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All About SketchUp 2023.1

With this update, 3D modeling is now even better!

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All About SketchUp 2023.1

SketchUp 2023.1 elevates user presentations with refreshed iconography, new snaps, and enhanced modelling elements in SketchUp for Desktop, along with improved render controls in LayOut.

In SketchUp for Desktop, all toolbars and their associated tools have been redesigned. The update also introduces grips, called Snaps, which make it easy to connect groups or components using predefined methods. For those aiming to speed up the documentation process, LayOut’s performance enhancements are a welcome addition, including custom render controls. Other updates include a new Horizon Color style to broaden your sky settings and a range of upgrades to general tools.

New Icons

Aside from scale figures and axes, SketchUp’s icons are arguably the most essential tools in your creative process. Quickly identifying tools like Push-Pull, Paint Bucket, or Follow Me, along with their shortcuts, is key to unlocking SketchUp’s powerful and efficient modelling capabilities. Knowing how important recognizability is for users, SketchUp developers take great care when updating the user interface.

For the first time in 11 years, SketchUp for Desktop and LayOut icons have been completely redesigned! The new icons don’t change toolbar dimensions or layouts, so there’s still plenty of modeling space, and you can customize tool arrangements to your preference. The result? A fresh, modern look with the same functionality as before.

The updated icons bring a cleaner, fresher interface to SketchUp Desktop and LayOut.
The updated icons bring a cleaner, fresher interface to SketchUp Desktop and LayOut.

For those who prefer a little guidance, new quick reference guides for SketchUp for Desktop and LayOut are available. These help you familiarize yourself with the new icons and may even introduce you to shortcuts you didn’t know before. If you’re ever unsure about a tool or feature, you can always use the Help > Search function.

Work as Fast as You Think

Reorienting objects relative to each other is a constant task as your designs evolve. Snaps let you switch between tools to perform multiple transformations on an object. They help create modelling systems designed for efficient, predictable design workflows.

For instance, imagine designing a school and positioning custom light fixtures without predefined connection points. With Snaps, you can align the fixture to a wall or ceiling, and that alignment is repeated every time the fixture is placed. Apply this across all classrooms, clicking the fixtures into position without needing to rethink previous design decisions. Integrate Snaps into lighting systems via groups and components for streamlined placement and alignment.

Snaps are a new SketchUp entity that lets you position and orient objects in a single step.
Snaps are a new SketchUp entity that lets you position and orient objects in a single step.

Three Reasons to Start Snapping

  • Position objects in existing spaces: Align irregular objects with walls, floors, or ceilings without creating new reference points. Move counters, shelves, or furniture with Snaps to quickly find the optimal layout.
  • Develop modular modelling systems: Design pre-configured or easily configurable systems for efficiently shaping complex setups, like facade panels, landscapes, furniture, roads, tiles, and more. Snaps are particularly useful for end-to-end components like warehouse shelving.
  • Explore spatial concepts: Use repeating modular elements to create and examine larger structures. Snaps make it easy to quickly generate layouts and study different options.

Snaps enable faster, more flexible modelling for maximum creativity and productivity.

Add Atmosphere with Horizon Color

Horizon Color lets you adjust the sky in SketchUp, blending custom backgrounds with dark or coloured effects to set the perfect mood. Whether creating a dramatic or sunny environment, this new style feature evokes emotion with colour. On SketchUp for iPad, Horizon Color allows for styles that complement Dark Mode.

Learn how to use the new Horizon Color style
Learn how to use the new Horizon Color style

LayOut: Accelerate with Custom Render Controls

Enhanced rendering options streamline documentation workflows. A new Rendering tab in document settings allows you to set viewport resolution to low or medium while maintaining high-quality exports. This way, you can enjoy faster editing speeds without sacrificing the final presentation. Switch effortlessly to high-resolution exports for clients without changing settings.

Render Controls increase LayOut's performance
Render Controls increase LayOut’s performance

LayOut: Streamline Updates with Auto-Associate Labels

Improved automation now updates labels from Scrapbooks and copies automatically, eliminating the need for manual updates to titles or scales. This is a huge time-saver when managing large document sets! Once elements are linked to a specific viewport in a LayOut document, annotations stay associated, and changes trigger automatic updates. Scrapbooks now also use scaled groups, making them easier to adapt to specific scales. These enhancements reduce misaligned labels, viewports, and manual updates, speeding up documentation in LayOut.

Any change to the viewport will automatically update the associated annotation
Any change to the viewport will automatically update the associated annotation

Snap to It: Upgrade to SketchUp 2023.1

These SketchUp for Desktop updates accelerate design and documentation workflows, letting you focus on what you do best: creating and building for the future.

This update is free for users with an active SketchUp or Studio subscription. (Download it here.) Still, using an older version or not SketchUp at all? Explore our subscription plans to access these new features!

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