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Old 12-15-2010, 02:40 PM
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Knife Knife is offline
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Location: NW Florida
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The way I have been making sure all parts are to scale, is to start with a blank template for each scale I will be making. On the blank template, I start with a white rectangle to represent the final size page after shrunking. For example, if I want a 1/250 scale model, I will make the rectangle 2750 inches (250 X 11 inch) by 2125 inches (250 X 8.5 inches). I then use "WorkPlane" under the tools drop down menu (you did download the Workplane plug-in, didn't you?) to add a workplane to cover the white rectangle (2750" X 2125"). I then move the WorkPlane above the white rectangle. The purpose for this is to keep the model parts that will be pasted into the template separate from the white rectangle representing the final page boundries. I have found that if I don't do this, some of the part's textures get lost in the white rectangle. I also add a thin rectangle 2500" X 4" on the workplane split into 10 equal segments of 250" X 4" each. This becomes the ruler on each page that can be used to make sure the final printed sheet is the same scale as all the other pages. Save this page as "Blank 250 Scale Template", so it can be used as the starting point for all other parts pages. If you want to be fancy, you can also add a border inside the white rectangle to make sure parts don't get too close to the page edges and be in danger of being chopped off by your printer.

Now you can cut parts off your design, and after unfolding they can be placed directly on the blank template. Just make sure you rename the template before you save it. If fact, I rename it immediately after I put anything on it, because SketchUp does an automatic save every few minutes and it might mess up the blank sheet you will need for other pages.

After I finish placing the parts where I want them, I will use the ruler tool over the 2500" rectangle and resize it to 10", reducing the size of the parts from full size to model size. I then save the page as a new file. It can then be exported as a 2d image at 300 pixels/inch.
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