Spacebar: The select tool, or the universal arrow cursor that we are all so accustomed to.

Here are some shortcuts for the common tools that I used:

You will still need to use the mouse or touchpad to draw, but it can be challenging to look for the correct tool they are grouped by function and you have to click on that group and select the correct tool. In SketchUp Free, the shortcuts I use are to switch between the different tools. Whether it is common keystrokes such as Ctrl-C (copy), Ctrl-A (select all), or more advanced key sequences such as Alt-Shift-X + M (build Maven project in Eclipse), Ctrl-X + Y + Enter (save changes in nano editor) it makes life a lot easier, especially if you are too lazy to move your hand those few inches to use the mouse or touchpad. If you do a lot of coding and deployment on Linux like me, you will be very accustomed to keyboard shortcuts. It was a learning and discovery process, and I discovered the following useful and fun features in SketchUp Free that helped ease and speed up the 3D modelling time. The free version only allowed me to edit the model on a web browser, but the performance of the tool is good and with a stable internet connection, it worked well for me.Īs I hadn’t done 3D modelling in a while, it took some time to get used to thinking in three dimensions, measuring in millimetres and converting from inches, and thinking like a 3D printer or machining tool. As I rarely use 3D modelling tools and wasn’t interested in paying a monthly or annual subscription, I used SketchUp Free to do this.

Recently, I finally got around to drawing up a 3D model of my home, which was something I have been putting off for quite a while. Five Useful (and Fun!) Features in SketchUp Free

Sketchupfree