SketchUp 2017 Was Just Released

Dave Richards

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For those who are interested in such things, SketchUp 2017 was just released a few hours ago. Here's a copy and paste from the release announcement.

With SketchUp 2017, you get things like...

A completely revamped graphics pipeline
High DPI support! ( I can hear the sigh of relief all the way from Boulder )
Transparency Improvements
Custom Color Axes and Inferencing to improve accessibility for color blind users
Plane Locking for Rectangles using the arrow keys
Offset 2.0 – now without overlapping!
Perpendicular Face Inferencing (i.e. inference the Normal of a face)
Component Origin Inference
Group to Component. When you convert a group to component you can specify all the same attributes as you would when creating a component from scratch.
Better organization for reference files. Material, styles, components, templates, and more are in folders align with Operating System best practices. In this release, we’ve made it much more obvious where all this content lives on your machine (see Preferences > Files), and also a lot easier for you to access it outside of SketchUp (should you need to migrate it, back it up, or just fool around).
Extension Manager: A new utility for SketchUp extensions, Extension Manager is a one-look view of your installed SketchUp extensions. From here, it’s easy to toggle on and off the extensions you’d like to have handy (or uninstall them entirely). Extension Manager also provides easy access to the Digital Signature of extensions, an indication they’ve passed our team’s standards for quality and security.
Ruby 2.2. We’ve upgraded our Ruby API to Ruby 2.2. It used to be 2.0… now it’s .2 higher!
Chromium Web Dialogs: SketchUp ships with a platform-independent web browser (called Chromium). This is a big benefit to extension developers: no more worrying which version of IE or Safari is installed on the computer.
And we mustn’t forget about LayOut… ever.

Tables2 (!). You just need to try them. Period.
Import CSV and XSLX Files into your tables in LayOut
Associative Dimensions & Labels
Flexible Dimensions: You can now drag dimensions to another spot in your LayOut page without disconnecting them from their associated entity.
Offset edges using the same anti-overlapping technology that we use in SketchUp.
Improvements to DWG/DXF Export
One DWG. Previously, a ten page LayOut file would export as ten separate .dwg’s. Now you’ll get just one .dwg with separate ‘layout’ tabs for each page.
Native DWG Entities. LayOut entities like dimensions, styled text, tables, circles, arcs, endpoint styles, labels, and clipping masks will import smartly into applications like AutoCAD and DraftSight and behave as expected.
Model space vs Paper Space smarts on export.
Color by Layer & ‘Index 7’
Selection Modifier: Have you accidentally moved a LayOut entity when trying to pull-off a click-drag selection? Now, a simple modifier (Option/Ctrl on Windows/Mac) will prevent LayOut’s select tool from moving an individual object when you’re trying to designate a wider selection.

Some things like the new graphics pipeline make SketchUp much nicer to look at. Other things like the inferencing additions and the new Offset tool are extremely useful. Give it a try if you have the inclination. You can get it from SketchUp.com. If you aren't using it commercially, make sure you tell them as you go through the download steps so you'll get Make with a 30 day trial of Pro.
 
I am new to woodworking and I am trying the free one. Is it really worth $700 if your just doing basic woodworking and not selling stuff? Is this something if you have a CNC? Now Im gona go look at whats in it!
 
Mike, the pro version is worthwhile if you need to export various CAD file types like DWG or DXF. Those might be used for your CNC machine. The pro version also gives you LayOut which is designed for creating documents from the SketchUp model. You can create presentation packages to show others what you have designed as well as make plans to take to the shop. The Dimension tool in LayOut is better than the one in SketchUp. Although you can print to scale directly from SketchUp, it's much easier to do in LayOut and you aren't limited to the size paper that will fit in your printer. If you have a large pattern such as for a table leg or a skirt board, you can choose a paper size in LO that will take the entire thing at 1:1 and export a PDF file. Send the PDF off to Staples or Office Max and let them print it on their large printer.

If youjust downloaded SketchUp, you should be using the trial of the Pro version so you can see those things for yourself.
 
If you just downloaded SketchUp, you should be using the trial of the Pro version so you can see those things for yourself.

I recently downloaded the latest sketchup and noticed that the free version is now called "Sketchup Make" on their website. When you first install it you get a trial copy of the full version, and my understanding is the enhancements like Layout, etc., expire after a time.

Also, fyi, the 2017 version has changed their requirements with respect to graphics cards, and I found my card was not supported, so had to back up to the 2016 version.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Yes, Dave. The free version has been called SketchUp Make for the last four or five versions.

They did change the graphics pipeline and it now requires a graphics card that adequately supports OpenGL 3.0 or higher. They no longer have an option for software rendering. Unless the card is very old, there's likely driver updates available for the graphics card and it's worth checking. If you are using a laptop, check with the company who made the laptop for driver updates first. You also need a 64-bit operating system. You can see their System Requirements here.
 
V8 hasn't been supported since V2013 was released. They finally stopped creating V8 and V2013 SKP files in the Warehouse. That really shouldn't cause many people problems. Why would anyone stick with old, buggy V8?
 
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