For me, I really appreciate being able to back save via the native software in the event something does not work well with the current version.
I’ve run into this in the past, where back saving into a previous version allowed me to fix a problem that the latest version was not letting me do for whatever reason.
I’m running into another problem now where Layout 2024 does not support Color by tags in vector, which forces me to go back to Layout and SU’2023. Luckily I saved a SU’2023 copy of my file to go back to only losing a little bit of work. Trying to open the file I modified in SU’2024 into SU’2023 kept giving the not so reassuring message that things may not display correctly and that I should use the latest version instead. If the files were truly backwards compatible between the last few generations, no issues should arise nor be noted when opening between the different versions. It should just work, and if that is not possible, SU should stay with it’s ethos of being backwards compatible with itself and allow back saving. I vaguely remember that feature being touted as something that differentiated SU versus other CAD software packages that did not maintain backwards compatibility with their own software.
That may be true, but in that case, it would be nice to simply highlight a list of the specific features your file is using from the newer versions that will not show or show correctly in a previous versions. If you are not using any of the new non-compatible features, then the file should open without issues or warnings in a previous version.
Without a detailed list, we are left to just blindly hope that all will be OK when opening in a previous version.
Being able to simply backwards save would be better.
In lieu of that, one possible solution could be to implement a table within the skp file that gets reviewed when the file opens comparing the activated features with the features the version opening the file has.
Feature List
SU’2017
SU’2018
SU’2019
SU’2020
SU’2021
SU’2022
SU’2023
SU’2024
Feature A
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
Feature B
x
x
x
x
x
x
A
Feature C
x
x
x
x
x
A
Feature D
x
x
x
x
x
Feature E
x
x
x
x
Feature F
x
x
A
Feature G
x
x
Feature H
x
x
Feature I
A
Feature J
x
Feature K
x
The version opening the file would just have to list the activated features from the file it does not have in it’s embedded list of features.
So for example, if you saved a SU’2024 file with features B, C, F and I activated, then tried to open it in SU’2020, SU’2020 would notify you that Feature F & I are not supported.
Something like this would have to be a standard moving forward, and could be updated for the older versions if the SU team desired.
if in your first sentence you mention you’re off topic, then don’t post it here. create a new topic. you have a question about the licence agreement and this is a topic about exporting to older sketchup versions in 2024
don’t double post in two topics. post and wait for an answer.
you posted at 11.13 and 11.22
this is a voluntary forum, most of us have lives to attend to
I’m very annoyed as well. I want to be able to send models to people who don’t have the $$$ to buy the latest version of SU. And my CAD program is from 2022 (because I don’t have the $$$ to buy the latest version) so I can’t import anything I do now in SU.
Plus, the solution given here is far too complicated for my tiny mind.
Is there an extension or app that will allow me to save SU models in an older version easily?
Thanks
Trimble please take note and please change SU back to the old way in the next update.
it’s an extension. you download it, you go to the extension manager, and you install it. it takes 2 min. and it creates a new “save to older version” submenu in the File menu. couldn’t be simpler.
Thanks Dezmo
Obviously I didn’t read the whole discussion carefully enough. Yes, I can install an extension. Thank you very much for posting it and for your reply.
Yes, it’s me again. I installed the extension and restarted SU 2024 for Mac. I verified that the extension is installed. I created a simple model and tried both “Save” and “Save As . . .”, but I don’t see how to save to a previous version of SU. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.
it’s added at the bottom of the file menu, basically the top part is the default apple one with default functions, and at the bottom you’ll find stuff related to extensions like predesign, location, repost…
and yes, as Adam said, you could also go to the view menu and add the toolbar
