Book Image

3D Printing with SketchUp - Second Edition

By : Aaron Dietzen Aka 'the Sketchup Guy'
Book Image

3D Printing with SketchUp - Second Edition

By: Aaron Dietzen Aka 'the Sketchup Guy'

Overview of this book

Working with the amazing 3D printing technology and getting access to the printing hardware is now easier than ever before. While there are many other resources that cover the general process of 3D printing, this book is the ultimate guide to creating models for 3D printing using SketchUp. You’ll start with a basic understanding of how SketchUp is used in the 3D printing workflow and jump into the steps to create a print-ready model using only SketchUp. This 3D printing book will guide you in using SketchUp to modify existing 3D files and cover additional tools that make SketchUp an even more powerful modeling tool. As you advance, you’ll learn how to transform 2D images into 3D printable solids, how to create multi-part prints that can be assembled without the use of fasteners or glue, and how to make sure your model, whether designed from scratch or assembled from preexisting geometry, is ready to be made real via your 3D printer. By the end of this book, you’ll have the confidence to bring your design ideas to life by generating your own 3D print-ready models with SketchUp.
Table of Contents (13 chapters)
1
Part 1: Getting Prepared to Print
6
Part 2: Modeling for 3D Printing

Getting SketchUp ready to make print-ready models

Regardless of the version of SketchUp you end up using, you will want to spend a little bit of time getting ready to create print-ready models. Let’s start by looking at what you need to do to get each version of SketchUp ready for modeling and what commands or tools will be the most important. Then, we will look at a few things that you may want to keep near you in the real world as you model.

Preparing SketchUp Free

If you decide that the free version of SketchUp for Web is adequate for your modeling needs, you are in luck, as there is actually very little you will need to set up to start modeling! Even though SketchUp Free is free, you will still need to create an account and log in. Plus, creating an account allows you to gain access to Trimble Connect, where you can store your models online as well as save some basic settings.

Once logged into the free version of SketchUp for Web, there is not a whole lot to set...