Mixing Styles: Part 1 – Pick Your Styles

A lot of SketchUp users render their models using a separate application, such as Photoshop. But SketchUp has a pretty decent library of styles built-in, with which you can greatly change the look of your model.

And a much-overlooked feature is the ability to mix, or combine, styles.

I’ll use this interior model to demonstrate.

 

To see what style your model uses, first open the Styles window. Then click the “House” icon. This style is pretty standard – thin edges, white background, no ground or sky, no watermark, etc.

 

 

Playing with styles is rather fun. (Teachers take note: kids in K-12 will try out every style they can find!) Here’s one I like: in the “Assorted Styles” collection, called “PSO Graded.”

 

Here’s how this style looks. There’s a slight grade from center to edges – note how it gets darker in the corners. There’s also a pencil-scribble overlay on top. And the edges are sketchy – they have a hand-drawn look.

 

For a style that displays only edges, I’m opening “Straight Lines” and clicking one of the styles with thinner lines.

 

This style has a much different look – no faces or background showing. Only the edges are displayed, and these are also sketchy, though more uniform than the edges in the previous style.

 

If I click on the “House” icon now, I’ll see the three styles I’ve used. It’s handy to have them all in one place before you start making style combinations.

 

Next, in Part 2, I’ll show how to bring the edges from one style into the other style.

 

 

 

About Bonnie Roskes

Bonnie Roskes has been writing tutorial-style projects on 3D modeling software, primarily SketchUp, since 2001. Her website, www.3dvinci.net offers a wide variety of learning materials for all ages, from kids in grade school through design professionals. Her materials cover general 3D design, 3D printing, geometry, interior design, geo-modeling, and more, and future books are in the works. Read more about Bonnie.

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