What's New in Google SketchUp 7
Fast and reliable
We've made SketchUp even more intuitive, added tools for power users and made it easier to find and share models with the world.
We've made SketchUp easier to use.
With edges that automatically break other edges where they cross, objects that are smart enough to know how they should behave when you interact with them, and drawing hints that are clearer and more consistent, Google SketchUp 7 is the most intuitive SketchUp ever.
It's all about collaboration and sharing.
In SketchUp 7, you can search for models in the Google 3D Warehouse right from the Component browser, take credit for what you contribute, keep track of your collaborators, and generally bask in the glow of knowing you're part of the worldwide 3D community.
PRO There's even more in SketchUp Pro.
LayOut is officially out of beta and ready to go. LayOut 2 is faster, more reliable and includes vector rendering, improved text handling and more. SketchUp Pro power users can also create Dynamic Components: models that animate, scale and replicate intelligently.
Learn more about LayOut 2 and Dynamic Components in Google SketchUp Pro 7 »
SketchUp 7: More intuitive and more powerful
When you draw a line that crosses another line on the same plane, both lines are split where they meet. Most people think this is how SketchUp should have worked from the start. Well, now it does. Say goodbye to tracing over edges to make them split.
New Dynamic Components are special: they're programmed to know what they are. When you use the Scale tool on a dynamic staircase, it automatically adds or removes steps as you make it bigger or smaller. No more stretching, no more distortion.
Some Dynamic Components are hooked up to the new Component Options dialogue box. Instead of breaking out the modelling tools to make a change, just choose options and watch the component reconfigure automatically. It's modelling without the mess.
Clicking things is fun especially with the new Interact tool. Some Dynamic Components can perform animations, rotate, move, resize, change colour or move to a scene in your model when you click on them with Interact.
With Google SketchUp Pro 7, you can turn any component into a Dynamic Component. Endowing your models with behaviours like animation and smart scaling makes them easier for you and everyone else to use. If you can use a spreadsheet, you can build Dynamic Components.
Need to keep track of metadata like Part Number, Weight or Cost in your models? With SketchUp 7 Pro, you can tag your models with luscious meaning and information to make them more useful and easier to carry forward in your workflow.
Learn more about using Dynamic Components in Google SketchUp 7 »
SketchUp 7: Sharing and Collaboration
We've added Google 3D Warehouse Search to the Component Browser, which gives you access to jillions of models (give or take a zillion) right inside SketchUp. You can also save particular searches as Favourites, making it easier to find stuff quickly later on.
You can save anything you find on the 3D Warehouse to your local drive, making it easy to work even if you happen to be offline. Better still, you can download models to local collections up to a dozen at a time.
Tag your models with your nickname so that people will know who built them no matter where they end up. And since Credits automatically keeps track of the stuff you use to build your own models, it's easier than ever to give credit to your collaborators.
You can include all of your organisation's proprietary Styles, Watermarks and components in a customised Template so that every member of your team has everything they need, right from the start. In SketchUp 7, saving customised templates is a breeze.
Use the metadata embedded in your components to create tabular reports. In SketchUp Pro 7, you can export detailed lists of every named entity and their corresponding attributes in either HTML or CSV format, for use in your favourite spreadsheet application.
We improved the inferences to make them more visible and easier to use. There's a new area of the Status bar that tells you more about your model. The VCB is now called Measurements and you can change its location on your screen. You can make textures unique and choose to edit them in the photo-editor of your choice. You can apply anti-aliasing to textures to make them look better from a distance. See the complete list of changes in SketchUp 7 »
LayOut 2 makes it easier to work with complex models and larger paper sizes. Switch to Vector Rendering when you want clean, resolution-independent drawings. If you want to tweak the line weights a bit, you can "explode" your model to vector edges and tweak it line by line.
You know the little text box in the bottom right corner of the SketchUp modelling window? The one you use to enter dimensions, angles and other stuff? Now you can key in numbers in LayOut just like you do in SketchUp. Be accurate to your heart's content.
Its boring name notwithstanding, LayOut 2's new-and-improved Line tool has superpowers. It's simple and intuitive, and it incorporates everything you already love about SketchUp's inference system. Try it and you'll see - it's like taking off your mittens to tie your shoes.
Double click any shape in LayOut 2 to edit its control points. Drag any point onto an adjacent one to make the first one disappear. Hold down Ctrl (Option on a Mac) to add a point or make a smooth curve pointy. Reshape any curve fluidly by dragging its handles. Delicious, no?
We've completely redesigned LayOut's geometric manipulators to be easier to use and to stay out of your way. You can move, scale and rotate anything on your page without changing tools, and the new "heads-up" display helps with accuracy as you work.
Need JPEGs or PNGs of your pages? LayOut 2 includes direct export to these formats, which saves you from having to use another tool to rasterize your PDFs. We suggest using your extra time to do something for yourself. Maybe buy a hammock.
Use the Select tool to double click a group to edit its contents. You can move, scale, rotate and copy/paste inside the group, then click outside to go back to the rest of your file. No more ungrouping and regrouping just to make a change.
For LayOut 2, we've fixed problems and added some new functionality for text. You can now create both bounded (confined to a box) and unbounded text, depending on your need. Text can be aligned to top, bottom, left, right or centre within its bounding box, both vertically and horizontally.
Right-click on any placed SketchUp model and choose Explode. Depending on how it was rendered, you'll get vector lines, raster images, or a combination of both. It's the easiest way to get vector geometry to edit directly, hands-down.
We made improvements to almost every corner of LayOut in its first non-Beta release: rectangle pick targets, styles handling, text editing, layer visibility, toolbars, presentation mode, overall stability, view performance, memory management - you name it, we made it better.
PRO Style Builder: Make your own sketchy-edge Styles for SketchUp
Showing a hand-drawn sketch does two things: It abstracts detail so you and your client can talk about what's important and it communicates that your concept is open for discussion. With Style Builder, you can create personalised sketchy Styles that tell the story of your design.
The Styles you create with Style Builder are completely unique. When you apply them to your models, you'll have computer models that look like you made them. After thirty years of CAD, isn't it about time everybody's drawings stopped looking the same?
Your Styles can be based on any mark you make, in any medium. Marker, pencil, crayon, burnt stick, technical pen, ballpoint, gouache, smudgy finger, pen and ink, highlighter... You get the picture anything.
Learn more about Style Builder »
Think you might need the power of Google SketchUp Pro? Compare
If you'd like, you can purchase a SketchUp Pro 7 licence (which includes LayOut 2). To ask questions before purchasing, contact our sales team.