alt="Snapshot of important features in SketchUp Pro."/>
FIGURE 1-1: Important features in SketchUp Pro.
SketchUp for Web
Since 2018, the free version of SketchUp has been available primarily as an application that runs in your Internet web browser. It’s called SketchUp for Web, and you launch it from https://app.sketchup.com. If you haven’t already created a Trimble account, you need to sign up for one the first time you visit the app.
This web version looks different from the desktop version. But when you get to know where things are, we think you’ll find it just as easy to navigate. If you are using SketchUp for Web, bookmark the next page to reference Figure 1-2 throughout this book.
SCALE FIGURES
Fun fact: Every major update to SketchUp has a different scale figure, and each figure is based on a real person who’s a member of the SketchUp team. In SketchUp Pro 2020, Laura greets you. Yes, if you like, you may talk to Laura (or yourself) while modeling. No one will look at you strangely. We promise.
FIGURE 1-2: Important features in SketchUp for Web.
If you’re not sure you want to buy SketchUp, know that you will still pick up a ton of knowledge using just the free web version. In fact, we recommend using SketchUp for free before deciding to purchase. If you start with the free version, know that as you poke around SketchUp for Web, you may run into a few tools that are available only if you purchase a subscription. You need to upgrade to a different version if you want to use one of these features.
FIGURE 1-3: Search for tools or search for what you want to do with tools in SketchUp for Web.
Trimble Connect
By default, the models you create in SketchUp for Web are saved to and stored on a web service called Trimble Connect. This has a couple of advantages:
You can access your 3D models from any device.
Trimble Connect keeps a revision history of your models, so you always have a backup file and a retrievable history of your modeling progress.
You can always download your models from Trimble Connect if you prefer to keep backup files on your desktop.
Navigating SketchUp
It’s time to release the air lock and float in 3D space. Before you start zooming around Technicolor polygon nebulas, let’s get you oriented with the basics of seeing and operating your new spaceship. Believe it or not: This section is full of techniques that people who use SketchUp for a living never learn. So take your time here, and get set up right.
Customizing settings to see better
Using any version of SketchUp, you’ll rely a lot on your eyes. If you find yourself struggling to see the scale figure or the axis lines, it’s a good idea to set yourself up right away to see better by customizing certain settings. Start by jumping to Chapter 10 to read the sidebar “Improving accessibility with Styles.
We heartily recommend customizing those computer preferences that help you see better in SketchUp and any other software you use.
Getting to know your mouse
This is where things get interesting. At this point, you should have SketchUp up and running, with a scale figure on your screen and a three-button mouse at your side. Now, here is the most important SketchUp technique that most people never figure out: Without selecting any tool, press and hold your mouse’s scroll wheel button while dragging the mouse. This is orbiting in SketchUp.
This mouse sequence is the primary way you set and reset your view in 3D space. It’s how you see in 3D. But many people switch manually from whatever tool they’re using to the dedicated Orbit tool. Tool switching costs brainpower and speed, but it doesn’t have to if you orbit with the scroll wheel orbit instead. This kind of orbiting is available whenever you want in SketchUp, even between the click-release and the click-to-finish operations that we talk about in the next section.
There’s more: While holding down that scroll wheel button on your mouse, use your other hand to press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard. Now you’ve toggled on the Pan tool, which lets you drag the view of your modeling window. Drag your mouse left and right, both holding the Shift key and releasing it to see the effect of switching between these two camera moves. Figure 1-4 shows how to pan and orbit.
We cover zooming with the scroll wheel in Chapter 2. For now, pat yourself on the back: You just turned on your light saber.
FIGURE 1-4: Using the scroll wheel to pan (left) and orbit (right).
Finding your Zen with click-release, click-to-finish
Most people expect SketchUp to work with click-and-drag behavior.
