In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a door symbol in Sketchup, a popular 3D modeling software. Doors are an essential element in architectural designs, and having a door symbol can save you time and effort when creating floor plans or architectural drawings.
Step 1: Drawing the Door Leaf
To begin, select the rectangle tool from the toolbar on the left. Click once on the drawing area to set the starting point of your rectangle, then drag your cursor to create the desired size for your door leaf. Release the mouse button to finish drawing the rectangle.
Note: You can enter specific dimensions for your door leaf by typing them into the measurement box at the bottom-right corner of the Sketchup window.
Step 2: Adding Thickness
To give our door leaf some thickness, we will use the Push/Pull tool. Select the tool from the toolbar or press ‘P’ on your keyboard.
Click on one face of your rectangle, then move your cursor towards or away from that face to push or pull it inwards or outwards respectively. Pull it to create a thickness that matches your desired door size.
Step 3: Creating Panels
Most doors have panels that add visual interest and structural stability. To create panels on our door leaf, we will use lines and rectangles.
Step 3a: Drawing Vertical Panel Lines
Select the Line tool from the toolbar or press ‘L’ on your keyboard. Draw vertical lines within your door leaf by clicking once at one end of where you want a line to be and clicking again at its other end.
Step 3b: Drawing Horizontal Panel Lines
Follow Step 3a to draw horizontal lines within your door leaf. These lines should intersect with the vertical lines, creating rectangular areas for your panels.
Step 3c: Creating Panel Rectangles
Select the Rectangle tool from the toolbar or press ‘R’ on your keyboard. Click once on the drawing area to set the starting point of your rectangle, then drag your cursor to create a rectangle within one of the panel areas. Repeat this step for each panel area.
Step 4: Adding Details
To enhance the appearance of our door symbol, we can add details such as doorknobs, hinges, or decorative elements.
Step 4a: Adding a Doorknob
Select the Circle tool from the toolbar or press ‘C’ on your keyboard. Click once on an appropriate location on your door leaf to set its center point, then drag your cursor to create a circle that represents the doorknob. Adjust its size as needed.
Step 4b: Adding Hinges
Hinges are usually located at the edge of a door leaf. To create hinge symbols, select either the Line tool or Rectangle tool and draw them accordingly near one edge of your door leaf.
Step 5: Grouping and Saving as Component
To make our door symbol easier to work with in Sketchup, we will group all its elements together and save it as a component.
Step 5a: Selecting All Elements
Use the Select tool from the toolbar or press ‘Space’ on your keyboard to select all elements that make up your door symbol. You can select multiple elements by holding down Shift while clicking on them.
Step 5b: Grouping Elements
Right-click on the selected elements and choose ‘Group’ from the context menu. This will group all selected elements into a single entity.
Step 5c: Saving as Component
To save our door symbol as a component, right-click on the grouped elements and choose ‘Make Component’ from the context menu. Give your component a name and click ‘Create’.
Congratulations! You have successfully created a door symbol in Sketchup. Now you can easily add doors to your architectural designs or floor plans by simply inserting this component.
Remember to save your work regularly to avoid losing any progress. Happy designing!