Google SketchUp: The Missing Manual

Using the Flip Along Command

Back to fence building: You want a fence on both sides of the driveway, but you don't need to build a brand-new fence. You can use the Move/Copy technique that was covered on Speeding Up Construction with Arrays. Here are the steps to copy the fence and then to flip it around so that it's oriented with the fence post next to the driveway.

Figure 5-24. The Statistics tab provides more information than you want to know about the components in your model. In the lower-left corner, you see how many instances of the selected component appear in the model—helpful when you need to order doors and windows for your new house.

1. Use the Select (space bar) tool to select the post next to the driveway and some fence boards.

   Choose enough fence boards to reach from the driveway to the left end of the yard. You can drag a marquee around the boards, or use the Shift-click method to make a selection.

2. Choose the Move (M) tool, and then press the Ctrl (Option) key.

   Pressing Ctrl (Option) turns on the copy toggle. You see a + sign on the Move cursor.

3. Click the selected fence boards, and drag them across the driveway, as shown in Figure 5-25.

   Your new fence is in place, but it'll look better with the thicker fence post next to the driveway.

4. While the fence is still selected, right-click any of the boards.

   A pop-up menu appears with several options, including Flip Along (Figure 5-26 ...