Easiest way to design in 2D

SketchUp Pro
1

I am new to SU and looking for easiest way to draw in 2D, essentially elevations. I design and fabricate railing systems and am looking for a simple replacement to AutoCAD Lite.

2

I would start with the SketchUp Fundamentals to learn about using the modeling tools in SketchUp.

Keep in mind that SketchUp is really designed to be a 3D modeling application. Is there a reason you want to use SketchUp for 2D drawing?

3

SketchUp is not that. There are many non-Autodesk CAD applications, but I think you would have to try them before deciding. Do you need to use DWG files from others?

5

You should edit your post and remove your contact details, Jeff.

6

I tried LibreCAD a free open source program that touted it’s ease of learning and use. I found it tedious and not at all intuitive. Since it is open source it relies on users to produce tutorials and the quality and content is all over the place. I also do large scale sculpture and SketchUp with all it’s features will be great for that. I am figuring out that if I stay in a front view/elevation I am able to get essentially what I want, so far. I’ll see how it goes tomorrow scaling and printing.

I did sign up for one month of SketchUp School, a little pricey but it is well laid out and presented.

Thanks for your response.

Jeff Benson

7

As @DaveR mentioned. Please do not include signatures in your posts. It is against the community guidelines.

8

Staying in front view isn’t always going to work, you can still draw things out of plane without noticing.
One option is to create a work plane to draw on (just a grouped rectangle larger than your work), this helps keep everything flat.

1 Like
9

It’s certainly possible to use SU to do standard 2D drawing work even though that is not what it was designed for. I do it often if I just want very simple architectural plans and elevations. I also frequently mix 2d and 3D work. So I might make a 3D model of my building, create a section through it, and then choose Make Slice from Section to create a 2D version. It is often much quicker to add detail to the 2D drawing than trying to draw every element and iteration that would apply to a 3D drawing.