sketchup upgrade needed

[jim mills]

Hey guys, I've been using (for free) SketchUp make 2015 for several years now, but I'm getting a new computer so time to install new software. I dont do any 3-D drawing so I dont need anything more powerful than what I 've got. Any Suggestions? TIA!

[Aaron Rosenthal]

I think Sketchup 2017 is still a free download from the Trimble site.

[Jim Becker]

The current free version of Sketchup is available at this link:

https://www.sketchup.com/plans-and-pricing/sketchup-free

Keep in mind that it runs in the browser, not locally. Local running now requires a subscription.

[jim mills]

Thanks Jim. I've gotten a lot of use out of the free version. I guess it's time to pony up.

[Jim Becker]

Jim, I was previously using the 2017 "Make" version but it got wonky after a number of MacOS updates. I also did the paid subscription last year as I needed/wanted to use the program for my new shop building project and the associated planning for it, but am debating whether or not to renew simply because I rarely use the application for my projects. CNC stuff gets done in the Vectric software I use and I sometimes even use that for non-CNC sketches when I need to play with exact dimensions. I will tell you that the current version of SketchUp is very good and works in a familiar way relative to the 2017 Make version, at least for me.

[Thomas Crawford]

I'm still waiting for someone to make something for the iPad that is equivalent to the old free sketchup. There isn't anything that I've found that can combine shapes, or draw a shape on a surface and then push/pull it. the 12" iPad with pencil is perfect for this. Apparently the sketchup iPad version is no good at the moment, and requires subscription. $10/mo is a little much for a hobbiest. Something more like $25-30 a year would probably bring them good revenue even if they restrict some functionality.

[Jim Allen]

Make 2017 works well for me on a Windows 10 machine.

[Andrew More]

Maybe you can just copy of the files over? If not, Jim is correct, the web based version is still free. The only thing that I see "missing" from the free version is the ability to create groupings of things. Such as "all these parts are the top", "these parts are the legs", etc. With named grouping you can then make them visible, not visible. You can still select things on the fly to move them around in the free version. I found this useful for designing the framing in my garage, but probably wouldn't care for much smaller projects.

[John TenEyck]

Make 2017 is still available for download: https://download.cnet.com/SketchUp-Make-2017/3000-6677_4-10257337.html

It's the version I use. It works w/o issues on my Win10 PC. I looked at the current web version and maybe I'm dense but it was no where as easy to use as Make 2017 or prior versions.

John

[Jim Becker]

I'm still waiting for someone to make something for the iPad that is equivalent to the old free sketchup.

SketchUp is available for iPad. But it isn't free. Folks with computer subscriptions can access it with the same licence, AFAIK, but iPad only requires its own subscription.

​https://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-for-ipad