Google SketchUp: The Missing Manual

Chapter 15. Designing Edge Styles in Style Builder (SketchUp Pro)

As described in Chapter 6, a style tells SketchUp how to draw edges, how to shade faces, and how to display color in the imaginary ground and sky planes. In the free version of SketchUp, you can choose from dozens of predesigned styles that come with the program, and you can modify styles by mixing and matching these elements. You can even load styles created by other SketchUp designers. A style’s edges—especially when they look hand-sketched (Modifying Styles Using the Mix Tab)—add some of the most distinctive effects. Unfortunately, the one thing you can’t do in the free version is create your own edge styles.

Tip

The name “Style Builder” is a little misleading. The program works on only one element of styles—the sketchy edges that give SketchUp its hand-drawn look.

If you have SketchUp Pro, you can create your own styles using the Style Builder tool. Style Builder is a standalone program with a focused purpose. It helps you create sketchy edges and package them in new SketchUp Styles documents. Once you’ve saved the edges in a .style file, anyone with any version of SketchUp can load them and use them. To perform this feat of SketchUp design, you need SketchUp Pro, Style Builder, and a graphics program like Adobe Photoshop. It also helps to have either a scanner or a graphics tablet.

Style Builder Overview

It’s the edge styles that put the “sketch” in SketchUp. Most computer programs create graphics that look machine-made, ...