Charlotte Lee, Author at Elmtec Sketchup

Carpentry Software

Posted on October 21, 2022November 11, 2022 by Charlotte Lee

Carpentry Design Software Overview

Have you heard about Sketchup for woodworkers? If you’re searching for the best free woodworking design software it’s an excellent choice. As carpentry software goes it comes with many benefits. If you’ve ever spent time struggling to create a simple design on paper, the old-school way, you’ll already know it’s prone to errors. You don’t get any of the design support that’s integral to Sketchup, all the things it does for you automatically behind the scenes.

For a start it will save you huge amounts of time as well as making everything you draw a lot more accurate and reliable. As you can imagine, a drawing with the slightest inaccuracy can lead to wasting expensive materials, or at the other end of the scale not buying enough for the job. Easy-to-learn Sketchup Pro is a real asset to carpenters and woodworkers, exactly what you need to start presenting your work to clients in a professional and highly realistic way.

You’ll be able to create beautiful 3D Interior designs for rooms like kitchens, then tweak and manipulate everything quickly and simply using the software to get things perfectly right. You can even develop and present stunning furniture designs using Sketchup’s legendary 3D capabilities. Read on to find out why Sketchup woodworking design software is so popular.

3D Carpentry Design

3D design software is beneficial for carpentry and woodworking. But why is Sketchup for woodworkers so good? For a start, it’s so much less stressful drafting and testing your 3D designs in a virtual environment, compared to creating real-life design mock-ups taking ages to build with lots of potential for mistakes. Sketchup 3D design software means you can know exactly how much material you need. It’s incredibly easy to turn 3D Designs into the 2D data you need to create components, for example using a CNC machine.

3D Design iterations are simple in Sketchup too, and it supports interaction and collaboration really well. This makes it an ideal choice for presenting beautiful designs to clients, convincing drawings they are happier to buy into because they can see how everything will work. All this means you’ve pinned down the fine details before embarking on the design implementation.

Easy to Learn 3D Design Software for Carpenters

If you’ve never tried free woodworking design software before, you might be feeling a bit nervous. Some carpenters and woodworkers are put off by the thought of learning how to use 3D design software. But don’t worry. Sketchup is genuinely incredibly easy to learn and use, which is one of the main reasons so many people like it so much. It’s widely praised for being simple, intuitive, and very powerful indeed.

If you’re concerned about the learning aspect, you’ll be supported by an abundance of excellent teaching resources, everything from video tutorials to follow to enhanced pdf courses stacked with embedded video, text and imagery. There’s something for everyone, and there’s even a book on the subject. However you like to learn there’s plenty for you to dive into and learn at your own pace. In our experience even the most tech-phobic, computer-hating carpenters and woodworkers quickly discover they actually love working with Sketchup. You design faster, make accurate plans, know how much material you need, and can change your designs in seconds rather than re-drawing that takes hours. And client presentations are a dream with such impressive output.

Quickly Visualise Carpentry Designs

You can see the idea in your head. You know exactly how you want it to look. But how do you transform a bright idea into a representative 3D design in Sketchup? Sketchup for woodworkers is fast, and that’s one of the best things of all. An idea occurs to you, you sketch it fast and accurately, then you can amend it, play with it, enhance it, all in no time at all. No faffing around with paper and pens, no messing things up and taking hours over it.

Whether it’s a piece of unique furniture or an interior design element like a set of smart hand-made wooden kitchen units, you’ll draft it quickly and enjoyably so it looks just as appealing as it does in your imagination. The 3D representations created in Sketchup are so much more appealing than standard 2D construction plans, easier for your clients to understand and decode. You can manipulate your models, examine them from every angle, make changes, adjust the size, colour, materials, you name it, all in record time, even as your clients watch. It’s a truly professional way to create, design, present, and ultimately build.

Create Construction Plans

Here’s something you’ll appreciate. Sketchup Pro isn’t just about creating engaging 3D woodworking design software models. It also generates all the necessary construction documentation, which makes it truly invaluable. All that hard work, calculating, counting, and figuring out is taken care of in the background. There’s no risk of getting it wrong as long as you’ve input the right information in the first place.

Complex 3d woodworking CAD designs can be readily represented in plan and documentation form, so every component can be accurately cut and made according to your plans. Imagine the stress-busting effect this has on your workflow, with so much more time for making and creating. Can you imagine how this would apply to your furniture design life, for example? The software will automatically create accurate cut lists for every element of your design, so you don’t have to struggle with it. Instead you can relax in the knowledge you’ve got it right the first time, every time.

Software for Carpenters and Woodworkers

You know the score. In your world you always need to measure twice to cut once. Plenty of people in your world end up measuring a lot more than twice in an effort to get things perfectly right, but things still go wrong with annoying regularity, especially when you’re busy or short of time.

You can think of woodworking design software as your reliable accuracy assistant. It provides exact 3D model representations of the items you design, including 100% accurate dimensions, so there’s far less chance for error. In this way, Sketchup supports accuracy and precision for carpenters and woodworkers of every kind, amateur to professional, teacher to learner. Can you see how much time and hassle it could save you? If you’ve ever mis-measured and ended up spending more than you should have on materials, you’ll appreciate it.

Free Carpentry Design Resources

Free resources are the name of the game with Sketchup woodwork software. For a start there’s a wealth of Extensions and Plugins. They’re extra tools created to speed up various Sketchup actions, and make them easier by either cutting out steps you’d usually need to take or adding extra functionality. They’re just as easy and fun to use as the main software, and there are thousands of them to choose from. If there’s a design challenge you’d like to overcome, there’s probably a plugin or extension to help you.

There are many excellent free extensions that support great carpentry. Take OpenCutList, which generates perfect cut lists and cutting diagrams for woodworking and all sorts of other projects. 3D RubyWindow is a top way to create stunning window frames and doors with ease and flair. They’re just the tip of the iceberg, along with loads of great tutorials to learn from.

There’s more. Make your way to the Sketchup 3D warehouse for even more free woodwork software resources to make your world a better place. You can download pre-made furniture designs, grab a load of wonderfully realistic materials and finishes, use ready-made accessories like potted plants to enhance your work and make drawings even more realistic. There’s a host of really good free woodworking plans as well, an alphabetical list containing every kind of woodworking design you can imagine, from furniture to bee houses to boats.

Carpentry Software FAQs

Finally, let’s look into some of the most frequently asked questions about Sketchup 3d carpentry software for woodworkers.

What is the best carpentry software? Sketchup regularly turns up at the top of the list in articles and posts about the best carpentry and woodworking software tools. The proof is in the sheer variety of professionals, hobbyists and educators who use it.

What 3D Design software do carpenters and woodworkers use? It’s no surprise that so many professional and amateur carpenters and woodworkers use Sketchup Pro to design and create amazing work. Unlike other software it’s perfect for every aspect of 2D and 3D design, not designed for a specific purpose like auto design with bolted-on functionality for other kinds of design.

Is Sketchup Free? There is an excellent free version, which is more than enough for many carpentry and woodworking applications. The Pro version, which you pay for, simply comes with more tools and capabilities. Give the free version, called Sketchup Web, a try, then you’ll know whether the Pro version is necessary.

Is Sketchup easy to learn and use? In a word, yes. Sketchup is widely recognised as not only easy to learn – but a lot of fun, which makes the learning process enjoyable. As long as you know the basics of using a computer you should be able to pick up the basics in record time, and that makes learning the finer details nice and easy too. Once you’re familiar with the way it works, you’re off.

Are there any simple guides and tutorials for carpenters? Yes, there are many popular, hard-working Sketchup for woodworkers courses along with lots of great Youtube tutorials covering all aspects of carpentry and woodworking design using Sketchup. Try an inspiring YouTube beginners course lasting ten minutes. There are tutorials about creating all sorts of objects from start to finish, and something for everyone whether you’re a beginner or already using the software.

How to Use SketchUp for Woodworking

Posted on October 14, 2022March 23, 2023 by Charlotte Lee

You love wood. You work with wood. You design wooden things. Have you tried designing with Sketchup? Sketchup for woodworking gives you all the functionality and flexibility you need to design like a pro. It’s a popular 3D drawing tool used by people like you to draw faster, more accurately, and more enjoyably. Sketchup for carpenters is supported by masses of brilliant learning resources, including video and tutorials of every imaginable kind. There are several versions to choose from, and your Sketchup woodworking plans will support your design life every step of the way. Read on to find out how to get started with Sketchup, and about woodworking with Sketchup. We’ll even take a look at some very cool free Sketchup woodworking plans. Here’s how to make your world better.

Getting Started with SketchUp for Woodworking

First of all, you’ll need to download SketchUp. The downloading, installing and activating process is quick and simple. There’s just one installer and you set the language during installation. It’s available for Mac and Windows machines. There are paid versions and a free version, originally called Sketchup Free and now called Sketchup Web, a limited but still awesome version that only runs on a web browser. There are some graphic card and hardware requirements but they’re basic enough.

How does the free version compare with the paid ones? The Pro version comes with advanced tools for modelling and design presentations for Sketchup for woodworking professionals. The free version has a great selection of tools too. Both Pro and Web have VR capabilities. And while the free one doesn’t, SketchUp Pro makes 3D models from 2D designs.

The simplest way to present a SketchUp model is by exporting an image of it, which the free version can do at a lower quality than Pro. SketchUp Pro lets you make amazing walk through animations, and Pro comes with cool – a great, intuitive way of presenting your 3D model. Another advantage of SketchUp Pro is its superb sandbox tools for modelling terrain and making realistic environments.

If you’re a professional wanting to learn Sketchup for carpenters, the Pro version might be your best bet. If you’re a beginner to 3D modelling, the free version, Web, is perfect for getting to grips with the programme. Sketchup is recognised as one of the easiest 3D design software packages to learn and use, which is why it’s so popular with amateur and professional woodworkers.

Learn About Woodworking with Sketchup

You’ll love the sheer abundance of varied learning resources to help those interested in woodworking with Sketchup. The Sketchup course for woodworkers, for example, teaches you how to resolve the joinery before you get started, understand exactly how much wood you’ll need, build an accurate cut list before making a single cut, and make and print detailed plans.

There’s also a huge collection of Sketchup for woodworking video tutorials to tap into, including Sketchup Basics for Woodworkers – Follow Along video. It covers which version you need, starting the programme, getting oriented, making a simple board, making components, dados, rabbets, side panels, shelves and drawers. It looks at fixing problems, using the 3D warehouse, adding support strips and more, all easy to understand and follow along with. Last but not least there’s a wealth of learning resources provided directly from Sketchup.com, including a book – The new Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp.

Using Sketchup as Woodworking Design Software

It’s easy to choose your preferred ‘Woodworking Style’ in Sketchup. The screen is nice and simple, a plain design with three axes. They’re colour-coded to make it even easier to use and see your three dimensions. So how do you create a basic board? You pick the Sketchup rectangle tool. You can see the rectangle dimensions in the bottom right hand corner, which is where you can edit them. It’s super-simple to select the units you want to use, and the push-pull tool is brilliant, the tool you use to give your rectangle some thickness therefore turn it into a board. And components are an important concept in Sketchup. When you turn an element into a component you can use it as a distinct entity – very cool!

All this means it’s simple and quick to create a dado, basically a slot or trench in a board. It’s just as easy to create a rabbet or recess in the edge of your board. Both are used widely in joinery. It’s just as quick to make the essential basics and more, including side panels and drawers, joints and cabinets, you name it. Right from the start, you can see how Sketchup for carpenters makes a difference to creativity, workflow, accuracy, productivity and presentation.

Next, let’s explore the free Sketchup woodworking plans you can use to make your woodworking life even easier and more enjoyable.

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Free Sketchup Woodworking Plans

There’s more. You can also dive into a whole load of free Sketchup for woodworking Plans online. They’re created to make your woodwork design life even simpler, saving you time and effort as well as giving you insight into the way people like you use Sketchup to create your own woodworking plans. If you want to make a beautiful stand for an aquarium, there’s a free plan for that. Maybe a large workbench? No worries, it’s already there for you in plan form.

To give you an idea of the sheer scope of the free Sketchup woodworking plans available, let’s just take a look at those beginning with ‘B’. There are free plans for Barbeque Carts and BBQ Pits, Bars, Baskets and Bat Houses, Bathroom Vanities and Cabinets, Bed Headboards and Bedroom Dresser Cabinets. You can grab free plans for Bedroom Nightstand Tables, Beds, and Bedroom Furniture. Maybe you want to build Beehives or benches, Birdfeeders or Birdhouses. How about Boats, Bookcases and Bookshelves, even wooden bowls? Boxes, Buffets, Barns, Bunk beds, Bulletin boards and every kind of building. And all that is just the tip of the iceberg. Exciting or what?

Sketchup Woodworking Resources

Woodworkers also have access to many excellent online Sketchup learning resources for woodworkers. The ‘Building Blocks of SketchUp’ course is an excellent way to learn the basics of 3D Modelling with SketchUp, including 260 pages of illustrated text, and 50 embedded video lessons. Perfect whether you’re a teacher, hobbyist or woodworking beginner, it’s a great way to plan your next project.

Then there’s the new ‘Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp’, another cool digital publication in enhanced PDF format with loads of clear imagery and exciting embedded video content, plus expanded streamlined techniques and fresh content about building models from photos using Solid Tools in SketchUp Pro plus plug-ins.

How about ‘SketchUp For Kitchen Design, another enhanced PDF format resource with 49 video lessons embedded inside 195 pages of text. This one’s designed to teach the basics of 3D modelling as you work your way through a typical kitchen project, an interesting and inspiring way to learn. You make a room model, build models of cabinets, counters and appliances, and learn exactly how to use the resources in the SketchUp 3D Warehouse. Plus rendering a complete model, generating images and standard drawings, and using LayOut with SketchUp Pro.

All this Sketchup for carpenters magic is supported by loads of furniture designs from the Sketchup 3D warehouse. These Sketchup Extensions and Plugins expand the software’s capabilities to amazing places and there are loads tailored to woodworking, including an Open Cut List extension to generate accurate Cut lists and Cutting Diagrams for Woodworkers. CutMap is a full-featured SketchUp extension for woodworkers and builders, used to make in-model cutting diagrams or cutlists from SketchUp models. You’ll love the GKWare Stairmaker extension, perfect for making a variety of curved and spiral stairs quickly and accurately. And K2WS_Tools lets you detail furniture joints perfectly in 3D models.

Are you ready to dive into Sketchup for woodworking? Good move. It’ll change your woodworking life for the better.

Features to look for in a new Garden Design Software

Posted on October 07, 2022June 10, 2024 by Charlotte Lee

You’re going to love Sketchup garden design. Whether you’re a talented amateur, an experienced garden designer or simply want to make the most of your own garden, it’s brilliant. You’ll find landscape design with Sketchup a dream for drawing in 3D.

It’s stacked with fantastic features, delivering everything you need to make eye-catching pro designs with confidence and ease. And it’s fast, which matters as well. As soon as you master the basics of more or less anything, from sport to a musical instrument, that’s when the creativity really flows. The same goes for SketchUp software for garden planning.

It’s a pleasure to learn. There’s a multitude of superb learning resources of every kind. And it’s genuine fun. You’ll be drawing like a pro in no time. In this article we’ll explore the many great garden design software features in SketchUp. By the end of it you’ll know exactly what this world-class garden design software will do for you. This is how your garden grows!

Best Garden Design Software

It helps to get the terminology right before diving in. These days, the terms garden designer and landscape designer mean much the same thing. You take a detailed brief from the client. You assess the space and the budget in terms of the client’s needs then use your gardening, landscaping, design experience and plant expertise to create practical, attractive landscape design with SketchUp solutions.

On the other hand, a landscape designer is completely different from a landscape architect. Landscape architecture involves architecture itself, urban design, environmental psychology, civil engineering, industrial design, horticulture and more. Landscape design is more about the gardening side of life, covering things like horticulture, artisanship, creative design, ideas, and plans.

All these roles involve garden design software. And SketchUp contains everything you need to be more productive and enjoyable whatever you want to design.

A highly-rated tool containing all the best garden design software features, SketchUp is perfect for people who want to design their own personal outdoor spaces. At the other end of the scale it is equally good for garden design businesses and professionals. This is without doubt some of the best software for garden planning.

So what does ‘best’ mean in this context? It means affordable software that’s easy to download, install and configure. When a tool is easy to learn it makes such a difference to your morale and confidence. You’ll want to unleash your creativity quickly, and make sure it’s good for designing gardens of all shapes, sizes and flavours. When your chosen garden design programme is actually recognised as perfect for garden design, you know you’ve hit the jackpot.

Sketchup fulfils all this. While there are plenty of good landscape design and garden design software packages around, you deserve the best. So let’s dive into the magic of Sketchup garden design – here’s some inspiration.

Garden Design Software Features

Next, we’ll list and describe the primary features people like you need from their software for garden planning. You’ll get all this and more with Sketchup pro.

Affordable pricing options

Landscape design with SketchUp is affordable for businesses, an excellent deal considering how much companies benefit from such a flexible, practical and creative tool. But it’s also affordable for individuals, perfect for designing your own backyard or front garden so it’s comfortable, practical, and attractive.

There’s a free version of SketchUp, perfect when you want to give it a go without spending a penny. SketchUp Pro FREE gives you loads of functionality plus access to excellent SketchUp tutorials, while the paid versions simply come with more tools, functions, and more ways to model.

SketchUp Go lets you design and collaborate anywhere you like for £95 a year. Model garden designs on a browser or iPad, enjoy over 4 million pre-built 3D models, see your work in impressive 3D via the augmented reality viewer, and get unlimited cloud storage.
SketchUp Pro is the most popular commercial package, £245 a year and perfect for professionals. Model on a desktop, web browser, Chromebook or iPad. There’s 2D design documentation, quick insights for design research, reality (XR) headset viewing, and masses of plugins to extend the functionality even more. It’s ideal for Sketchup garden design.
SketchUp Studio is for Windows only, £549 a year and perfect for professional software for garden planning workflows. Model on a desktop, web browser, Chromebook or iPad. Import and model on point cloud data with native tools. Export to LayOut and document point cloud data in 2D. See interactive, real-time visualisations as you work. Create and export photorealistic images. Export rendered animations and 360° panoramas.
SketchUp Studio for Students and SketchUp Studio for Educators cost £xx a year. The Universities version is individually priced. Make accurate 3D models, get support teaching SketchUp skills.
Sketchup for Schools is for primary and secondary education, free with a G Suite or Microsoft Education account. It works on Chromebooks and on any internet connected computer, complete with in-app lesson plans, £D printing, online community support, Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive file storage

Now we’ll explore some of the many ways SketchUp is perfect for designing gardens:

Easy to learn and use

Sketchup is widely recognised as possibly the easiest 3D design software to learn, and also to use. Get a few landscape designs with SketchUp basics under your belt and you’ll soon ‘get’ how it works. Learn more via an abundance of excellent courses and guidance in garden design using Sketchup. You have the tools you need to confidently start using SketchUp to make plans and 3D concept models, add construction details, make site surveys and create planting plans in a compelling and professional way.

Optimal for garden design

Many 3D software for garden planning packages are geared more toward complex architectural design and construction. They often have a garden design element but it isn’t their main focus so isn’t put first. It’s more of an afterthought. SketchUp is recognised as optimal for garden and landscape design, giving you everything you need to make the best possible job of the project – whether you’re a professional or someone with an outdoor space you want to make amazing. It’s superb for simply sketching out your ideas, never mind the full design. Your thoughts will spring to realistic 3D life and accurate measurements will help you budget for the exact right amount of materials. View your work through Pro’s awesome VR and AR functions and they’ll look even more amazing.

Run from multiple platforms

Flexibility is a must where devices are concerned. Most designers work on a desktop or laptop with a good-sized screen and an easy-to-use full size keyboard, then present their ideas and designs on a tablet or iPad. Because Sketchup supports all these devices you can share your work between devices with no problems, getting the same amazing quality visuals whatever hardware you’re using. It’s also good to know Sketchup works on both Mac and Windows operating systems.

Accurate 2D Drawings

When a 2D drawing is 100% accurate, your garden design life is even easier. You can see exactly how objects and structures will look inside the space. You’ll know how much hard landscaping materials you need, and how much you’ll need to spend on soft landscaping. Sketchup features deliver truly accurate garden layout plans, adding instant professionalism to your work.

Photo realistic 3D rendering

2D drawings in SketchUp are quite something: clear, good-looking, inspiring and realistic. Take things to 3D and the impact is just breathtaking. An accurate, hyper-real rendering of garden design ideas brings them to life in a way no ordinary drawing could achieve. People will be able to explore the design in an emotional context that really matters when you’re talking gardens. SketchUp provides a choice of excellent rendering capabilities to make the most of your garden design presentations and ideas.

Pre Designed 3D models

You could spend an age designing your own plants and vegetation, garden furniture, paving stone textures and more. But there’s no need. Let someone else do it for you. Tap into a huge collection of pre-designed 3D models of everything garden-wise you could imagine, all easy to use. This is how the legendary Sketchup 3D warehouse supports excellence as well as speeding garden design up.

Garden Design Idea Visualisation

If you’re like most people, you’ll test-drive all sorts of different ideas before beginning the design process for real. And that’s exactly what SketchUp lets you do. Change elements instantly. Move them around, re-scale them, replace things, change the lighting. Everything you do is transformed into a clear, beautiful design in real time. Your creativity flows, your Sketchup garden design work flows, it makes everything so much more of a pleasure.

3D Terrain Representation

Some gardens are flat. Many are not. Garden design often means representing a variety of topologies, everything from hills and valleys to slopes, terraces, and sunken gardens. Because it’s easy to get the topology right via landscape design with SketchUp geo-location features, the terrain imagery you’re working on will be realistic and accurate. And the more accurate you are, the less chance of mistakes.

Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

You thought SketchUp’s 3D rendering was amazing? Wait until you try viewing the garden design you’ve created using AR or VR, augmented reality or virtual reality. This is where client presentations and family consultations get truly inspiring.

Hyper-real lighting effects

What will your Sketchup garden design look like in full sun at noon, or on a dim day in the middle of winter? What difference will the outdoor lighting you’ve chosen make – will it work better if you fit it in a different place? Real lighting effects make such a difference to a garden design, letting you understand the way the light falls and design accordingly. A great way to help you make the most of the light falling on the space.

Are you ready to go? Simply download your favourite SketchUp package, then go create.

Interior Design Software for Beginners: What to look for

Posted on September 30, 2022June 13, 2024 by Charlotte Lee

Your search for the best interior design software for beginners has begun. You’re on the trail of a tool that’ll let you design gorgeous interiors like a professional, and do it easily. You want to get creative quickly thanks to a neat learning curve that’ll take you to the fun bits faster. If that’s you, it sounds a lot like you need SketchUp for interior design. Interior design with SketchUp is intuitive, which means you’ll learn fast without the frustrations you can get with less user-friendly tools. It’s enjoyable. The results are off-the-scale good to look at, seriously impressive. It deserves a spot at the top of your best interior design software list. Let’s take a look at why it’s such a star, the essential features you’ll love, and the amazing things you’ll be able to do with it.

Best Interior Design Software

First, a look at the wider interior design software landscape. It is crowded. Very crowded. There’s a bewildering choice of good interior design software including Autodesk AutoCad, TurboCad, Infurnia and many more. Some of them are targeted firmly at professionals like architects. Others are better for ordinary mortals who want to experiment and explore the magic of 2D and 3D interior design. Whether you’ll be using it for work, for fun, or to make the most of the space at home, SketchUp for interior design is a wise choice, and it happens to be exceptionally good for beginners.

What is ‘best’ as far as the best interior design software is concerned? As a beginner you want an affordable set of tools with a really good range of functions and features. SketchUp ticks the box. It’s also easily installed and configured, and just as simple to use. Get a few basic actions together and you’ll soon see how the whole thing works. It’s nicely intuitive and stays easy to use even when your designs get complicated. Interior design with SketchUp is really well supported with an abundance of excellent resources, including tutorials and video. And we’re not the only ones to rate it highly for interior design beginners . Beginners love it, and they’re happy to tell us how much. Check out our testimonials here to see interior design novices say about the software.

Essential Features of Interior Design Software for Beginners

Now for the fine details about how SketchUp will make your interior design life easier, more fun, more productive, and faster. Here are the main features to look for in interior design software for beginners.

Affordable pricing options

Beginners are often strapped for cash. As a student you’re probably being very careful with your money, which makes affordable options essential. SketchUp is available in a choice of pricing plans – including free and student options. SketchUp Pro FREE gives you exceptional functionality as well as access to excellent SketchUp tutorials, and SketchUp Studio for Students comes with a considerable discount. Compared to the free version, paid versions include more tools, functions, and features.

Easy to learn

You’re a designer. You want to spend as little time learning the software as possible, and as much time actually designing with it as you can. Using SketchUp for interior design is your ideal solution. It is widely recognised as the easiest 3D design software to both learn and use. There’s an abundance of excellent beginner tuition and beginners courses online. And the learning curve is a lot less steep than it is for most of the others, which tend to be a lot more complex, even though they don’t offer more or better features.

Optimal for interior design

With AutoCad, for example, the clue is in the name. It’s primarily an auto design tool with features you can use for interior design and other purposes. But it isn’t focused on interiors. Many 3D design software packages are geared to complex architectural interior design and construction. SketchUp is different, loved as an optimal solution for interior design and recommended as a great tool created with beginners in mind.

Should run from multiple platforms

So you design on a desktop or laptop, but you present your ideas and designs to clients on your iPad or tablet. That’s the way things usually happen, so it’s good to know SketchUp supports all these devices. Share with ease, work cross-gadget with confidence, know everything will look just as good whatever the operating system or screen size. SketchUp for interior design works beautifully on both Mac and Windows.

Photo realistic rendering and lighting effects

Drawings are great. They can inspire and convince. But take things a step further, add photo realistic rendering of your interior designs, and the kitchens and bathrooms you create are brought to vivid life. Your clients can see exactly what it’ll look like while getting a ‘feel’ for things as well, accurately and to scale. Add realistic lighting effects from every kind of source you can imagine, natural to artificial, and the results are genuinely breathtaking. As such SketchUp gives you excellent rendering capabilities that optimise every design presentation.

Professional design capabilities

This article is about interior design software for beginners, but you’ll probably love it so much you might be inspired to move on to a professional level. You’re in luck there, too. SketchUp fully supports the needs of professional interior designers, and is widely used by them. You’re never alone, there’s always help and support on tap.

Pre Designed 3D models

Interior design involves many elements including furnishings, surfaces and more. There’s an enormous collection of 3D models of these components, created to support great work and save you loads of time designing your own. The SketchUp 3D warehouse is a wonderful resource for beginners, the source of masses of 3D models from well known manufacturers and others, perfect for incorporating into your designs.

Design communication

The integral interior design process built into the software involves interaction with stakeholders to present proposed design ideas and develop their needs. It’s such a good way to organise your workflow. Intuitive and professional, created to keep everyone and everything on track. SketchUp makes it easy for you to share design variations via images, video, even animations. And the software’s incredible Viewers, with their AR/VR capability, brings ideas sizzling to life in the most extraordinary way. They’re totally compelling.

Interior Design Idea Visualisation

You probably won’t create the perfect design the first time. The design process is much more iterative and involved than that. The ongoing creative process is supported beautifully in SketchUp, making it really easy to try things out and experiment. This makes it faster and more fun to quickly visualise design ideas, share them with stakeholders, and develop the ideas people like best.

Now you know what’s involved in interior design with SketchUp. You can see why it’s the best interior design software in town for beginners. What will you create first?

How to Create Curved Surfaces in SketchUp Pro

Posted on September 23, 2022December 16, 2022 by Charlotte Lee

Life without curves? You’re not going to get far! When you’re into 3D drawing, curves are an essential element of your skill set, a basic drawing skill you’ll want to get under your belt as soon as possible. Let’s take a detailed look at how to create a curved surface in Sketchup. By the end of this article you’ll know which tools and ways are available for achieving Sketchup curves, how to create the perfect Sketchup curved surface for your project, whatever it might be, and which Sketchup curved surface plugin choices you might want to make. By the end you’ll know exactly how simple and intuitive it is to make all sorts of things curvy with confidence.

Creating Curves in Sketchup Pro

First of all, it’s good to know there isn’t just one way to create Sketchup curves. There’s a multitude of different methods, which means the potential is more or less infinite. The same goes for curved forms, made super-easy to achieve thanks to a variety of standard methods and tools as well as extensions.

In Sketchup, extensions perform much the same role as plugins. They’re individual tools designed to perform a specific function faster, easier, or simply do it outside of the regular pro tool route. All this makes curves a pleasure to work on.

It matters because Sketchup curves are an essential part of contemporary design. Organic shapes please the eye, sitting at the heart of all sorts of everyday and extraordinary items. Curves imply comfort. We’re naturally drawn to sleek, smooth surfaces and shapes. And so many natural forms are curved.

You want your drawings to look as realistic and compelling as you can, and that’s what Sketchup is all about – drawing ‘amazing’ quickly and professionally, and enjoying the process every step of the way. You’ll find creating curves and curved surfaces in Sketchup Pro is easy, intuitive and fun. Here are some of the most popular basic Sketchup curved surface techniques.

How to Create a Curved Surface Using Push Pull and Arcs

How to make Sketchup curves? For a start there are four cool tools for making arcs: the Arc tool itself, the Pie tool, the 2 Point Arc tool, and the 3 Point Arc tool. As a rule an arc comes with several connected line segments but in your model it’s a single entity. An arc can define the edge of a face, and it can also divide the face. While it’s a single entity in your drawing, SketchUp’s intelligent inference engine identifies each segment making up the arc and highlights the geometry points you’ve made when you hover your cursor over them.

How are arcs made? Every arc you draw naturally contains 12 segments, but you can ask the programme to use more or less. More segments will make an arc smoother, but it’s more resource-hungry for Sketchup. Using fewer segments makes things faster but there’s a pay-off in the form of an arc that might look a bit blocky. It depends on the purpose of your drawing. For client-ready work, you might want to make things look as smooth as possible. For an initial sketch or early draft you might be OK with fewer segments and a less-smooth Sketchup curved surface.

The Arc tool – Arcs to your specification in four clicks

The Sketchup curves Arc tool activates a cool protractor designed to help you set the arc’s start and end points based on the angle you want. The first click sets your centre point, the second the end point, and the third click finishes the arc. The result is an arc consisting of straight-edged segments. How simple is that!

The Pie tool – Delivers a closed pie that turns into a face

The Pie tool works the same way as the Arc tool but it gives you a closed pie shape that becomes a face.

The 2 Point Arc tool – Changes your cursor into a penc

The 2 Point Arc tool lets you use a pencil intuitively to click and define one end of the arc, and click again to pinpoint the other end. A third click lets you define the arc’s bulge.

The 3 Point Arc tool – Another handy way to draw arcs with a pencil

The 3 Point Arc tool also transforms your cursor into a pencil, and delivers results in just three clicks. One to set the starting point, one to set the pivot point, and a third click to define the endpoint.

Here’s how to draw a Sketchup curved surface with the Arc and Pie tools. This is one of the earliest exercises many people familiarise themselves with in Sketchup Pro simply because it’s so incredibly useful:

Close the bottom of the arc
Select the Push / Pull tool, or use the P key
Click on the arc face
Drag the cursor to turn your 2D arc shape into an extruded 3D form

You can also easily change angular 3D shapes using this extrusion technique to introduce a Sketchup curved surface, used either additively or subtractively.

Create Curved Surfaces Using Sketchup Pro Sandbox Tools

Sketchup Pro sandbox tools are another excellent way to make Sketchup curves. . Perfect for a variety of essential and imaginative curved surfaces, specialist Sandbox tools let you draw berms, ponds, rolling landscapes and more.

The Smoove tool, for example, models hills and valleys on a TIN or triangulated irregular network, an easy and very effective way to sculpt terrain. It works on terrains you create yourself from scratch, and for imported terrains.

The Add Detail tool lets you easily and quickly split a selection inside your TIN into smaller triangles, giving you more fine detail wherever you want it. And because importing Google Earth contours or terrain usually comes with flat spots you don’t want, there’s a Sketchup tool specially for fixing it. It’s called the Flip Edge tool.

Make winding pathways, create realistic landscapes, it’s all possible with Sandbox tools, and using them to sculpt curved surfaces this way is also really good fun. Here’s how easy the basic technique is:

Go to Sketchup Pro sandbox tools > Create a grid
Select the ‘smooth’ tool from the sandbox
Clicking on the flat grid and defining a radius lets you pull and mould a basic flat shape into all sorts of complex curved surfaces
Use the ‘soften edges’ tool to smooth the curved surface

Create Curved Surfaces Using Sketchup Pro Extensions

There’s an exciting collection of excellent Sketchup curved surface plugin choices, some of which come with great Sketchup curved surface extrusion capabilities. Take JHS powerbar, a plugin made up of a collection of powerful tools rolled into one. One of them adds c points, a guide to construction points in Sketchup, placing geometry on your vertices. One draws lines to connect your c points, and another places a component on your c points, handy when your components are resource-heavy. Just replace them with a proxy by clicking on them.

There’s a component replacer, and you can build all sorts of interesting amorphic shapes. There’s a tool to subdivide faces in three ways, an align tool, and a 3d rotate tool. And you can randomly scale selected components. One of the tools both rotates and randomly scales in one go. There’s an upright extruder and a follow tool. The follow me tool twists extruded faces in three directions but keeps the extruded face upright. And the tool the face finder finds coplanar edge loops and fills them for you. And that’s just the start.

Make a pipe around a path. Create a tube. Put components along a path then input the distance you want between them. Flatten objects or vertices with three cool tools. There’s a mirror tool to define mirror planes, and it’s easy to move an object by pressing arrow keys on the keyboard. Then you have a suite of Sketchup curved surface smoothing tools to tap into.

It’s easy to install extensions in Sketchup Pro. Just download the .rbz from the plugin store and save it to your hard drive. In SketchUp, select the Window / Extension Manager menu point. At the extension manager window click ‘Install extension’, then choose the select the .rbz file of the plugin you want to use.

It’s useful to know that the basic technique to create curved surfaces using push/pull and arcs in Sketchup Pro has limitations, simply because you need to define and create a flat surface or face to be extruded, for example a double curve. The JHS Powerbar extension lets you extrude curved lines by vector, directly extruding them into a surface without any thickness. And that makes your Sketchup curved surface plugin life easy.

Sketchup Tutorials to learn Sketchup curved surface plugin skills

You’ll have access to a huge collection of excellent Sketchup Tutorials designed to get you going faster. And you can have a go creating Sketchup curves magic for yourself by downloading Sketchup Pro, here.

Why Buy SketchUp Pro from Elmtec

Posted on September 16, 2022January 26, 2024 by Charlotte Lee

Do you or don’t you? If you’re researching why to buy SketchUp Pro, this article is for you. Our comprehensive guide reveals everything about why it’s such a cool tool, and delves into why it’s an even better idea to buy it from Elmtec. We’ll cover the cost of SketchUp pro and how to buy a SketchUp licence with confidence. By the end you’ll be raring to go – or we hope so! This really is one of the best, most fun and feature-rich 3D drawing tools out there, used by a huge variety of professions and other design-focused people. It’ll change your design life.

Why Buy SketchUp Pro

You can buy SketchUp in all sorts of formats, for commercial use, higher education, and primary and secondary schools. Each plan has been carefully crafted to provide everything needed to make the most of the tool in the way that’s most relevant. First, let’s explore the different packages available and what they’ll do for you. Then we’ll look into why the Pro version is such a good buy.

Commercial Plans for SketchUp

For commercial use you’ve got SketchUp Go, which lets you design and collaborate anywhere you like. It costs £95 a year. Buy SketchUp Go to:

Model on a browser or iPad
Access more than 4 million pre-built 3D models
Admire your work via the integral augmented reality viewer
Get unlimited cloud storage

SketchUp for higher education

SketchUp Studio for Students and SketchUp Studio for Educators both cost £xx a year, and there’s a version for Universities that comes with a tiered price plan. You can make accurate 3D models in an education context, and the package supports you in teaching SketchUp skills to learners.

SketchUp Pro

SketchUp Pro is the most popular commercial version. The cost of SketchUp Pro is £245 a year and the perfect way to create professional outcomes. Buy SketchUp Pro to:

Model on a desktop, web browser, Chromebook or iPad
2D design documentation
Quick insights for design research
Experience reality (XR) headset viewing

Access to plugins for extending SketchUp Pro Desktop functionality

SketchUp Studio

SketchUp Studio is for Windows only and costs £549 a year, ideal for professional workflows. Buy SketchUp Studio to:

Model on a desktop, web browser, Chromebook or iPad
Import and model onto point cloud data with native tools
Export to LayOut and document point cloud data in 2D
Interactive, real-time visualisations as you work
Create and export photorealistic images
Export fully rendered animations and 360° panoramas

SketchUp for higher education

SketchUp Studio for Students and SketchUp Studio for Educators both cost £xx a year, and there’s a version for Universities that comes with a tiered price plan depending on your exact needs. They let you and your students make accurate 3D models in an education context, and support you in teaching SketchUp skills to learners.

SketchUp for primary and secondary schools

SketchUp for Schools is a great choice for primary and secondary education. It comes free with a G Suite or Microsoft Education account.

Works on Chromebooks or any internet connected computer
In-app lesson plans
Print in 3D
Online community support
Store files on Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive

SketchUp free

SketchUp Pro FREE costs nothing. So how does it differ from the paid-for Pro version?

For a start they both give you access to masses of excellent SketchUp tutorials, for a start. Both contain the same Large Tool Set tools, and the modelling environments are the same too. Pro comes with more 3D export options including various CAD formats, 3D Studio, and Object. You can use Dynamic Components in both versions, but you can only author them as a Pro user. The Pro version of SketchUp also comes with Layout 2, the presentation package that integrates with SketchUp models, and Style Builder, an application to create your own unique styles.

As you can tell the free version is full of fantastic features. But the Pro version provides many advanced tools and modelling capabilities. Everything is just as easy to use as it is in the free version, and it’s surprisingly affordable considering how powerful, exciting, fun and easy to use it is. All this makes it definitely worth buying as a current user of the free and educational packages.

The answer to the question ‘is SketchUp Pro worth buying?’ is a definite yes! The high number of people and organisations transferring to the Pro version from the free or educational packages speaks for itself. The cost of SketchUp pro, bearing in mind all the extra features and benefits, is well worth the investment.

There are several ways to buy SketchUp Pro. Elmtec is one of the most popular providers. Next, we’ll take a look at why Elmtec rates so high with buyers.

Why Buy SketchUp Pro From Elmtec

There are plenty of good reasons to buy SketchUp Pro via Elmtec. For a start, Elmtec has extensive experience in the digital design space, where they’ve been working successfully for a quarter of a century. And that makes them a recognised leading distributor of professional hardware and software. Because they employ such highly qualified specialists, Elmtec’s in-depth product knowledge and industry experience is second to none. And they’re the official UK SketchUp distributor, which counts for a lot when downloading from sources you can’t 100% trust can cause all sorts of problems.

Being based here in the UK means Elmtec can give you excellent support locally, and the people delivering that support are seriously responsive. Help is yours 7 days a week and the team will always get back to you within 24 hours.

It’s good to know Elmtec support comes from real human beings, not bots, whether you get it by telephone or email. It’s so much better than fiddling about with bot-led help when you really want a fast, accurate answer from a person who knows exactly what they’re talking about. This even includes technical support directly from the official UK supplier, a valuable benefit. The simple fact that we’re in the same time zone makes a big difference.

Maybe you need some product training. Many SketchUp Pro adopters do. If so you’ll want it to be great training worth having. At Elmtec we provide popular monthly onboarding webinars where you’ll learn the basics of SketchUp alongside a SketchUp expert who guides you every step of the way.

There’s more on the learning front. Elmtec provides superb personalised training programs, which can be created specifically for large accounts with multiple users. And that means your people get the exact training they need, expertly delivered every time.

When you buy SketchUp Pro from Elmtec you can get your hands on a collection of exciting offers and generous discounts from authorised training centres across the UK, giving you in depth support and knowledge throughout your SketchUp journey.

Now you know the cost of SketchUp Pro and understand the best place to buy a SketchUp licence, all you need to do is purchase one of the world’s best-loved 3D drawing tools and you’re off. Enjoy the ride!

Understanding SketchUp System Requirements and Workflow Enhancement With Scott Whittaker

Posted on September 14, 2022June 13, 2024 by Charlotte Lee

In 2015 Scott, owner and director of WithPencils decided to dispose of his pub group and, alongside his wife Ruby (who had been designing for hospitality as a sole trader and agency side), to create WithPencils. Primarily focusing on marketing a design for the hospitality industry they design logos, POS and signage for pubs and restaurants, eventually leading to requests to visualise building signing and redevelopment interiors.

Scott has agreed to come along and speak to us today about his workflows and projects over the last 12 months and share his requirements used to create one of his latest completions, Nest, Bishopsgate.

“With V-Ray renders, I add lighting and upgrade textures before rendering within SketchUp, using V-Ray swarm rendering (does calculations on other computers to speed up the process). To utilize other iMacs we have.”

Scott began working on SketchUp when it was a Google product (Hands up if you remember that!) and has since been experimenting with sign visuals, press releases and working with some of the most exclusive and quirky bars, pubs and clubs in London. He decided to begin with SketchUp due to its ease in 3D modelling, clear visualisation and simple plugin options that help speed up workflow and reduce file sizes, alongside this the support technically and online from a large community of other SketchUp users has been instrumental to his SketchUp growth.

He also started with SketchUp after convincing his business partner (and wife) to purchase SketchUp on the promise that he would draw out their loft conversion, thankfully he held his promise in lockdown and they very quickly begin to design larger exterior and interior projects for new developments, which alongside pubs and bars signage visuals now make up around 90% of their business, doubling turnover compared to pre-lockdown.

We’re grateful to see business owners striving post lockdown and are extremely happy to see SketchUp and it’s features playing a part in this!

The main challenges with this project was to show the “nest” structure, which could only be achieved by viewing the interior for the exterior and just suggesting the windows.

Scott also opened up a little about his own requirements and his own personal workflow to get the most out of the SketchUp software. You can check out our page here to give you the minimum requirements to use SketchUp on your workstation.

(Please note, Scott’s experience is only giving his personal requirements for his projects/workflow and may not reflect the same for all SketchUp users)

So Scott, take it away!

I work on iMac 27” 3.6GHz 10-Core Intel CorI9 128GBram AMD Radeon Pro 570 XT 16GB.

3d Connexion space mouse is the most useful I can’t imagine working without it.
V-ray – swarm rendering over 5 iMacs
S4u export scenes
Path copy – and repeated component
Fredo round corners – great for soft furnishings
Sandbox tools – for landscape and organic items
Solar north to play with the sun location for visuals

For sketch images :

I build models from Photos, DWG. or PDF (or a combination of them all)
I populate models from the 3d Warehouse and build custom items as needed.
I make 3 scenes for each viewpoint
A customer line style
Just shadow
Colour layer
Then I export all layers using S4u export scenes
In photoshop I add so hand effects, hand colour with custom brushes and lighting effects

With V-ray renders, I add lighting and upgrade textures before rendering within SketchUp Pro, using V-Ray swarm rendering (does calculations on other computers to speed up the process). To utilize the other iMac we have.

With a degree in Fine Art in the early 90’s Scott had a job in a bar and ending up hospitality industry operating Bars Club and restaurant groups.

How to Buy SketchUp Pro from Elmtec

Posted on September 02, 2022December 16, 2022 by Charlotte Lee

You’d like to buy SketchUp Pro. Good move! You’re about to enter the magical world of 3D drawing made simple and fun. It’s a professional-level CAD package used by all sorts of professional designers across interior and exterior design, architecture, construction and more. It’s equally popular with educators and students, the most feature-rich version of SketchUp. So how to buy SketchUp Pro? Where do you go to purchase SketchUp?

You want to buy from a source you can trust, a place where downloading is safe and secure. You need a supplier who doesn’t just sell you a product then leave you to get on with it. In our world the question of how to buy a SketchUp licence has just one answer. Buy it from Elmtec for service you can rely on, superb UK-based support, and unbeatable expertise. If you’re asking where to buy SketchUp software, read this. Then download it, relax and enjoy one of the world’s best-loved 3D design packages.

SketchUp Purchasing Options

So what are your choices to purchase SketchUp? SketchUp is available in various flavours including SketchUp Pro, SketchUp Go, and SketchUp Studio. There are several pricing options to buy SketchUp Pro including a FREE version. SketchUp Pro itself is sold on a subscription basis, and you’ll have to connect to the internet to maintain your subscription plan. Your SketchUp Pro licensing options are:

Single user: Assigned to one individual, use it on as many as 2 devices
Network Licence: Installed on as many computers as you want. The machines all need to be internet-connected for the licence to be verified

There are also some great enterprise level options.

SketchUp Commercial Plans

SketchUp Go lets you design and collaborate anywhere you like. It costs £95 a year. You can model on a browser or iPad, access more than 4 million pre-built 3D models, and enjoy your designs in impressive 3D via the integral augmented reality viewer. You also get unlimited cloud storage
SketchUp Pro is the most popular commercial version at £245 a year, the ideal way to generate professional work. You can model on a desktop, web browser, Chromebook or iPad. There’s 2D design documentation, quick insights for design research, reality (XR) headset viewing, plus access to plugins to extend SketchUp Pro Desktop functionality
SketchUp Studio is for Windows only and costs £549 a year, ideal for professional workflows. You can model on a desktop, web browser, Chromebook or iPad and import and model onto point cloud data with native tools. Export to LayOut and document point cloud data in 2D. See interactive, real-time visualisations as you work. Create and export photorealistic images, and export fully rendered animations and 360° panoramas.

SketchUp for higher education

SketchUp for primary and secondary schools

SketchUp for Schools is a great choice for primary and secondary education. It comes free with a G Suite or Microsoft Education account. It works on Chromebooks or any internet connected computer. You get In-app lesson plans and can print in 3D, all with online community support, and you store files on Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive

SketchUp free

SketchUp Pro FREE costs nothing. Like the Pro version you get access to excellent SketchUp tutorials, The free version is full of fantastic features but the Pro version comes with lots more advanced tools and modelling capabilities.

Plenty of people ask the question ‘where can I buy SketchUp Pro?’. You can buy the software and licence directly from Trimble. But there are real benefits to using local, official distributors and resellers, which we cover in our article about Why buy SketchUp Pro from Elmtec.

Now let’s look at how to buy SketchUp Pro from Elmtec. As you’ll see, it’s super-simple.

How to Buy SketchUp Pro from Elmtec

Elmtec has been the official distributor for SketchUp Pro since 2010. And that means we know the product inside out from every angle. In 3D, you might say! So how do you go about buying the software and licence from us? It only takes three steps to get where you want to be.

Go to the UK SketchUp reseller page
Search for your location using the location box, identifying an authorised reseller near you
Follow the link to visit the reseller’s website
Follow their onsite link to submit your purchase order for SketchUp

Now you know how to buy a SketchUp licence from Elmtec, and exactly where to buy SketchUp software online. Remember this is a digital subscription purchase that renews every year. You might not get your product serial number through straight away. They can take 2 working days to email the information over to you – but don’t worry, it’ll arrive. Now you know what to do to Buy SketchUp pro from a supplier you can trust. We wish you an awesome time designing ‘amazing’!

Enscape 3.3 Now Available for SketchUp

Posted on July 29, 2022February 09, 2024 by Charlotte Lee

You want awesome lighting. You want equally awe-inspiring rendering. Enscape 3.3 for SketchUp delivers the magic in real time, and it’s stunning. Enscape lighting SketchUp and Enscape rendering SketchUp have changed the way designers create. Version 3.3 of Enscape for SketchUp is waiting for you. By the end of this article you’ll know what Enscape for SketchUp is, why you’ll fall head over heels in love with it, how to create a SketchUp rendering in Enscape, and all about lighting in SketchUp with Enscape.

What is Enscape for SketchUp?

What is Enscape for SketchUp? A popular commercial real-time rendering and virtual reality plugin, Enscape is the darling of the architecture, engineering, and construction sectors. Both the Real-Time Rendering and Virtual Reality empower your designs, enable a smoother workflow, and bring your imagination to vibrant life. Because you can use it directly in your modeling tools, you can concentrate on the important things: the creating, the designing, and the building. Enscape version 3.3 works with the latest version of SketchUp, so let’s dive in.

Why Use Enscape for SketchUp

Why use Enscape for SketchUp? There are so many reasons why, once you discover it, you’ll want to use it again and again. For a start, Enscape simplifies rendering and the creation of walkthroughs, flythroughs, animations, and virtually experiences. It’s invaluable for that reason alone, since it’s this kind of experience that convinces clients, inspires the right decisions, and pushes approvals through faster. Easy to export models also make it really easy for other people to review your designs, speeding up the workflow dramatically.

A huge asset library of more than 1900 items comes with a cool materials editor and brilliant lighting options. In fact the latest Enscape version, 3.3, has a long list of desirable key features.

Real-time technology means your work is visualised as a fully rendered 3D walkthrough for people to experience from every angle, at any time of day, with any sort of lighting. The live link between the programme and your CAD tool updates things instantly. And the amazing NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling improves walkthrough performance significantly.

Virtual reality lets you and others explore designs via inspirational realism. All you need to do is hook up to a VR headset like the Oculus Rift S or HTC Vive to walk or fly through your project, enjoying spectacular visuals.

The broad range of export options means you can easily collaborate with other people, whether it’s designers, clients or someone else. It’s easy for them to grasp and there’s no need for special software or tech. And the amazing choice of atmosphere settings makes it a dream to create atmosphere and character using hyper-realistic lighting. The cloud cover, the time of day, it’s endlessly configurable.

Enscape 3.3 even offers a suite of workflow tools for collaborative annotation, where people can make changes, suggest materials, highlight an issue, and do whatever’s needed to get the project completed. When you can share your progress, keep the context clear and communicate perfectly with everyone involved like this, so easily and fluidly, your design life is so much more fulfilling.

Isn’t it good to know there’s even more fabulous Enscape functionality on the way for spring 2023?

How to Create a SketchUp Rendering in Enscape

So how do you go about Enscape rendering SketchUp style? First, install Enscape. It’ll turn up under the SketchUp Extensions tab. Now you can start using the Enscape toolbar. Open up a project by clicking the Start Enscape button. To create a beautiful rendering in SketchUp, click on the Take Screenshot or Batch Rendering button inside the Extensions tab. While this is a summary of the process, it clearly shows you how wonderfully simple the tool is to use.

Lighting in SketchUp with Enscape

Enscape lighting SketchUp style is just as amazing. Because SketchUp has no lights of its own, Enscape provides lights accessed via the Enscape Objects window. You can get there either using the Extensions menu option in SketchUp, or the Enscape ribbon.

Here’s how to add light sources to models. As you’ll see, it’s very simple, which means it’s totally inspiring! From SketchUp, just go to Extensions > Enscape > Enscape Objects. Once you’re in there, you’ll find five different light sources to choose from: Sphere light, Spot light, Rectangular (Rect) light, Disk Light and Line Light.

Sphere Light

An omni, or point light – the light sends out rays from a single point equally in all directions . Do it in two clicks, first selecting the surface or axis the light source is based from, then placing the light with a second click. You can then adjust the intensity of the light.

Spot Light

A spot light is placed with four clicks, the first two fixing the end point and the second two the direction of the light cone. To place a spotlight, click to select the surface or axis the light source is based from. Move the mouse to define the axis or face you want the light to run along or go, then click again to define the light source.

Rect (Rectangular) Light and Disk Light

These behave almost the same way, only the beam shape differs. The Spot light source is a single point, the Rect and Disk lights are the same shape at each end. Place them with four clicks, just like the Spot Light. The Rect light has one pink control point. You can do the same thing with the sliders in Enscape Objects. The Disc light has fewer parameters. Adjust intensity of both using the Luminous Power slide.

Line Lights

Line lights are linear lights representing tube fluorescent lights. They go up to 3m long and you can change the length. Again, use the two click method to place them, then you can define and rotate them as you like. You rotate using the control points, or native SketchUp controls for rotation.

Colouring lights

Colour lights in the SketchUp Paint Bucket tool. Pick a colour from the Material Editor, apply it, then adjust it directly in the Enscape window.

For Self-Illumination, not available in the Enscape Objects window, use self-illuminated materials. Either add the keyword ‘Emissive’ to the material name, or go through the Material Editor where there’s more control over the material’s luminance, intensity, and colour. This is where you change the object material type to Self-illuminated.

Enscape 3.3 a wrap-up

Last but not least, Enscape supports optimising and cleaning models by removing unnecessary geometry and materials, leaving you with a lovely clean design. And that’s that – will you give it a test-drive soon, enhancing your work with stunning Enscape lighting SketchUp and dramatically real rendering SketchUp? Don’t forget there’s a plethora of exciting SketchUp tutorials and learning resources to help you get where you want to be.

Get Speedy with SketchUp: Our Top 5 Tips

Posted on July 22, 2022July 14, 2023 by Charlotte Lee

You’re fired up, inspired, full of ideas. You’re designing in SketchUp and you’re loving it. Does the way you work let you keep up with a flow of bright ideas? Or is the way you use the programme slowing you down? If you want to get really speedy at SketchUp, work faster, finish projects faster, and keep up with your creative brain, you need some SketchUp tips to enhance your workflow.

This is your guide to five top tips designed to speed up your SketchUp workflow. Make it more intuitive, smooth, simple and fast with our SketchUp tips. By the end of this article you’ll be flying along, working at a satisfying speed that leaves lots of room for creativity.

Groups and Components

The first of our SketchUp tips: get familiar with groups and components. Designers use groups and components in SketchUp for faster results. They’re very different but equally useful. Once you start using them, you’ll wonder how you managed without them. So what are the key differences between groups and components in SketchUp?

Groups are used for sets of objects you don’t want to duplicate or make copies of, making a group a single instance of a collection of geometry

Components are used for sets of objects you will be duplicating or using multiple times in your model, making a component is a named collection of geometry existing in multiple locations within your model

As you can imagine, not having to draw the same component time and time again will make a dramatic difference to your workflow. As will having a group of objects to use and move around in one go, rather than moving each object in the group separately.

Help Tools

SketchUp’s Help Tools are the second of our top SketchUp workflow tips. They give you fast, efficient insight into exactly what to do when you’re baffled.

The instructor panel in SketchUp makes design life so much easier. It provides valuable help with understanding how to use all SketchUp’s tools, and it’s very easy to use. All you do is click on a tool with the instructor panel open to see a clear description of the tool, plus a step-by-step guide about how to use it. It’s a powerful way to get to grips with SketchUp quickly, and because it helps you speed up the learning curve, your creative flow isn’t interrupted.

There’s more. The SketchUp Help Centre is an outstanding community of experts happy to answer your questions, thanks to Get Answers Positioning-centric information. You can also dive into a huge repository of excellent videos and other tutorials revealing how to do a wide range of things quickly, efficiently, and beautifully.

Shortcuts

SketchUp Shortcuts are another reliable way to boost your workflow and get more done, faster. SketchUp comes with a load of useful predefined shortcuts assigned to various hotkeys. All you need to do is learn them, something that takes most designers no time at all. The hotkey shortcuts speed the design workflow considerably.

It’s good practice to assign your favourite hotkeys at the beginning of a project, so they’re ready and waiting to make your workflow faster. Here are some examples of SketchUp’s default keyboard shortcuts:

Select (space bar)
Line (L key)
Eraser (E key)
Rectangle (R key)
Circle (C key)

Guidelines

Another of our favourite SketchUp tips, SketchUp Guidelines, also called Rulers, makes it easier to visualise 3D on a 2D monitor, and that makes it absolutely vital to fast, seamless workflows. Use the Tape Measure tool to create an infinite guide line in SketchUp. Now you can use the power of the Inference System to snap to it. No wonder people rely on guides for super-accurate modelling.

You can also create your own custom guide geometry to place things that are hard to infer. Use the Tape Measure tool to make a few guidelines to position the object, then simply delete them as soon as you’re finished.

You can also leave your guides in the model, only selecting Edit > Delete guides to get rid of them once you’re sure you don’t need them any more. You can see how snapping objects to guidelines speeds the 3D design workflow dramatically.

Layers

SketchUp layers are a fast and easy way to control entities on your document pages, either shared or not. While the regular layers don’t share entities between pages, shared layers do. The draw order means the entities on a top layer are displayed over entities on a lower layer. And a layer can be either visible or hidden. The locked or unlocked state feature means you can neither accidentally nor intentionally edit a layer’s entities when the layer is locked.

Create, navigate, and manage layers on the Layers panel. Open it by clicking the right name in the panel tray or, if off-screen, choose Window > Layers. In the far right column you’ll see a single page icon showing a regular layer. The four-page icon means a shared layer.

In Layout, regular layers – AKA nonshared layers, control the visibility of the document’s content. You might want to separate text from model entities, in which case simply put each kind of entity on its own layer. Just remember to create or move each type of entity to the right layer on every page.

Shared layers show content on every page, perfect for logos, titles, and other design elements needed on every page. Just put it on a shared layer to place it just once. Can you see how turning layers on and off supports a faster, more efficient design process?

As SketchUp workflow tips go, it’s pretty amazing. Group first, layer later is the way to do it. As SketchUp’s Help files say, “Layering in SketchUp is for display only. Think of them as light switches that illuminate something or turn it off.”