Modeling and scale

In general, I recommend that everyone model at full scale in SketchUp. The fact is, SketchUp does not care what size you model something. The only thing that matters is what size your model is when you export the .stl file.

In some cases, this might not make much of a difference. If you are modeling a replacement knob for your stove or a pencil cup for your desk, you will likely just model at full size, then export the model, as is. If you plan to model something large, like your house or a spaceship, then you will want to model full size, then scale the model down before exporting.

Let’s hop into the example model for this chapter and see how scaling works (if you don’t have 3D Printing with SketchUp Chapter 4 – Scaling.skp, now would be a great time to download it from the 3D warehouse: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/9cd6e76f-cb4a-454b-acdc-1c5f1cadb9ce/3D-Printing-with-SketchUp-Chapter-4-Scaling):

1. Open 3D Printing with...