How to Edit 3D Text on SketchUp

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.
The “Materials” window provides texturing tools for editing SketchUp’s 3-D text.

Google's 3-D design program SketchUp does not have a command for easy editing of existing 3-D text. However, you can still edit 3-D text by treating it as you do other 3-D objects in SketchUp: as objects you can move, rotate, scale, shape, and add other objects to. Once you take this viewpoint and become familiar with the 3-D operations just mentioned, you'll understand how to edit 3-D text in SketchUp. This knowledge will allow you to format, delete, and replace text to meet your design needs.

Advertisement

Swap Characters

Video of the Day

Step 1

Click the toolbar's "3-D Text" tool. SketchUp will display a dialog box allowing you to type the text for the 3-D text object. You can also set the font, height and other characteristics of the text.

Advertisement

Video of the Day

Step 2

Type the text you want in the text box at the top of the dialog box then click "Place" to close the dialog box. SketchUp will create the 3-D text you typed and attach it to your mouse cursor.

Step 3

Click the text to anchor it to the drawing canvas.

Advertisement

Step 4

Right-click the text and click "Edit component." SketchUp will display a black wireframe box around the text's characters, this indicates the 3-D text component is in the editing state.

Step 5

Triple-click any of the letters you typed then click the toolbar's "Move" command. You'll use this command to swap one character in the text with another character.

Advertisement

Step 6

Click the selected letter then drag it a short distance away to a clear location on the canvas.

Step 7

Click the mouse again to release the letter.

Step 8

Triple-click another character as you did the first. Use instructions five through seven to move this character in the void left by the first character.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Step 9

Use instructions five through seven to move the first character to the void left by the second character. This completes the letter swap, which is one way of editing 3-D text in SketchUp.

Formatting

Step 1

Click the toolbar's "3-D Text" command then type some text you'd like to see in 3-D.

Advertisement

Step 2

Click the "Place" button to set the text object on the drawing canvas.

Step 3

Right-click the text and click "Edit." This opens the text component for editing.

Step 4

Click the toolbar's "Rectangle" tool then click on the drawing canvas below the first character in your 3-D text object. You'll use the rectangle to create underlining for the text which is a type of text editing.

Advertisement

Step 5

Drag the mouse to the last character in the 3-D text then click again to complete the underlining rectangle.

Step 6

Right-click the black wireframe box surrounding the text. Click "Close" to re-seal the text with its underlining.

Advertisement

Advertisement

references