Moving Entities Around

When you're drawing a model in SketchUp, moving all or parts of your model can be tough, especially when navigating geometry in a three dimensional space. Here's your guide to moving things around in your 3D model, from a simple click-and-move operation to moving precisely with 3D coordinates.

To perform a simple move operation follow these steps:

1. With the Select ( ) tool or the Lasso ( ) tool, select the item (or items) you want to move.

2. Select the Move tool ( ) or press the M key.

3. Select the item you want to move.

4. Click a point in your model as a reference to line up with other geometry.

1. Move your mouse to move your selection. As you move your selection, the inference points and the values in the Measurements box change.

1. Click the destination point to finish the move.

2. (Optional) To move your item a precise distance type either of the following during or immediately after the move:

   • Distance: The number you type can be positive or negative, such as 20' or -35mm. If you specify a unit of measurement, that unit overrides your template's default units. For example, you can type 3' 6" even if you are using the metric system as your default.

   • Coordinates: The Measurements box accepts global or relative coordinates. To enter global coordinates, use square brackets, such as [3', 4', 5'] to designate coordinates from the model origin. To set relative coordinates (from the starting point of the move operation), use angle brackets, such as <3', 4', 5'>.

To see these steps in action, along with a few extra tips for moving, watch the following video.

Corner Inference Grips

When selecting or hovering over a component/group, you'll notice there are inference icons at the corners of the component/group's bounding box. These inference points help you move the component/group.