Introducing SketchUp 2013
For
SketchUp 2013, we focused on two things: making LayOut even more
powerful, and building an ecosystem that makes it easier for millions of
SketchUp modelers to find and use the plugins, add-ons and extensions
they need.
Introducing Extension Warehouse
What
if adding new extensions to SketchUp was as easy as installing an app
on your smartphone? In 2013, we’ve made it dead simple to turn SketchUp
into exactly what you need it to be. Need a special tool? There’s an
excellent chance someone’s already built it. Now you can research,
download and install extensions without ever having to leave SketchUp.
Every useful extension in one place—that’s the all-new Extension
Warehouse.Pattern Fills
Drawing
a sectional view? Now you can fill shapes in LayOut with hatching and
other patterns. Choose from a large library of standards—construction
materials, geometric tiles, dot screens—or create your own favorites.
Patterns can be rotated, scaled or used as-is. You can even combine
Pattern Fills with solid colors to create an endless number of
variations.Copy Array
You
know how SketchUp lets you easily create multiple copies of an object
with your keyboard? Those are called arrays, and now LayOut lets you
make them, too. Move a copy, type how many copies you want, type the
letter ‘x’ and Enter. Presto! Presto! Presto! Presto! Presto! Copying is
fun.Speedier Vector Rendering
When
you need to print a drawing really big, sometimes it’s helpful to
vector-render your SketchUp model views. Doing so makes lines look
smooth and reduces wait times for all but the most complex models. In
the latest version of LayOut, vector rendering is faster than it’s ever
been.Faster Screen Redraw
Every
time you zoom, pan or move an entity on the page, LayOut has to re-draw
the picture you see on your screen. For this version, we massaged the
code so there’s a noticeable improvement in the speed at which this
happens. LayOut should feel snappier, especially as your document gets
more complex.Numbered Pages in the Pages panel
Another
small but incredibly useful tweak: LayOut’s Pages panel now displays
page numbers, which makes it easier to print and export portions of your
document.Curved Label Leader Lines
Creating a jauntily curved callout line for a label used to be a five-step, two-handed operation:Click. Click. Tool switch. Double-click. Click-drag-with-a-modifier-key.
In the latest version of LayOut, curving a label line goes like this:
Click-drag. Isn’t progress something?
Dashes in Dimensions
Ask
the guy with the 86 foot ceiling if readable dimensions are important.
It’s a little thing, but we added dashes to LayOut’s dimension labels to
make them easier to read.Smarter Toolbars in Windows
It
used to be that the toolbars for all of your delicious plugins would
move around your screen between SketchUp sessions. We heard that drove
you crazy, so we re-engineered our Windows UI to make things a whole lot
better. In 2013, you can even drag native tool icons between toolbars.
Make SketchUp look the way you want it to.Video Export
Exporting
high-quality animations from SketchUp 2013 is easier than ever. Using
the default settings yields HD videos at 720p, encoded in any of the
three most popular, modern formats: H.264, AVI and WebM. Picture quality
is much better, and file sizes are smaller as well.Zoom In More
We
increased LayOut’s maximum zoom capability by a factor of ten, from
1000% to 10,000%. At that magnification level, your sofa would be the
size of Jupiter. Or thereabouts.
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