How to use SketchUp (free) for Beginners | 2023

[@seattleboatguy]

I'm a first-time Sketchup user, and I found your tutorial very informative. I initially thought the inability to resize components was a fatal flaw in Sketchup, but I found another video that describes how to do that with the tape measure and the scale tools, and I think I can work with that. Thanks for making this video.

[@MickSupper]

If you are referring to how to set dimensions for a square, the way she showed I couldn't get to work.

[@mordysalem1498]

Short sweet and straight to the point. This was very informative and helpful, would love a part 2 or maybe a mini series on the other tools you frequently use. Thanks so much!

[@krisschmucker3668]

Thank you for the SketchUp tutorials. I watched your pantry tutorial back in July, and it gave me the confidence to, first of all, use SketchUp, but then to go on and design and build out the pantry that has just been sitting empty for over a year waiting on my brother to have time to build it out (he doesn’t have time). My sister and I were able to build out the pantry on our own, with some instruction from our brother on how to use the necessary tools, etc. P.S. And it is a killer pantry - designed by women for women. And also - Max Cut blew our minds. Thanks for mentioning that.

[@marykirmo]

You make this look so easy. I’m excited to give it another try.

[@Spain42]

I agree! I was feeling a bit defeated.

[@WimVeen]

Nice to see the basics of SketchUp. Thanks for this practical tutorial.

[@PaulWalter-s3q]

By far the best tutorial for my skill level as a beginner; clear, concise and made the information accessible to me. Thank you.

[@oldschoolcars3318]

Cant disagree more. Way too fast. Tool bar not exploded so tools are easily differentiated. Mnemonic for remembering which tool is where. Loaded with assumptions about viewer's previous knowledge level. There is a better way to incrementally anchor learned concepts and skills.

[@PaulWalter-s3q]

Okay.@@oldschoolcars3318

[@AugustaWaterCooler]

Thanks for the how to as someone who is VERY new to CAD and has played( very little) with this and Fusion 360,this was down to earth and easy to follow. I also love that you only showed features available to free users. The only thing I might suggest as a change, would be to add how to produce and print a cut list since this and virtually any other woodworking project would require this absent follow along notes and hand written drafts which invalidates the whole point of CAD. GREAT VIDEO, I hope you make more.

[@striketochill]

This video is awesome! I consider myself very tech savvy and I struggled to understand Sketch up when I first tried it which then scared me away from it but I know it's such a valuable tool. Now I feel inspired to try again with this awesome tutorial. Thank you!!

[@Grampiswoodshop]

Thanks!! 😊 That was the clearest instructions I have seen yet, and I've watched many!! Yours made the most sense. I have tried and failed many times. I will try again with your instructions.

[@podcaster_emeritus]

Thanks for this video Stef. I didn’t know about components and tags before. That’ll be very helpful.

[@bmiller1958]

Thank you. Very helpful. I’m going to give SketchUp another try right now because of this video.

[@ZussieMakesit]

This is great! I was falling asleep with other tutorials 😅 and you explained very clearly what each thing does. I am looking at learning and making things here, and hopefully help me with my designs, as a beginner in this program, I appreciate you sharing this!!

[@jparra2K]

That was actually quite good. Thanks for sharing

[@misterm7086]

Thank you for sharing this wonderfully produced video. It was exactly what I was looking for. Much appreciated. Be well!

[@easlandscaping]

Excellent video, thank you! Now I can use SketchUp on some projects for my growing landscape design business.

[@cliff5240]

Great job, very easy to follow along -- subscribing

[@curtisnichols3911]

Thank you. VERY helpful.

[@raz5773]

sooo helpful - exactly what I needed! thanks

[@DavidCrossman1]

Brilliant, Stefanie. Thanks so much!

[@wmafendi]

this is awesome. How did you know all the measurement?

[@mattwatchesyoutube]

Thanks for your help

[@JoeAnshien]

Great video. After the sketch is done, do you get a material's list with totals for shopping and individuals for all the componants?

[@artifactartstudio107]

Stefanie, thank you so much for this video. I recently purchased the iPad SketchUp app for a considerable subscription fee. I watched many sketch up tutorials. They are no where near as to-the-point as your’s. We are creators. We know exactly what we want to make. We know the measurements. We know how it’s put together. But knowing how to use the program to make the lines go in the direction I need them to go was so frustrating for me. Your process steps really helped me to focus on how to restart. Thank you for giving me hope again!

[@joseraulcontrerasmedina4264]

Gracias por compartir tu conocimiento.

[@tarunsahu_6055]

Great

[@collinbennett]

When I start working on the long beams something happens that is not gone over in the video. When I try to pull the rectangle a different item moves. Also when I type in the dimension you give the shape was incorrect. I had to type in 3 ½, 1 ½.

[@sajit63]

Will not the pieces have a mortise for the horizontal component pieces.

[@MrBfg586]

looks like Outliner is no longer part of the free option.

[@johnborger]

Outliner requires an upgrade to a paid version. (At least, that is what my account states)

[@marcoboyer1328]

I tried to listen what you said, but your vocal fry was annoying. I stopped. It's very disturbing.

[@davepeterschmidt5818]

If you're going to do a beginner tutorial you need to slow down and tell everyone what operation you're doing. Exactly what are you clicking on each time you click. You're just sailing through doing stuff and it's way too fast to follow.

[@saramarques8695]

Honestly I understood everything I actually think she was very clear

[@succ222]

You can slow it down and re play at your leisure, I’m grateful to have a tutorial like this.

[@krzysztofabuda2239]

who uses fcking imperial units? They dont have any sens, use meters. Its the only that have sens....

[@graysonevans4496]

Jesus, dont you ever take a breath between sentences? I don't understand how anyone can keep up. You mouse moves and clicks are so fast I can't follow it. Do you make a slower speed version??

[@dalemoser5824]

that.

[@DonO1970WNY]

Thank you! Very straightforward and to the point. If you decide to make a part 2, I would love to see how you can create a cut list / parts list out of the finished design. Thanks again!

[@sksessions1284]

I'm also interested in seeing this!

[@SWC44]

DITTO

[@progression_decibel]

YES!

[@MrBfg586]

Tip: if you hold down SHIFT you can select multiple objects. So select the four legs and then hit tag to put all four under tag.

[@goddessofthestars]

Thanks so much for this tutorial! I tried to use sketchup before and had a lot of trouble- your instruction is so helpful, now I feel more equipped! ✨️ I would love to see more tutorials from you, especially with space planning if possible. ❤

[@joshuacoleman6294]

Push in the scroll wheel and hold to rotate the camera easily without having to switch from your current tool. If you hold shift at the same time, you'll pan instead of rotate. Quite a few apps have this feature, but I don't see many people mention it. It's incredibly handy for navigating.

[@HomeWithStefani]

Thank you for sharing! 🙌

[@hamzazaidi-b5j]

Only gamers could know

[@joshuacoleman6294]

@@hamzazaidi-b5j lol. Well actually the Affinity software works this way too. I can't think of a single game off hand that uses the scroll wheel like this.

[@adamh.berkeysnorthwestpole6608]

Pushing the scroll wheel while pressing Shift on the keyboard allows you to Pan. The combination of zooming and panning with the scroll wheel is very powerful and allows very quick navigation.

[@amych1980]

I've watched so many sketch up videos and this is one of my favourite! I struggle when they are very long and slow because when I go back to find something it takes me forever to locate it again. This video was great because it felt straight and to the point! Thank you Stefani :)

[@onemore_pie]

A skilled carpenter is able to build a flower box without having to design it.

[@matthewraftary]

Pretty worthless if you only like comments but not bother to answer any of the questions.

[@mindbodysoul1019]

Love the tutorial and it was very easy to follow how well you explained the steps. Please keep making sketchup tutorials 🙏 Thank you

[@duathlete827]

I came to the conclusion that I'm not smart enough to utilize SketchUp lol. Over the last couple of years, I've attempted simple things for learning purposes and sadly failed each time. I'm okay using OG tools like pencil, paper and measuring instruments. I may try to use you vid and build the same item along with the vid.

[@scottdickinson6911]

Thank you for this! I was struggling and just needed a straight forward tutorial that I could leverage for a project.

[@brooke_reiverrose2949]

Wonderful, thank you! What about screws, nails, hinges? Does that not come with the free version?

[@richardwinslow5512]

How do you get the pen to let go and stop drawing lines? You go through too fast and don't explain what you are doing. I know what I want to create and not one video explains how to use any of the tools. Just here's what this one does. OK how did you do that. I can't get anything to let go once I click on it. Double click, return, nothing. I have a never ending squiggly line that the pen won't stop drawing.

[@adamh.berkeysnorthwestpole6608]

You can immediately stop drawing by pressing L on your keyboard to refresh the Line tool, or by using any other Tool keyboard shortcut.

[@adamh.berkeysnorthwestpole6608]

When typing in your exact measurements, Sketchup will recognize 3.5 as 3 1/2, if you know what the equivalent decimal value is for your imperial dimensions...

[@iskandarbinasmon5503]

I really like this video. You made use of the basic ways to share how you create stuff. That really helps beginners to follow, and quickly get up to speed before exploring further for themselves. Thank you!

[@dannyccc]

Hello! I built the planter following your steps and I can say I learned so much! Lets say that I made a project for a irl house project and I needed all of the dimensions after designing it. How would I find that?

[@DesignCutters]

Does smetchup allow you to select and copy/paste multiple components? If so, you could have finished one end, selected all components, copied and pasted for the opposite side - rather than duplicating each separately.

[@madalinatanase1190]

Oh, can you add finer details in SketchUp? like cornices for cabinets and wood panelling? :) My first day, sorry for the silly question. Thank you!

[@melissap.9404]

Thanks for this. This was straightforward and exactly what I was looking for to get started.

[@keithmarlowe5569]

It lets you input and see measurements one time, and one time only? Clicking on it doesn't show the measurements.

[@freeze1305]

The free version does not allow you to use the dimensions box. Literally useless without that.

[@JWB671]

Use the tape measure to set guidelines, draw object, then use dimension tool to label it. You can do all this on sketch up free version.

[@wyrmlingr]

@@JWB671that’s a hell of a deal anytime you just wanna check out measurements tho

[@BrumrBoy]

I tried out free version on iPhone. Wondered why I couldn’t tap on the Dimensions box. ☹️

[@rogerlove7588]

Are you talking about the Measurements/Distance box? If so, I’ve always been able to use it in the web version. When you’re drawing a line or making a shape, it’s active once you click on the starting point, but once you click a second time, the program assumes you didn’t want to specify dimensions, and the box is no longer active. At least that’s how I think it works.

[@TrojanMan321]

I thought that too, you don't have to click in the dimentions box. Just start typing and it will populate. That through me for a minute as well. Good luck!

[@EdsonNascimentoEN]

I moved to a new home in MI and my first project is to work on a pantry. I came accross to your tutorial and loved very much. Thanks for sharing.

[@dk.fresh66]

Not sure if this has been mentioned … cut sheet. How do you get the cut list from this project?

[@mlthornton1]

I am also using the free version. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to accurately size/resize an object. I create a rectangle and then go to the bottom right of the screen to the dimensions to fix the size, but the dimensions apparently cannot be edited. Is there a way to do this?

[@Nico_Conradie]

Been using Sketch Up for years, Fast and easy for concept drawings and so on. Just a shame it has weak Visual Rendering compared to Fusion and Blender.

[@ianfisher390]

That was so helpful! I am building our retirement home. I have never used Sketchup, and I felt a little intimidated by the other videos. Your video made me feel like I could actually learn this in a reasonable amount of time. Thank you.

[@VeiledDraconis]

Not bad tutorial. I recommend watching it at 0.75x speed.

[@danielnehme6918]

Thanks so much for this. My question is - once you print it, will your measurements translate to the page so you know what size to cut? Thank you

[@ezeenlugares441]

I think the "outliner" option is not in the free sketchup.

[@3rdtwirl494]

hi is it possible to create on this and then find a print on demand. I have a Christmas card to construct

[@hmariame]

We cannot see wgt buttons arenyou clicking on from the tools either up or left or down…. So how can we learn??

[@ericgjerde686]

Been using sketch since 2001 and never knew about tags

[@michaelsylvester7272]

Hey Stefani, Love this helpful tool . Thanks for sharing

[@jasoncnc983]

Nice beginner's tutorial. Another way to copy an item is to use the Move tool in conjunction with the command/control key. Simply use the Select tool to select the object you wish to copy, then activate the Move tool. Click the object again as if you were going to move it but then press the command/control key to make a copy of the selected object and drop it wherever you wish. Furthermore, after placing the object type the letter "x" followed by any whole number and you will end up with that number of copies, evenly spaced. Similarly you can type a slash "/" and a whole number to have that number of copies evenly spaced between the original object and the first copy you placed. Think of it as multiply and divide.... X will multiply copies at the same distance in the same direction, and / will divide the space evenly between the original object and the first copy. I hope that makes sense. Experiment with it as it can be handy when you need several copies evenly spaced. Cheers!

[@HomeWithStefani]

Great tips! Thank you so much 🙌

[@michaelhiggins2562]

Wow, very useful! And, I can use this tool.

[@JohannaLeube]

Can you copy and paste multiple components at once?

[@Kirbythediver]

Inventor go BURERRRRRRRTTTTTT! lol

[@bwill1412]

Great tutorial! Thanks for making this.

[@thumbwiz]

Thank you for sharing this!!

[@lauribretthauer9746]

I did not find a free web version!

[@tomray1257]

Talk way too fast. Take a breath.

[@dbcooper1509]

Delete this video cause trimble will never let you use this

[@richardpedersen9189]

Stefani - house looks great, lawn looks great 👍 I like the lighter color!!

[@HomeWithStefani]

Thank you!!🙌

[@C2DMNFNP]

Great job on a clear video!

[@r.m.2301]

Very helpful thank you

[@Zynn16]

Excellent video!!!!

[@victoriaperez9225]

Stephani- You are such a good teacher. I am trying to just create a simple classroom layout plan, but your video was super helpful. Thanks for taking the time to teach others. Your projects look so professional and beautiful!

[@adamh.berkeysnorthwestpole6608]

Rather than manually painting each object, if the majority of the project is one material, select them all with the lasso tool first, then paint the material on the selection. Then manually change the other objects that are a different material.

[@rtaskyy]

unfortunately it doesnt seem like outliner is a free feature

[@MegaTeeruk]

Yep, was coming here to say the same. It's no longer free.

[@adamh.berkeysnorthwestpole6608]

Use the Component Tool when you have multiple objects that you want to be able to change at the same time. For instance, components are all changed if you make a change to one of them. If you want to group objects but to be able to make separate changes to those groups, use the Group Tool instead of the Component Tool.

[@striperseeker]

This would have been much more helpful and enjoyable if it was done at a slower pace. Watching you speed through all the side-bar widgets and even the renaming required stopping and starting way too many times. As this is touted as a beginner guide, which I am, it would have been helpful to go over what the axises are, how they are used, how to manipulate them. I was very lost as my green, red and blue lines didn't mirror yours in the video. The info was good, but presentation could be refined.

[@YoAug62]

Thanks for the tutorial. I understand components, but a little confused on the purpose of "TAGS". I will appreciate anyone explaining this for me. Thanks❤️

[@patrickdougherty2014]

Stefani, thanks for this video. I have one suggestion for you to consider. As someone absolutely new to this, I would find it extremely helpful if you included instruction on common mistakes and how to fix them. You move through the design process so smoothly, while I make mistakes without understanding how to fix them. Sometimes it's as simple as using the back button, but other times I mess up and can't figure out how to get back to where I was on the right track. The result is a tedious, frustrating amount of trial and error. Thanks again.

[@Spain42]

This is by far the best video I have seen on sketch up. Most people demonstrate lines and boxes. You actually made something. I plan on building a planter box. I found exactly what I was looking for. Thanks! Nice design by the way.

[@taylormedia1000]

This is not "How to use SketchUp (free) for Beginners." It's a beginners guide for those who know how to use Sketchup. Question 1 Where did the person go?

[@jeffdamon5419]

First off, THANK YOU for this video! I learned a lot from it. I do have an issue I would like you to explain a bit slower. At the 7:33 mark in the video, you connect the leg to the short frame. Please tell me how you manage to get the leg to center on the framing board. I'm off to one side or the other, by about 1/16, every time I try it. I simply can't get it to center. Thanks again.

[@Spain42]

Too fast

[@kenanklovitch8117]

Hello, thank you for the video. I need some advice using Sketchup Free. I have always had a few fonts available for 3D text but now all I can access is Open Sans Regular. Does anyone else have have the same issue? Thanks in advance.

[@misterm7086]

I am using SketchUp free version. When I use Rectangle tool and enter my dimensions it does not resize. Actually, it worked once. I am set in Fractional Inches. Any advice?

[@LavonYoung1]

Too Fast

[@CostalegreRealtor]

THIS IS A SKETSCHUP CLASS OR A TUTORIAL TO DOWNLOW SKETCHUP FOR FREE?? BECAUSE i DO NOT NEED CLASES ONLY HOW TO DOWNLOAD WITHOUT PAYING i AM FRUSTRATE

[@lonniechartrand]

Very nice tutorial. Simple explanation and to the point. Nice description of the functionality. Good job!

[@blakej2108]

For some reason when i triple click for the first frame piece it does the whole object instead of the one piece i need. Any Reason?

[@John_Ace04]

are you sure you're using the free online version? cause for some reason I can't access the bar where you put the exact dimensions.

[@EduardoBenko-b4i]

How is possible to include the exact size of the parts? It is terrible to manage.

[@waitingwords]

Thank you so much Stefanie! I'm just getting into woodworking, and this will be a great tool thanks to your instruction.

[@mrfaw7530]

First time I understood how to use sketch up. Thank you very much.

[@t.n.s7883]

Thank you for this. Appreciate the tutorial 👌🏽