Pro (opens in new tab) ($299 (£235) per year) moves the experience to a desktop application, and gives you access to plugins to extend the app’s functionality. Shop (opens in new tab) for instance ($119 (£95) per year) grants you access to pre-built 3D models to speed up your own work. If you like this way of working, you have the option of moving to a subscription-based service, and the more you pay, the more features you’ll get. Sketchup is available in three paid plans for those that want access to more features (Image credit: Trimble) More features - at a priceĪre mentioned above, this web-based tool is free for you to use. You’ll find that learning those shortcuts becomes crucial to be proficient in Skechup, as it speeds up your design process considerably - many of the tools you’ll use are nestled inside a single button, so to select one you often have to click twice to activate it, whereas you could do the same with a single press of the key. Select a tool and it will tell you what you can do with it, and which keyboard shortcuts work with it.

The Inspector for instance is particularly useful if you’re starting out. The options on the right have multiple purposes. The arrow keys are also useful to lock yourself in a particular plane as you’re drawing. But SketchUp has a few handy tricks to help you out, such as the line or area you’re creating taking on the colour of the plane it’s being drawn in (red, blue or green). Working in 3D can be tricky though as it’s all too easy to think you’re working in one plane while you’re actually building in another. That tool is incredibly versatile and is the go-to option for cutting out doors and windows, or even shave off circular edges off a rectangular block, for instance.Īs you get into this app you’ll find yourself appreciating the versatility mixed with complexity that offers limitless potential. Click on that offset you just created, move the cursor up, and all of a sudden you’ve erected walls around your home. The Push/Pull tool has many uses - in this case, you can erect walls in seconds (Image credit: Trimble)įollowing on from that is the Push/Pull tool.

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