the clarity of your drawings. Hatching вЂ“ youвЂ™ll be able to see that hatching plays a major role in all of my drawings Light вЂ“ detail lines that would otherwise turn into a big blob of ink when printed Medium вЂ“ usually reserved for delineating masses or opening in walls (think of a cased opening in an interior elevation) Heavy вЂ“ the perimeter of individual component items, things I am cutting through, or whenever adjacent planes are fairly far apart Profile вЂ“ very heavy, typically the profile of the drawing container or the ground plane Profile вЂ“ basically IвЂ™m tracing the perimeter of the components I typically work with 3 line weights when sketching (because IвЂ™m not completely crazy) and 5 when I am drafting digitally. I am fairly consistent with my use of line weight, and it doesnвЂ™t really matter if I am sketching or working digitally. Instead, I am going to elevate this conversation a bit and talk about something other than your digital pen settings, so if thatвЂ™s the only thing you came looking for, prepare to be sorely disappointed. So how do I answer these insanely specific questions? By ignoring them.

#Sketchup line color and weight software#

I consider myself extremely proficient in AutoCAD, know just a tiny bit about Revit, and IвЂ™ve never used any of the other software platforms. Part of the reason I was hoping to hold off on the topic of architectural line weights was that people are asking me insanely specific questions вЂ¦ AND these folks work in AutoCAD or Vectorworks or Revit or ArchiCad вЂ¦ and on and on. Despite my efforts, I canвЂ™t ignore this topic any longer вЂ“ and I only made it two posts before caving into the pressure.Д«ut where to start? Getting your line weights correct is 37% science, 59% art, and 22% personal preference вЂ¦ unless you work in my office and my preference will eventually become your preference.

#Sketchup line color and weight series#

ItвЂ™s time for the next entry in my Architectural Graphics series and due to overwhelming feedback, itвЂ™s apparently time to talk about line weights.