Stretching Geometry
When you move geometry that's connected to other geometry, SketchUp stretches your model.
To stretch your geometry, select the Move tool (
) and click and drag any of the following:
- An edge
- A face
- A point
In the figure, you see a basic box (1) and copies of that box that were stretched by an edge (2), a face (3), and a point (4), respectively. If you want to stretch a surface entity (basically, any form with a curved edge) or bend a face (like Box 4 in the figure), special rules apply, which are covered in the following sections.
Table of Contents
Resizing surface entities
In a surface entity, if you click and drag a control edge, you resize the surface entity without distorting the geometry. You create a surface entity by extruding an arc, circle, or polygon; see Softening, Smoothing, and Hiding Geometry as well as articles about arcs, circles, and polygons for details.
When you position the Move tool over a surface entity's control edge, the edge lights up in a way that nearby edges do not. In the following figure, the Move tool has selected a control edge in the cylinder's surface entity, and you see how dragging that edge enlarges the cylinder.
Bending faces with Autofold
In SketchUp, faces must remain planar. If you stretch geometry in a way that bends a face, Autofold makes a crease so that all the faces in your geometry remain flat. The following figure shows before-and-after examples of Autofold's handiwork.
