Help centre · Modelling

Shapes and push/pull

Draw shapes and lines, push and pull them into solids, cut holes, sweep with Follow me, combine solids, and measure with guides.

For anything that isn't a wall, door or stair, you model as you would in SketchUp: draw a flat shape, then push or pull it into a solid. In this article, Ctrl is Option on a Mac.

Draw a shape

Click the Shape button in the toolbar, or press a key: R rectangle, C circle, A arc, L line. The Shape bar lets you switch between Rectangle, Circle, Arc, Polygon, Line and Freehand. Draw on the floor or on any flat face.

Rectangle: click two corners, or click one and type width,depth, such as 3,2. Tap Alt (Option on a Mac) to draw from the centre.
Circle: click the centre, then a point on it, or type the radius. Type 12s for 12 sides (24 by default).
Arc: click both ends, then how far it bows.
Polygon: click each corner, then click the first again, press Enter or double-click to close it. Backspace takes a corner back, and A makes the next sides arcs.
Freehand: drag a stroke. End where you started to make a face.

Draw lines

With Line (L), click point to point. Close the path on the first point and it becomes a face. Press Enter, double-click or press Esc to keep an open path as loose edges.

Push or pull a face

Press P or click Push/pull. Hover over a flat face, then drag it, or click, move and click. Type a distance and press Enter to be exact. Pulls snap to the grid (hold Shift for free) and to level floors. Double-click a face to pull it again by the last distance.

On walls, slabs and columns it changes their settings, such as a wall's height. Stairs, roofs, doors, windows and furniture are sized in the Properties panel instead.

Make recesses and holes

Draw a shape on a solid and push it in to cut a recess, or pull it out to add a block. Push it all the way to the face behind and it cuts a hole through: the read-out says Hole.

Offset an outline

Choose Offset in the Shape bar (or press F), click a flat face, then move in or out and click. You can also type a distance: 50mm goes inwards and -50mm outwards. The new outline is a shape you can push or pull.

Sweep a profile with Follow me

Draw a profile across an edge, such as on a box's end face at its top corner. Choose Follow me, click the profile, then click the face whose outline is the path. The profile sweeps round the outline into a solid, for a cornice or a kerb.

Edit faces and edges

Double-click a solid or shape to open it. Click its faces and edges to select them (Ctrl adds, Shift toggles). Double-click a face to take its edges too, or triple-click for everything. Then:

M moves what's selected, and the faces round it stretch.
Delete erases it.
B paints one face.
L draws a line across a face to split it in two.

Press Esc or Done to close it.

Combine solids

Shift-click two or more closed solids (the first one is kept), then choose Edit → Solid tools: Union, Subtract, Trim (keeps the others) or Intersect. Walls and other building elements can cut but aren't cut.

Measure and make guides

Press T or click Tape measure in the toolbar, then click two points. It snaps to corners, edges and faces anywhere in the model, and Backspace clears.

Turn on Make guides (or press Ctrl). Start on an edge to make a guide line parallel to it, or on a point to make a guide point, then click or type a distance such as 1500mm. All tools snap to guides. Delete guides clears them.

Right after measuring, type the length it should be and press Enter to resize what you measured.

The Protractor button in the Measure bar (or Shift+S to search for it) makes angled guides. Click a centre, then a baseline, then the angle, or type one: 30, or a slope such as 3:12.

Still stuck? Contact us, or ask in the app: Help → Contact support.