Changing how a material appears on a surface in SketchUp, often referred to as material mapping, can involve editing the properties of the material itself. By modifying the material's definition, you can alter aspects like the texture image, its scale, color, and transparency, which influences how it is mapped onto geometry.
Editing Material Properties
To adjust the general appearance and mapping properties of a material in your SketchUp model, you need to access its editing options. This process allows you to make changes that will apply everywhere that specific material is used, unless individual faces have their textures specifically repositioned.
Steps to Edit a Material
Follow these steps to access and use the material editor, incorporating information from the SketchUp Help documentation:
- Locate the Material Palette: Open the Materials panel (usually the "Textures Palette tab," represented by a brick icon).
- Access In-Model Colors: On the Materials panel, open your Colors In Model collection. This collection shows all the materials currently used in your model.
- Select the Material: Click on the specific material within the Colors In Model collection that you wish to edit.
- Choose Edit: From the Color drop-down list (typically found near the selected material preview), select the Edit option.
- Make Desired Edits: The Edit Material panel will appear. On this panel, you can choose your desired edits.
Within the Edit Material panel, you have options to modify various aspects of the material:
- Texture: Change or remove the texture image.
- Color: Adjust the material's color or tint the texture.
- Transparency: Make the material more or less transparent.
- Size: Modify the sample size (width and height) of the texture. Changing the size value directly affects the scale at which the texture is mapped onto surfaces. A smaller size value makes the texture repeat more often (smaller instances), while a larger value makes it repeat less often (larger instances).
By adjusting these properties in the Edit Material panel, you effectively change the default mapping characteristics of the material throughout your model.
