I am a very confident Adobe Illustrator designer - brand new to SketchUp and layout. I need to create 2D site plans at this point - and wanted to start from measurements on paper and google earth photos/measurements. Is there an efficient way to go about this? I keep finding ways to import the SketchUp 3d model into layout, but not starting the drawing in 2D in Layout.
You can make Scaled Drawings in LayOut. See: Creating a Scaled Drawing | SketchUp Help Will you need to make a 3D model for this project at some point? Might make more sense to go ahead and start in 3D in SketchUp and generate the required 2D views from the 3D model to show in LayOut.
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This is a different strokes for different folks issue.
A lot of people, including me, find drawing in LO pretty cumbersome. OK for simple shapes, outlining things, etc, but not much else. So, personally, I would always start drawing anything at all complicated in SU, even if was all going to be 2D.
Having said that, there are pitfalls in doing this for the unwary/inexperienced. Chief among them is the ease with which you can draw off plane without realizing it. But there are techniques to cope with that if you do it regularly.
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I would disagree with Simon ( but as he says different strokes for different folks )
I routinely draw large scale detailed construction plans in Layout using a basic a SketchUp model as a tracing template.
I’ve created site plans entirely in Layout.
The last time I used AutoCad was over 10 years ago ( hard to remember now ) – I find Layout as easy.
Could Layout have more features? For sure.
For general Planning Permissions drawings – elevations and floor plans, the drawings are SketchUp models with minimal Layout linework.
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It’s me again…
So, I’ve been using Adobe Illustrator to create my landscape design projects. I am attempting to switch to Sketchup Layout to utilize the more CAD-like features such as scale. The question I had before was how to create a scaled drawing – which I’ve now come to understand for the most part. New question - I heavily use separate layers in Illustrator – for each type of plant, for hardscape features, lighting, etc. All of this would need to be to scale, and I still would love to use layers for each element. Is using separate layers within the scaled drawing possible?
Yes it is.