# Problems aligning components



## mpooley (24 Nov 2006)

Hi again
I've got two more questions!  

When i make a component and then re-use it. it seems to be pasted in my plan at a seemingly random angle - not completely random they all are the same if i use more than 1 but they dont usually align with my plan
Eg windows at a slight angle to a wall?

now following on from that question is there an easy way to get two components rotated to the same angles?

I'm wasting lots of time making a window frame and then i made the opener both of which i made using the red,grn,blue axis but they dont align either vertically or horizontally??? just a fraction out!!
what am i doing wrong?

Thanks 
Mike


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## SketchUp Guru (24 Nov 2006)

Mike, would send me one or two of your problem components so I can see what you've got going? I'll PM you my e-mail address if you need it.


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## mpooley (24 Nov 2006)

Sorry for wasting your time dave I think i cocked up!

My workshop plan somehow was not aligned properly!!  
its sooo easy to get this alignment thin wrong isn't it? or is it just me  

Mike


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## SketchUp Guru (25 Nov 2006)

It's just you, Mike.  Just kidding.

Be sure you watch the line colors and make sure you're working on axis when you should be. also, set the display option to Color by axis. This will cause your lines to match the color of the axis they are parallel to.

You'll get the hang of it soon.

Dave

p.s. You can still send me the file or files if you want help.


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## mpooley (25 Nov 2006)

Thanks Dave But i doubt it! :shock: 

I checked the whole alignment of the building with coloured axis turned on and it looked ok !!
it was soooo slightly out it didnt show up.
I found out by drawing a pencil line from the corner of the Workshop base in each axis. At first this looked fine until i zoomed right in very very close and you could see the error! :shock: 
I dont know how i got it like that but one thing is i think sometimes SU is too helpfull and tries to snap you to all sorts of different things.
You just have to be very careful and zoom in tight every time i suppose.

Not complaining cos i love the program  Just seem to waste a lot of time on this - perhaps i need to be more patient?

Mike


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## SketchUp Guru (25 Nov 2006)

Mike, work with the axes turned on all the time. Then you can drag off construction lines that are parallel to the axes as guides to trace. The other thing to do until you get the hang of the alignment thing is to turn on _Color by axis_. Look at these screen grabs. First a couple of shapes. I drew the one nearest the the origin and then copied it to the other location. The righthand one is rotated by 0.5° but it isn't very obvious. In the second picture notice what happens with Color by axis turned on. The original shows it is aligned with all three axes because all the edges are colored to match their particular axis. The copy shows only the vertical lines as blue because they are the only ones that are parallel to an axis.


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## mpooley (25 Nov 2006)

thanks dave you are definitely right ! thats is what i will do in future.

having just done this i find my windows are still not right. i'm hoping there is some way i can select a component and get it to align automatically?  :?:


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## SketchUp Guru (25 Nov 2006)

As far as correcting eximisaligment, I'm afraid you'll have to do it manually. Probably the best thing to do is open the components one at a time, make the needed adjustments and resave them. Turn on Color by axis while you're making the correction so you can see you've got it right.

After you've rotated the component to correct it, you can make it so the component will align itself correctly to other surfaces by choosing a "gluing plane" when making the component. That's set in the dialog box that pops up when you make the geometry a component.

If the alignment is off when you make the component, however, the alignment will be off the same amount when gluing to another plane. The component is aligned (glued) by its bounding box and bounding boxes are always aligned with the axes no matter what the component's geometry alignment is.


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## SketchUp Guru (25 Nov 2006)

Mike, if you send me one of your misaligned components, I'll see if I can work up a tutorial to show how to fix it.


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