Everything you need to know about Sketchup 2013

It’s here! Sketchup 2013 was released on Tuesday, and you’re probably wondering what’s new! Well I’ve got you covered. I’m going to tell you everything you need to know about Sketchup 2013,

Before I jump into my overview of what’s new, I thought it would be helpful to share links to a number of important pages that will help you understand all the changes that are going on.

Official Sketchup Announcements

• Introducing Sketchup 2013 This is the announcement from Sketchup explaining the overall picture of the release. In the article, John Bacus highlights the new Extensions Warehouse, improvements made to Layout, and the rebranding of the free Sketchup; Now called Sketchup Make.
• (re)Introducing Sketchup Make
  This is more of a reflection on how Sketchup has grown, and how important it is to them to continue to offer a free modeling program. With Sketchup Make, they reaffirm their allegiance to always provide a version of Sketchup that is free. (Notice the backlink to my pinewood derby tutorial? Woo hoo!!)
• A Closer Look at Layout
  Here’s an in depth look at the specific changes made to Layout. There are numerous performance upgrades, as well as many additional features added to Layout. Some features include pattern fill (hatching), new annotations, copy array, and increased zoom levels.

Where to Download

• Download Sketchup
  Just select what you plan on using Sketchup for, and it will suggest whether you should download Sketchup Make, or Sketchup Pro. As of right now, all downloads get you an 8 hour trial version of Sketchup Pro that defaults back to Sketchup Make if you don’t purchase a Pro license. Be aware that with the new release, you will not be allowed to use Sketchup Make for commercial work. More on this below…

Licensing, Maintenance, & Support

• Upgrade, Maintenance, and Support program details
  With the introduction of annual releases for Sketchup, they have also introduced a new maintenance and support program. This page gives you all the information you need to know regarding this new program.
• SketchUp 2013 FAQ
  Are confused about the new licensing terms? This page will help you understand the new licenses, as well as what happens to your old licenses.
• Sketchup Pro Support Policy
  Details regarding what is included in the new maintenance & support program for Sketchup Pro users.
• Sketchup Make License agreement
  Here’s the official new license you must agree to in order to use Sketchup Make. Of course there’s a lot of legal mumbo jumbo, but most notable is this paragraph:

  Trimble Navigation Limited and/or its affiliates (“Trimble”) gives you a personal, worldwide, royalty-free, non-assignable and non-exclusive license to use the executable version of the Software for non-commercial use only. Non-commercial use means: you may not sell, rent, lease or lend the output of the Software or the Services. If you are a for-profit organization of any kind, or an employee of a for-profit organization using the Software or Services in that capacity, you are engaged in commercial activity; therefore, in order to use the Software and Services, you must purchase a SketchUp Pro license.

• Sketchup Pro License agreement
  Official license agreement for new Sketchup Pro 2013 users.

What’s new in Sketchup 2013?

The new release of Sketchup Make 2013 and Sketchup Pro 2013 brings many core improvements to the platform. But if you’re looking for new bells and whistles, you may feel a little disappointed…At first glance.

Let’s start with Sketchup Make.

Sketchup Make is now the name of the free version of Sketchup. Once you download it, the first thing you’ll notice is nearly all of the icons have a new look. Far from being a functional improvement, this change is strictly more rebranding done by Trimble since their last release. Looks like I’ll have to update my keyboard shortcuts guide.

The biggest improvement made to Sketchup Make is the addition of the Extensions warehouse. If you’re craving bells and whistles, this is where you’ll find them. The extensions warehouse is an organizational tool for all of your Sketchup plugins. Instead of searching around on different websites and forums, you can find all the greatest plugins right in one spot. It sort of reminds me of the App store on my smart phone.

It also has a built in installation manager that REALLY simplifies the installation process. (It’s pretty much a one click install, unless you have a security pop-up)

NOTE: Feel free to browse the extensions warehouse from the link above, but make sure to actually open the warehouse from INSIDE Sketchup to experience the “one-click” install. You need to have a Google account in order to sign in and download extensions.

Looks like my STL installation tutorial is obsolete… Search for the new Sketchup STL import/export plugin in the extension warehouse.

Another change I noticed is an improvement in how you select toolbar visibility. Instead of it being a menu where you select each toolbar one at a time, it opens a window where you can checkbox the toolbars you want visible. They implemented a better toolbar system as well. They won’t get all messed up when you resize the window anymore. There are some performance upgrades that are noticeable as well.

Sketchup Pro 2013

Sketchup Pro will load on your computer by default with an 8 hour trial period. If you are going to be using Sketchup for commercial use, you are required to purchase Sketchup Pro for $590. (Discount price available for previous owners of Sketchup Pro.) This is higher than previous versions of Sketchup Pro. The additional cost is for the newly required maintenance & support program. So, technically, Sketchup Pro still costs $495, you just have to pay a mandatory $95 fee for the maintenance program.

If you’ve previously purchased Sketchup Pro in the past, from either Trimble or Google, you only have to pay the $95 maintenance fee in order to upgrade your license.

Regardless if you’re a first time Sketchup Pro user or are upgrading from a previous version, your new maintenance agreement gets you one full year of free upgrades! This means you will get ALL updates, even when your maintenance agreement period overlaps a major Sketchup update.

New Features

Sketchup Pro itself doesn’t seem to include any major upgrades beyond the new features it shares with the new Sketchup Make. The spotlight for this release falls upon Layout, the 2D counterpart to Sketchup Pro.

• Pattern Fill In Layout, you’ll now have the ability to apply patterns and hatches to your drawings. You will get a standard palette of patterns, or you can create your own pattern images and import them into your library.
• New Annotations Instead of only being able to create a straight leader line, you’ll be able to add curved leaders as well with a few mouse clicks. This helps you distinguish your linework from your annotations. Arrow head styles have a more slim design, and you can now add dashes between your non-metric dimensions. Like this: 10′ – 3″
• Copy Array Much like the way you can create multiple copies of things in Sketchup, that ability is now native to Layout as well.
• Numbered Pages When you look at the Pages panel in Layout, you’ll now see that the pages are automatically numbered so you can keep track of which page you’re on. A simple, but nice feature.
• Increased Zoom Previous versions of Layout could only zoom to a magnification level of 1000%. Now, you’re able to zoom in to 10,000 times zoom. This makes it much easier to pick that short line on your drawing.
• Faster Vector Rendering When you set your model render type to vector, it will load much faster than before.
• Faster Screen Redraw There’s a noticeable improvement in the overall speed of Layout. Layout used to feel clunky, now it feels spunky!
• Improved Video Export You can now export higher quality video animations of your scenes in Sketchup Pro.

Conclusion

Remember that any previous versions of Sketchup you have will still work on your computer. Even though Trimble has changed the licensing agreement for the new versions, it doesn’t nullify any previous versions of Sketchup. So this means you can go ahead and continue to use the version you’re working on, even if you use it commercially.

Is it worth upgrading to Sketchup Pro? In this release, it’s clear that the Sketchup team still believes in simplicity. No, you won’t find a ton of new tools and gizmos that add more toolbars to your screen. Instead, you have a more stable, high performance modeler that keeps true to its motto: 3D for everyone. This is what makes Sketchup so great. And to compliment that mindset is a new extension management tool that allows users to completely customize their Sketchup to fit their needs.

Adding to all the performance upgrades, Layout has been substantially upgraded with new tools that polish off this well rounded presentation tool. I think Sketchup Pro 2013 has unlocked its potential as a professional documentation and visualization tool, and is just the beginning of what we can come to expect from Trimble.

Download Sketchup 2013 Here.