5. Embrace Tags
Learning to use Tags (formerly known as Layes) seems to be a rite of passage in mastering SketchUp.
Be a little patient with yourself. It seems as though something stupid has to happen in one of your own models - around the time it begins to get large, and you are almost done with it - to fully appreciate how Tags benefits your modeling workflow.
Tags manage geometry visibility
BUT to successfully use Tags, first only create that geometry on Tag 0 and either group it or make it a component. THEN place those groups/components on different Tag. Failure to follow this general rule Consider doing this with images, landscaping items like trees and shrubs, furniture, cars, and so on.
You can hide geometry you aren't currently working on by placing it on its own Tag and hiding that Tag. This is one of the ways Scenes become important as the visibility of Tags is one of the saved properties for each Scene.
SketchUp Tags do not act like layers in other programs. Rather Tags are a visibility property of the stuff you model. The Tags write-up in the SketchUp Help Center is a great place to start learning.
There are a few reasons to control model visibility. The first thing that pops into mind, is that this offers a way to control and organize what is seen in the SketchUp workspace while actively modeling and for final presentation. Another important consideration is that model geometry must use considerable computer and graphics card resources to render itself every time the camera position is changed or geometry/texture is added or removed - which becomes more noticeable as a model become larger.
In a nutshell, do all original modeling on Tag 0. Make groups or components from that geometry modeled on Tag 0. Assign the groups or components to different Tag. That is done to control the visibility of the stuff you place inside the group or component.
Tasgs to manage how you color the model
The Tags browser does have a Color by Tag option. But it is to help visually organize geometry massings. It is not to control different painted options on the SAME geometry. painted. Gaieus reviews how to manage materials by using multiple layers.
More Tag usage formulae
Ken Berry's Groups post
Name Layers sensibly by prefacing the name by number or letter. That way you can group related Layers together on the Layer palette.
Upstairs Downstairs 2 Gully Foyle's house tutorial - with visibility controlled through Layers.
Working with Large Models Mitchel Stangl's 2008 3D Basecamp PDF handout and low resolution video (The high quality version is over on the main YouTube site.) Whether or not you are working with very large models, you can see some very useful model management tricks in action.
Daniel Tal and Bonnie Roskes wrote a very detailed, and well illustrated, Layers guide for the SketchUp Blog. Great Layer presentation
SketchUp Layers: Part 1 – The Sacred Layer0 Bonnie Roskes
Make nested Tag sets
Nested Layers can control the visibility of several Tags with one toggle. It is possible to turn off the visibility of multiple Tags at one time. This technique is shown beginning around 0:14:00 minutes into Mitchel Stangl's 2008 3D Basecamp video Working with Large Models, using Outliner to control visibility.
In this animation, the landscape layer is assigned to a group containing all plants found in a mini landscape.
Assign related groups/components to their respective Layers.
Select all the Layered items you want to control with one toggle.
Make that selection a group or component, and put it on its own Layer.
Note: Use this technique with care. This example also demonstrates the potential for unintended visibility problems. This is why nesting Tags are often inadvisable.
Using Scenes can also manage Layer visibility.
Set up a Template with frequently used Tags
This would be good for people repeatedly making the same sort of models.
Make a new template by choosing all SketchUp preferences/features desired for a new model, including Layers. Go to File > Save Template.
Modify an existing template. Open a new model using the template to be modified. Adjust the preferences, add Layers, etc. Save it to the appropriate file in the program directory.
Windows: C:\Program Files\Google\Google SketchUp 8\Resources\en-US\Templates
And if there are too many Layers
Tags (formerly Layers) can be purged through the Layer browser's detail menu, .
Or go to Model Info > Statistics menu and Purge Unused. On Windows, access Model Info through the Window menu. On a Mac, go to the SketchUp menu.
Relevant Layer Management Plugins
CG Scenes Windows CG Scenes Mac Chris Glasier - Helps manage scenes, layers and components in a single re-sizable automated interface.
Layer Manager Didier Bur - Version 6 adds a toolbar with 17 commands to manage layer configuration.
Add Layer Jim Foltz - Adds a Layer which is hidden by default in all current and future Scenes.
LayerExIm TIG - Exports layers to a new file.
CADLayers Smustard - Export layer states from AutoCAD and import into SketchUp.
LayerChange Smustard - Control the active layer by right-clicking a selection.
TIG-LayerWatcher TIG - Has warning dialog appear when not modeling on Layer0 and assigns "Layer0" to all added Geometry [Edges and Faces] irrespective of Current-Layer, including Geometry resulting from Exploding Groups/Components.
LayOff Jim Foltz - New Layers are visible on current Scene only.
ListLayerColors TIG - creates a list of layer colors.
Dispatch_objects Didier Bur, Rick Wilson - In the Selection-Layers section of the Ruby Library Depot - Isolates all texts, dims, construction lines/points and section planes on a separate layers. One of the precursors to Filter Extension below.
Filter+Extension+1[1].0 In the Selection-Layers section of the Ruby Library Depot - Adds a filter selection toolbar. You can do things like select all text in the model or on a visible layer so you then can dispatch it in mass to another Layer.
Layer 0 Fixup Tools slbaumgartner - Thread contains links to several plugins to fix things when you accidentally get Faces and Edges onto layers other than Layer 0.
Layers Panel jiminy-billy-bob Add Photoshop-like Layer panel function.
PutonLayer C. Grant and others - There are several PutOnLayer scripts in the Selection-Layers section of the Ruby Library Depot - Allows you to easily move entities and their nested elements (ie groups within components within groups) to any layer, from the context menu. It puts all primitive and encapsulated geometry on Layer 0. Only the top-level components and groups will move to the specified layer.