Printing in SketchUp...

[Steve Maskery]

... is a pain, isn't it? Not its best feature.

But it is possible, and FWW have just released a Design.Click.Build. blog by Dave Richards explaining how do do it properly and what can go wrong. I get the impression that even he thinks it could be improved upon...

Anyway, well worth a watch for SU users:

http://e.taunton.com/a/hBXLZl7Ari9kwB9N ... printing-0

 

[chippy1970]

I normally just export as a JPEG then it can be printed job done

Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk

 

[dc_ni]

Matthias Wandel sells a printing program that lets you print at 1:1 scale.

http://woodgears.ca/bigprint/index.html

Not used it myself so can't attest to how easy/good it is.

Here is a link to the tutorial on his website: http://woodgears.ca/bigprint/help/tutorial.html

And to videos of him using it: http://woodgears.ca/bigprint/video.html

 

[jdeacon]

I got the impression that we're supposed to use (and buy) the companion Layout program for printing and documentation.

I just do a 2-D export, but to .PNG which seems to give me a bit more flexibility as to cropping, sizing and resolution before printing or uploading. (Could be my imagination though.)

 

[Brentingby]

I got the impression that we're supposed to use (and buy) the companion Layout program for printing and documentation.[/quote]

I wonder what gave you that impression. I think the point is that it is much easier to make scaled drawings for patterns by using LayOut but it isn't a requirement to do that. It can be done without LayOut.

LayOut is designed specifically to make presentations and documentation from your SketchUp file. Certainly you can export images from SketchUp to include in a document that you make in a word processing program or another program but if you make changes to the model after making the document, you'll have to export those images again and replace the old ones in the document. By using LayOut, the images of the SketchUp model can automatically be updated.

LayOut is part of the SketchUp Pro bundle so you don't buy anything extra. It was also pointed out if you are using SketchUp in your business, you should be using SketchUp Pro because SketchUp Make is for personal use only.

I just do a 2-D export, but to .PNG which seems to give me a bit more flexibility as to cropping, sizing and resolution before printing or uploading.

PNG is considered a "lossless" image file. There isn't any difference in cropping or sizing but they do tend to have better resolution. PNG files also support transparency which can be useful.

 

[Steve Maskery]

John
You come over as being aggrieved. Just how much did you pay for SketchUp? And how much have you paid for the helpful advice that Dave and the other bloggers provide on the Taunton site?

You do realise that the word "Free" really means that it is "Financed by somebody else" don't you?

Personally I'm grateful.

S

 

[jdeacon]

Ah, I've been using Sketchup for so long that I still think of it as a Google product (it began as Google Sketchup you see). In my mind I've already paid for it many times over.

Sorry if I came over as ungrateful, however. I love Sketchup and am very grateful for it, and all the other free stuff and the open source stuff.

 

[Brentingby]

Ah, I've been using Sketchup for so long that I still think of it as a Google product (it began as Google Sketchup you see).

Sorry. It actually began in August of 2000 as a product of @Last Software. Google bought it in June 2005 and sold it Jun 2012 after they decided it no longer met their needs. I've been using it since 2002 and watched the painful transition to Google first hand.

 

[jdeacon]

Interesting. I vaguely assumed Google had bought it from someone when it first appeared. Equally vaguely, I imagined the original creator probably took it back again. But apparently not.

 

[Brentingby]

One of the original creators is still involved with it a bit.