Getting Started with 3D Printing and SketchUp

3D printing is an amazing technology that allows you to take things directly from your imagination and make them into real items that you can hold in your hand. 3D printing has been around long enough that I believe we can skip over the history of the subject or listing out the reasons you might want to print something. In this book, we will assume that you have access to a 3D printer and have a reason to print. Alongside that, based on the title of this book, we will also assume that you want to use SketchUp to get your 3D print created.

There are a few steps between imagining an item and finally making it exist in the real world, however. In this first chapter, we will look at the multiple steps involved in creating a successful 3D print and where SketchUp plays a part in this process. Once we’ve covered the basic workflow, we will dive into a few details and see some examples of SketchUp being used to create or prepare various files for 3D printing. Once you’ve completed this chapter, you will know exactly where SketchUp can be used as a useful tool in your 3D printing software tool kit!

In this chapter, we will cover these main topics:

• Understanding where SketchUp fits in the 3D printing workflow
• Knowing what SketchUp can produce
• Using SketchUp as a creation tool
• Using SketchUp as an editor
• Using SketchUp as a repair tool