Lengthen

Click near the end of a line, or on the end face of a layered group or a loose beam or post, and type how much longer it should be, or how long in total. It changes along its own run, so it works at any angle, sloped lines included, and the other end stays where it was.

In SketchUp that takes a Tape Measure guide along the line, a Move along the guide and deleting the guide afterwards. A layered group is harder still. Push/Pull can't reach inside it, and it pushes along the face, so a mitred end gets skewed.

If you have used Revit, it's the temporary dimension you type into on a selected wall or line, and Top Offset for a wall's height, working on any SketchUp line or group. If you have used AutoCAD, it's LENGTHEN.

Works on
Lines	Edges that aren't part of an arc or curve, at any angle, loose or edging a face
Layered groups	A group of straight layers, like a wall, at its end face in plan
Slabs	A layered group lying flat or sloped, like a landing or a ramp, at its end face in elevation
Loose beams and posts	Ungrouped geometry, at an end face whose edges all run the same way, the longest way the piece runs
Tops and bottoms	A standing layered group, like a wall, at any of its top faces, flat, sloped or stepped, or at its bottom
Aplo Walls	At a free end or the top, with Aplo's Wall tools installed

The end you click near is the one that moves

You don't have to hit the endpoint. Click anywhere on the line, and the end nearer the click moves while the far end stays put, so nothing else in the model shifts.

Longer, shorter or a total

Type +500 and the line grows by 500. Type -200 and it shrinks by 200. Type 1500 with no sign and the line ends up 1500 long. Units work as they do everywhere in SketchUp, so 1.5m or 5' are fine, and so is your own decimal comma.

Where other lines meet the end

If the end you click is a corner, where other lines or a face's edges meet it, the corner stays where it is. Typing +500 draws a new 500 piece in line with yours from the corner outwards, so the other lines stay attached and the face stays whole. Typing 1500 makes your line and the new piece 1500 together. Shortening there would pull the line off the corner, so Lengthen won't.

Every layer of a group together

Click the end face of a layered group and every layer grows or shrinks together, along the way the group runs, never the way the face points. A mitred or angled end slides along and keeps its angle. A total is the group's whole length, from tip to tip.

An end that meets another piece stays where it is. Moving it would overlap the two or open a gap, and bringing pieces together is what Trim/Extend is for. The sides belong to the layers, so Lengthen won't thicken a group.

Loose beams and posts

Click the end face of a beam or post drawn straight into the model, not grouped, and it moves along the edges that run into it. A rafter with a plumb cut gets longer along its slope, not out the way the face points, and a mitred end keeps its angle. A post's top is just its end, so it grows the same way. A total is measured at the long point of a mitred end.

The edges meeting the face have to run one way. If they splay, like the sides of a tapered block, there is no single length to change, so Lengthen leaves it alone.

The end is the face the piece runs furthest from. Click the side or the top of a lying beam and the edges meeting it are shorter than the beam is long, so that face is a side, and Lengthen won't make the beam wider or deeper.

Taller or lower from the top or bottom

Click any top face of a standing group, like a wall or a square pier, and the box says Height. Type +500 and the whole top rises 500 straight up, every layer together. A sloped top keeps its slope and a stepped top keeps its steps. Type 2700 and the group ends up 2700 high, measured from its bottom to the highest point of its top. Openings in the wall stay where they are, and a top can't be lowered past one.

Click the bottom instead and the whole bottom moves straight down by what you type, while the top stays where it is. A total works the same way, from the bottom to the highest point of the top. A bottom can't be raised past an opening either. An Aplo Wall's bottom sits on its level, so Lengthen leaves it alone.

Ramps and landings

A layered group lying as a slab, like a landing or a ramp, is read in elevation. So is a group of one layer that is wider in plan than it is high. Click its end face and every layer grows along the slab's run, so a ramp gets longer and higher at the same slope rather than flattening out. Its top and soffit belong to the layers, so Lengthen won't make the slab thicker.

Aplo Walls

Click the free end of an Aplo Wall and type a length, and the wall's baseline moves and the wall is rebuilt from it, so the wall and its record always agree and the Audit has nothing to report. Click its top and the height changes the same way. A gable or a raked top rises as a whole and keeps its shape, and a total is measured to its highest point. An end that meets another wall stays where it is, as with any group, and Trim/Extend moves a joined end.

Without Aplo's Wall tools, Lengthen leaves an Aplo Wall alone rather than move its geometry and leave its record behind.

Components and their copies

Point at the end or top of a component that is used more than once and every copy lights up, with the status bar saying how many will change. Click, type, and they all change together, because they share one definition. Hold Option (Ctrl on Windows) as you click and only the one you clicked changes. Lengthen makes it unique first and keeps its name.

If any copy that would change meets another piece at that end, none of them change. Hold Option to change only the one you clicked.

A copied group is different. SketchUp treats each group as its own, so Lengthen only ever changes the one you clicked.

What it leaves alone

You click	The status bar says
A shorter length at an end where other lines meet	That end meets other lines — it can only grow past them, so type a longer length
An arc or curve	That line is part of an arc or curve, which Lengthen leaves alone
A line inside a closed group	That is inside a group or component — open it to lengthen what is inside
A value that would leave nothing	That would leave it with no length
A height that would leave nothing	That would leave it with no height
A group's end that meets another piece, or a copy's that does	That end, or a copy's, meets another piece — use Trim/Extend to move a joined end
A group's side face	That is a side face — its thickness belongs to the layers, so click an end face
An Aplo Wall's bottom	That is not an end face — click the face at the end of the group, or its top
A lower top that would cut into an opening	That would lower the top past an opening or the bottom of the group
A higher bottom that would cut into an opening	That would raise the bottom past an opening or the top of the group
A slab's top or soffit	That is the slab's top or soffit — its thickness belongs to the layers, so click an end face
A loose beam's side, or a lying beam's top	That is a side — the piece runs further another way, so click an end face
A loose face whose edges don't all run one way	The edges meeting that face don't all run one way, so it has no length to change
A group's stepped end	That group's end is stepped; only a single end face is moved
An Aplo Wall without Aplo's Wall tools	That is an Aplo wall — lengthening one needs Aplo's Wall tools
An unbound Aplo Wall	That wall is unbound — its geometry is the truth, so Lengthen leaves it alone
An Aplo Wall edited by hand	That wall has drifted — rebuild it from the Audit first

How it's used

Input	What it does
Click	Near the end of a line, or on an end face — the length shows in the Length box
Click a group's top or bottom	The height shows in the Height box
Type +500 or -200	Lengthens or shortens by that much
Type 1500	Makes the line that long in total
Type again	Changes the last one instead of adding another
Option-click (Ctrl on Windows)	On a component, changes only that copy
Click the next end	Lengthens it by the last length you typed
Click the next top or bottom	Changes its height by the last height you typed
Esc	Forgets the pick
Undo	Takes back the change in one step