A small script to pin the Enscape window to be always on top and resize it from a menu

Enscape Enscape Host Applications Enscape for SketchUp
1

I use SketchUp and normally have 2 monitors with the Enscape Window on the 2nd. Since we’ve been working from home I only have the 1 monitor so I’ve been strugling with the Enscape window disapering everythime I try to do someting in SketchUp.

There’s a program for Windows called AutoHotKey? (https://www.autohotkey.com/) it enables you to write macros/programs for Windows that can range from very simpe to extremly complex.

Sooooo…

I’ve written an AHK script with an interface that will pin/unpin to top the Enscape Window and allow you to change its size (4x3, Square etc) from a dropdownlist.

Here’s a screen recording of it in action, its lthe little dialog in the bottom left of the screen: https://share.getcloudapp.com/6qu5L8vl

Once you’ve seleced the Enscape window you can:

  • Pin it so that its always the top most window
  • Unpin it so it behaves normally
  • Change the apect of the Enscape window (Square, 4x3 etc) from a menu, what it does is chage the height bases on the windows current width

To use it you’ll need to download and install AHK(AutoHotKey) from the link above then download my script from here: https://share.getcloudapp.com/p9u75N9j

AHK scripts are simple text files so you can look at with any text editor and edit it if you wish, I’ve tried to annotate it as much as possible.

I have another AHK script that:

  • Takes all the Enscape png renders in a folder and renames them with the selected project name
  • Copies them to a dated folder in the selected project folder
  • Makes jpg copies of all the renders
  • Makes lowres emailable copies of all the renders
  • Deletes the originals

Its a far more complex script that is setup for the way I work but I’ve tried to write it so that it can be edited for another Enscape users needs, if this is of interest let me know.

2

download the Deskpin Software…

3

if you have a look at the script you’ll see the pinning part is just 1 line of code.

I was using deskpin but wanted the resize functionality too, hence me writing this, it was googling for ‘pinning app to top’ that put me onto AHK as it’s the most frequent result.

4

Thank you. I am eager to give it a try.

It’s great when people step up to address shortcomings in software AND decide to freely share that knowledge with others :slight_smile:

5

Its such a simple thing for what it does, its 98 lines long with 30+ of those lines being comments and blanks for visual clarity.

6

Would really like the ability to keep the Enscape window on top, natively. Right now you are required to use multiple monitors if you want to keep the render window open and work real-time with SketchUp. This is frustrating for me, because I don’t have matching monitors and color grading becomes difficult. My main monitor is a high end IPS with really nice/accurate color. My secondary monitor…is not.

7

It works perfectly, thanks … thanks … thanks