Tag Folders Vs Outliner - Skill Builder

We've heard your questions and want to make sure you know the best times to use tag folders verses outliner, and vice versa. Hit play and learn how to best use these tools in your workflow!
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[@davidbrown3309]

Thank you for jumping on this so quickly Aaron!

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

Tags organize visibility, outlines organize construction/assembly.

[@sandymcdaniel4107]

I model interior designs and often am required to show the same cabinets and light fixtures in a scene but in different finishes. In these instances it is SUPER important to ensure that all items in the scene (light fixture or cabinet, mirror etc.) are NOT components but rather groups (as identified in the Outliner) and remain on the Default Untagged "layer". Then I set a scene up with one finish combination and put it on its own Tag. I can make copies of the same item, paint it in the different finish options, but the new finishes on their own Tag and copy the scene with the same lighting and just toggle the two Tags on or off depending on which I am trying to show. So same light fixture in oil rubbed bronze vs polished nickel is as easy as turning a tag on or off. This new feature may be one of the BEST things you guys have ever done! Thanks!

[@garyspeed8961]

Why not components? For a different finish... just copy the components and make them unique and put them in a different tag..

[@sandymcdaniel4107]

@@garyspeed8961 Easier not to have to remember to make each part of them unique. If I do repetitive members I totally use components.

[@mauriziofaedda7061]

that is indeed the best way to get control of the drawing between tag & outliner especially when drawing BIM.

[@keggyification]

Thanks for the info Aaron, As usual, very helpful.

[@DonaldDrennan]

Thanks for this. The last time I used SketchUp was in 2016, and I used Layers quite a bit. I didn't really know Tags is actually Layers, and I don't remember Outliner in 2016. I loaded in one of my models from 2016 to see how it worked in SketchUp 2022. I still wasn't sure about the difference between Tags and Outliner. They seemed redundant, but now I see what you mean. Also, I see if I hide something in Tags, I can't unhide it in Outliner.

[@claudiapatricialinerosorej951]

Thank you Aaron.

[@garyspeed8961]

Hi Aaron, a great topic which you could go a lot deeper into...it would be great to see some real world examples of how people structure their data for efficient control of presenting and editing it... thx

[@SketchExpertAcademy]

You are so great ;-) Best regards from the Netherlands :-D

[@thomascorser9137]

Thx Aaron.. this helps a lot! :)

[@glideking]

Very helpful, thank you

[@davidandmarionharper5114]

Now you guys have figured out tag folders (love ‘em - thankyou) now. Can you consider component folders? I get a mess of components of many different types and scales ( floor levels; doors, furniture…. Etc). That would be very very helpful..

[@cormacseekings7876]

Hi, I have just updated from layers to tags, and enjoyed this video, so thanks. My issue with tags is the tiny amount of space available for the text of each tag's name/description. In layers and outliner I often appreciated using a longer text field. In tags( in SU 2022) I wondered whether my not being able to stretch the text field was a glitch with me, possible due to working on a file originally created in SU2018. However I notice in the video your text cuts off too. Widening the tag window overall doesn't seem to help. any advice appreciated.

[@madwani]

To view use Tags To reach use outliner

[@karynakyriazi3400]

Do you have a video about layers in layout??

[@johnr.johnston5808]

I am a newb and I watched oh so many videos on sketchup .I have searched specifically for instructions regarding Tabs and have never found one that fully covers the interface. An example is what is the purpose of the pencil icon? Why does each Tag have a color? What does default mean at the right of each tab?

[@SnowTiger45]

It appears that the TAG feature replaced Layers (from older versions of SU) ?

[@AaronMakingStuff]

Yep. Layers were renamed to the more appropriate Tags a few versions ago.

[@kathieleeolson]

Can you share a video about the best computer settings and setups required to run and operate SketchUp? My models get soooo large and I want it to run as smoothly as possible.

[@SnowTiger45]

This is how Components, Groups, Layers (or now Tags) and Outliner can help a lot. Turning off items that you are not working on can save a ton of RAM. That said, any decent computer with a good Video Card and LOTS OF RAM should work fine. So my recommendation is to increase your RAM.

[@florinapostoiu]

@@SnowTiger45 Wrong - most software and OS's (and especially 3D CAD software) don't know how to properly (and fully) use multi-nucleic processing architecture (it is just a market lie, a road into your pocket). So if you want your CAD software to be fast, the first thing is to have the biggest base frequency on the market you can afford, per one-core processor; and the keywords here are "base" and "one-core". Multi-core is helpful in multitasking (as much as the OS knows to distribute tasks to the cores...), but it does not help you at all for a single software that requires a lot of power, if you don't have a high base frequency per core.

[@ahmad-murery]

I usually use the outliner to select/access some hidden and covered objects/geometries so I can apply some changes

[@davidhaggerty864]

I am new to sketchup and doing a model of my house for the first time. I think it is significant that "tags" can be toggled on/off in "scenes" but there is no similar control for "outliner". Controlling my model using "outliner" has become a limiting factor when I now want to take my "scenes" into Layout.

[@MrGalaxyguy]

how can I add a description to a component. I have models of industrial equipments and I want to have the specs included as a caption or label. is there a plug-in to do so?

[@amberolsthoorn6175]

does anyone know how this works, for example i build a house with a group called furniture and i build a couch made out of more than one group, how do i add, though outliner, the couch to the group "furniture"?

[@SS-cd1dl]

Micro and macro views of info?

[@sandrafarrell6798]

Didn't really address my issue with trying to organize the elements of an object and when they need to done so in tags vs outliner

[@tricky2k]

At least in SU18, unticking a Layer (Tag) removed all its content from the Outliner, making it easier to find anything and, most important, saving system resources (the trays are resources hogs). Now the items just show greyed out, but are still there, and since the order of items in the Outliner are name dependant, you may find yourself scrolling endlessly to get to the items you want from an specific Tag, even if the others are inactive. Seems like the old axiom "If it works, don't fix it" went over SU devs heads. I really don't see the point of the current Tags/Outliner behavior. If at least there was an option to remove or keep inactive Tags items from the Outliner, but it seems options are for losers

[@lawerencecohen8287]

Question: Tags use to be Layers. Why the change? I was told it was a discrepancy in translation by the programming team. Is there any truth to that?

[@SketchUp]

Somewhat! The term "layer" is used differently in different software. It became associated with separating entities, while SketchUp's layers/tags control visibility (separating geometry is done with Groups and Components.) The change was done to avoid confusion with people who may have been familiar with Photoshop layers, for instance. Whether or not a development team translation error sparked the switch... well, you said so; now it's part of the lore

[@lawerencecohen8287]

Thank you for the timely response. Greatly appreciated.

[@sadmansakib7451]

when you entered in the component ​4:24​ , everything was hidden except components item!! How did you do that?

[@karynakyriazi3400]

You have to choose hide the rest of the model in the edit tools

[@sadmansakib7451]

@@karynakyriazi3400 Thanks for answering! But I can't find the option in edit bar! Can you elaborate...😊😊

[@sadmansakib7451]

Oh, i got it from a video!! I didn't know what's it called. You are a lifesaver Thanks...😁😁

[@ThePiero969]

@@karynakyriazi3400 You will find it in the window menu, preferences, shortcuts. there, look for the command "hide the rest of the model" and assign a shortcut to it. It is also recommended to assign a shortcut to the "hide similar components" command. Luck

[@colinobrien3394]

I really think the Tags should be Layers. I'm sure they used to be called layers and I think it makes more sense!

[@OpTicSICKSCOPE]

I don't think layers is accurate to describe 3D geometry as things don't stack. Makes more sense in Photoshop when different layers affect the order of things.

[@kathieleeolson]

Also!! How do you recommend we add pieces like accessories and furniture components that can get really large and thus down your model?? Much appreciated.

[@richardvankesteren7013]

search with "sketchup how to organise a model" and you get your answer.

[@kathieleeolson]

@@richardvankesteren7013 I already follow all of those steps. The current model I am working on is approximately 14,000sqft. So what I’m trying to figure out, is how I can load in the “accessories” and “furniture” components that look realistic, while not sowing down the model. I’ve tried to import the “fillings” as I refer to it in another model and import the file into the base building model, but this still seems to slow things down.

[@SnowTiger45]

Again... LAYERS (or in this case TAGS). They control Visibility. So you put Furniture on its own Layer or Tag and you can quickly and easily Turn it OFF when you don't need to see them. There is no sense generating interior furniture when you are looking at the exterior of the building.

[@blacksheep_77]

@@SnowTiger45 that's exactly right. Turn things off after you place them. Group rooms and floors and turn them off. 14,000 sq.ft and guaranteed you aren't modeling on all of it at once. Tags let you group what you have already modeled and then turn them off so your computer can take a break. Another trick I have learned is to have different scenes set up with certain tags on/off. If I want to see the whole build, I click on the "full model" scene and all tags turn back on. Then I have my working model scene which has everything off that I don't need to see. Click back and forth and I save all the time turning tags on and off. Also, there is a feature in SKU that hides the rest of the model when you click into a group or component. This can really help on a big model because as you get into smaller and smaller locations, the rest of the structure has been hidden

[@arayahomes4308]

To me, it seems like outliner is really not all that useful. Here's my example (I am a house designer): For anyone that is in the construction design industry. I think the only reason to use groups and components and name them with actual unique names that make sense to the user, would be only because one wants to generate a report. Another reason which I would assume this is quite a unique case, the user could share the model with someone that would not have a set of CD's to look at but just a model and they wanted to know what things were because maybe it wasn't obvious visually, so they could click an object and see it's name. Most likely the second scenario wouldn't happen in most cases in construction and the 1st one would, where the user needs to create a report from the items. A lot of times, designers don't need reporting on very much in an entire sketchup model, I guess that depends on the designer though. So if someone doesn't need a report, than I think in most cases the outliner is a big waste of time. I also think that even if the person needed a report on objects, the outliner is still slower than just clicking in to a nested group. From my experience, I don't need reporting on most items, therefore I just group and or make into components, tag appropriately and I'm done. I think it's way faster to just simply click into nested objects fast than it is to use the outliner for drilling into something, I know it's faster just clicking in because in the outliner one would spend time scrolling and finding the object rather than seeing it and just going right in via clicking. So if someone is not going to generate a report, than they shouldn't be wasting their time naming objects, that's what tags are used for. In construction documents it is useful to have objects with names because one can use the text label tool to automatically name the object in layout with what it's actually called in sketchup, however not all objects need names. For me personally, I would love your feedback on this Aaron, I haven't in general found many ways to make the outliner useful at all, and because it isn't for me so far, I never use it. I feel like it's a shame and that maybe I'm missing something..........

[@-m4nGo-]

Dude says: "What you don't want to do is tagging inside your models." Me: Watching this while doing exactly that and feel a little bit ashamed. :C