Google SketchUp: The Missing Manual

The Very Basics

You'll find very little jargon or nerd terminology in this book. You will, however, see a few terms and concepts that you'll encounter frequently in your computing life:

• Clicking. This book gives you several kinds of instructions that require you to use your computer's mouse or trackpad. To click means to point the arrow cursor at something on the screen and then—without moving the cursor at all—to press and release the clicker button on the mouse (or laptop trackpad). To double-click, of course, means to click twice in rapid succession, again without moving the cursor at all. To drag means to move the cursor while pressing the button continuously. To right-click or right-drag, do the same as above, but press the mouse button on the right.

  When you see an instruction like Shift-click or Ctrl-click, simply press the key as you click.

  Tip

  For Macintosh computers with a one-button mouse, to do the same thing as a right-click or right-drag, press the Mac's Control key as you click or drag. (Or buy a multi-button mouse.) See the next section for more Windows/Mac differences.

• Keyboard shortcuts. Sometimes, when you're flush with design enthusiasm, you want to work as efficiently as possible. Many experienced SketchUp artists work with one hand on the mouse for drawing and the other hand on the keyboard, where they type shortcut keys to change views and swap tools. You'll see your fair share of keyboard shortcuts in this book, usually in parentheses next to a tool's name or ...