SketchUp Beginner's Question: Resizing Objects

[Jeff Wright]

I've downloaded and am printing/reading the 370-page User's Manual for SketchUp, but have a basic question as a rookie user.

Can I resize an object, say, a rectangle, AFTER I have created it? I can't find any way to come back to a created object and change it's dimensions.

Also, once an object is created and I've moved on to other objects, is there any way to determine a parts dimensions other than using the tape measure tool?

I have been delaying learning SketchUp, but have made a commitment to mastering it. It is as impressive as Aldus' PageMaker page layout program was back in the mid 1980's when it was introduced. I recall spending $10,000 on Apple's first laser writer, external 20MB hard drive, and the Mac Plus with about a 9 inch monitor and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. About four years ago I put the complete system out on the sidewalk for the trash man to pick up. Should have donated it to the Smithsonian!

[Jamie Buxton]

Immediately after you've drawn a rectangle, look at the lower right corner of the screen. You'll see there the drawn dimensions. Type new ones, hit enter, and the rectangle resizes to the typed dimensions.

Or you can Select one edge of the rectangle, and Move it a new position. Doing that twice resizes the rectangle to anything you want.

Or you can use Scale. It scales by percentage in all three axes. You can use it on simple objects like rectangles, or you can use it on big complex assemblies.

[Jeff Wright]

Thanks Jamie.