I see a lot of great Sketchup tutorials online (here and there), and while they do discuss different techniques, tools and what not – you really have to follow through from start to end, and go along a somewhat complex path to get the hang of things. one more thing – while on that road – one’s eyes are focused on the end result, and sometimes one can miss the fantastic little tips along the way.
This tutorial is one of many short – tip/tool specific – tutorials that can help people get around Sketchup and have an easier time around.
Zoom and Center ALL
Sometimes you add a new component to your model (or you’re working inside a small part (zoomed in)) and want to see the “whole picture” zoomed across the entire screen, and centered. 
This is possible using the ’camera-zoom-extent’ feature. click the zoom-extents button 
or press SHIFT+Z (this is the default hotkey) and Sketchup will zoom and fit everything in your model into view and center it across your screen:
Zooming and Centering Specific Parts in your Model
Sometimes you want to zoom and center on a specific piece in your model (a specific component, or a specific surface/line/arc/circle/etc). Sketchup can do that too.
Select the part you want to zoom and center upon (in this example, it’s the circle for the hole):
right(ctrl for mac)-click on it, and select ”zoom-extent”, it will zoom and fit that part in the center of your screen:
The later zooming technique is referred to as ‘edit-zoom-extent’ and can be assigned to a hotkey of your liking- more about that in a later tutorial.
-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
8 comments so far
DaveR
home | projects | blog
1527 posts in 617 days
posted 266 days ago
You could also use the Zoom Extents button on the toolbar which, in your screen shots is in the top row of toolbars, second button right of the Pan hand.
-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.
PurpLev
home | projects | blog
2762 posts in 545 days
posted 266 days ago
DaveR- that is true there is a button in the default toolbar for Zoom Extent.
I find that using hotkeys is the way to go (Photoshop, Maya, Final Cut, Sketchup, you name it) I dont like searching around with my pen/mouse for buttons to click when I can blindly click a hotkey instantly – or better yet – a sequence of hotkeys. this is the equivalent of creating a rectangle in Sketchup by clicking, dragging to the exact sizes in both dimensions, clicking – OR – clicking, typing dimensions, and pressing Enter :) gotta love speed.
I personally hardly ever have toolbars visible on screen (this tutorial wasn’t done on MY computer) I find that they take off too much of the real estate that can be used to see more of the actual work surface. I use hotkeys religiously.
-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
DaveR
home | projects | blog
1527 posts in 617 days
posted 266 days ago
Yes, hot keys are good but a lot of folks do prefer the buttons.
-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.
PurpLev
home | projects | blog
2762 posts in 545 days
posted 266 days ago
time for a change ;) just kidding… point taken – added a fix
-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
DaveR
home | projects | blog
1527 posts in 617 days
posted 266 days ago
No worries.
-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.
Moai
home | projects | blog
721 posts in 290 days
posted 266 days ago
Purplev, have you tried CAD?
-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.
PurpLev
home | projects | blog
2762 posts in 545 days
posted 266 days ago
Doubthead – yes I have. I’ve also used FormZ, and SolidWorks, but was favoring Maya for my models since I was using it anyways for animation work, and was extremely comfortable with it’s environment and controls – I find that Maya is far from being Woodworker friendly, but it was just what I was used to.
When Google bought Sketchup and made it free, I gave it a try, and instantly dumped everything else I was using for woodworking… compared to them all, Sketchup is lightweight, easy to use, inch/metric friendly I like the auto-glue-to-geometry, and is becoming very popular which equals more users sharing more knowledge and models being readily available to cut down on design time.
PS. nice new Avatar ;o)
-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
Moai
home | projects | blog
721 posts in 290 days
posted 266 days ago
lol…..in the middle of the jungle!
-- Francisco Luna, San Francisco Bay Area.