Buying SU-Pro

[DamaTheCat]

Hey Folks,

I am a furniture woodworker. Have been using SU since the days 'Google' was steering the program. All this while I've used the 'free' version. I've always lusted for the 'real-deal', but did not want to cut into my beer allowance to purchase it.

After all these years I'm almost ready to jump in, but have the following questions to ask:

- Can SU-Pro be used off line?
- When the year subscription expires is the program rendered inoperative?
- Is it a bit 'over-kill' for general furniture design?

I'm currently using SU Make v 17.3.116.

Thanks......

[Dave R]

- Can SU-Pro be used off line?

Yes. SketchUp Pro can be used off line. You do need to be online to access the warehouses and once every 28 days to ping the license server. Other than that, no internet connection is required.

- When the year subscription expires is the program rendered inoperative?

Yes. Unless you renew the subscription SketchUp stops working. It's like any other subscription.

- Is it a bit 'over-kill' for general furniture design?

I suppose that's a rather subjective question. I presume you are doing woodworking as a hobby. In my opinion, no, it's not overkill. There are numerous features that come with SketchUp Pro that the hobbyist woodworker can utilize. The Solid Tools, or better Bool Tools 2 (which does work in SU2017 Make) or Eneroth Solid Tools, make modeling details much easier (I only ever model one half of any joint. The other half is created with Trim from Bool Tools 2 or Eneroth Solid Tools). There are the various CAD export options that can be used with CNC routers, for example. LayOut is a good application for creating shop drawings as well as full sized patterns for templates.

With SketchUp Pro you also get SketchUp Go (previously called SketchUp Shop) which is web-based but will run on just about anything. Ii think that's nice if you've got internet access in the shop because you could use a fairly inexpensive thing like a Chromebook to look at and edit your SketchUp models if you need to do that in the dusty shop.

There's also a version for iPad that is included in the subscription along with unlimited cloud storage, and some other features.

Of course if you are building furniture to sell and using SketchUp in that process you shouldn't be using SketchUp Make anyway.

[DamaTheCat]

Dave,

You answered all my questions.

Thank you so much.

[Dave R]

You're quite welcome.