Just private practicing, even paid, not offered on sales page!?

DaveR or others also, will know this, I saw :wink:

I bought Books and templates/files “sketchup for architecture” (you may guess from whom :laughing: ) and want to view/practice/work(?) with those files, make the suggested changes, prepare own templates, ultimately prepare for a business-to-be, in future.

how can private citizens like myself do this now?
Now that on the trimble sales page are only these three options, none of which fit, not even remotely:
Commercial Use:
Sketchup Go
Sketchup Pro
Sketchup Studio

While “Higher education” and “Primary and Secondary” (sadly) no longer are my age range :face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth:

So, again, I am not trying to get for free what trimble now (understandably) aims to charge for. I am just trying to get a PRIVATE (not Commercial) package/deal that fits my current situation, until I am in the position to actually use it both professionally/commercially (layout & the normal). Which will only ever be AFTER I’ve learned & practiced enough to feel competent (and that’s regardless of software/app, of course).

Microsoft are masters in this business strategy, sadly not many others are. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Clearly if you want to work with SketchUp and LayOut to learn how to use them and do the kind of stuff you want to do you will use SketchUp Pro at least. SketchUp Studio adds some tools such as Vray for SketchUp but you should probably concentrate on learning to use SketchUp and LayOut first. You can always upgrade your subscription later if you find you need the additional capabilities.

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Yes, thanks. Honestly, of course I know all that (bit).
It doesn’t fit my question, that’s clear. :wink:
I feel my question is legitimate, and indeed online I see so much of this that presumably even millions share the same situation and interest. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

No one has yet said that there is no purchase offer for private individuals (= not commercial, indeed!), but in case there is none, then this surely was another great hint for those responsible for product policies and market penetration. :+1: :heavy_check_mark:

In fact, if I were responsible for this,

  • I’d restrict the functionality of sketchup and layout that commercial users NEED to the commercial licence (doh!)
  • and I’d offer the more limited features of sketchup and layout to the private individuals/hobby users/lifelong learners/NON-commercial users (oh!)

The latter could still learn and practice using basic templates and the features of layout and sketchup that make them “sketchup-loyal” (like Microsoft did and does). And trimble would have instantly and going forward a much enlarged loyal user base, because some of these latter even gravitate to the prior. (do-oh!) :heavy_check_mark:

For now, I will just wait to hear what PERSONAL USE product the masses can buy that separates them from the COMMERCIAL USERS. So, please do leave this thread open. :pray:(hey, many threads here only got discovered a decade later, such the responses suggest).

You may as a private individual purchase a subscription to SketchUp Pro. There is no requirement that you own a company or anything. There is nothing that prevents you from using Sketchup Pro for personal use.

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So if I want to find out if I would really like to own a Cadillac but cant afford it should the dealer sell me on for less?

If Trimble cuts you a deal they are probably going to charge me more to make up the loss.

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That’s pretty much what they already do. When the browser-based version took off, they dropped the one-time license in favor of an annual one. I guess for some people that’s not enough (shrug).

You can use the trial period of 1 month for SketchUp Pro to learn or use SketchUp free…

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this.


It’s like buying a macbook pro. you don’t have to be a pro to buy one. you can buy one as a regular person, you can be tall with a mac mini, or blind and buy and eyemac. :clown_face:

SUpro give you commercial use of SU indeed, but also a desktop software, with extensions and all.
Yet you don’t HAVE to use it in a pro environment.

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wataru.kannuzuki
Yes, multiple shrugs even. The web-based version is entirely unsuitable for what the OP asked in the first place. :heavy_check_mark:

It’s funny (???) how all hit the same kerb when there’s always another kerb just across the road.
OH! :grin:
(now lots of those have to think really hard to just get it) :rofl:

Clearly, the millions quoted earlier above just won´t waste their nerves anymore if all here are mentally subscribed to sketchup. Hence why they haven`t shown up. Yet.

A legitimate forum question. And yet you get so much chatter back, phew… :roll_eyes:

I can fix that.

So you say sketchup should have free pro versions for people wanting to learn and then if they use it for commercial purposes they should pay for it. How will sketchup know if you’re using the software for commercial purposes but getting a free pro version? There may be some people willing to pay for the software but I guess there will be a lot more just taking advantage of this free full version, it’s like using a cracked software but without any risk of getting malware in your computer. If you get a lot of chatter from this post is because it makes no sense for most of us who are paying for this software, if you want to learn you can use the free web version, if you want to install plug-ins there are places where you can get the 2017 sketchup make, it’s the last non commercial desktop version that allows plug-ins installation. Once you have a solid knowledge of the software you can try the pro version for a month and learn layout in that time, if everything goes right you will have the knowledge to start a business and pay for the pro or studio versions.

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You are the OP. As for what is or isn’t suitable for your specific purposes, I can only say, “Welcome to the cost of doing business.”

Here’s one in kind, what other aspects of your up and coming business have you tried to make this

deal with?

What a truly strange idea that Trimble should somehow offer the same product for less money because you say you’re not using it ‘professionally’?!

The Pro in SketchUp Pro is just a designation of the features level… being level 2 out of 3.

I would argue that Pro is exactly the product level you are looking for rather than the fully featured Studio which has features you may not now or ever need.

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I found Sketch Up free to be a good product to use to determine whether or not Sketch Up could work for you. Although the icons are slightly differently located They look pretty much the same as a toolbar in SketchUp. Additionally, all the keyboard shortcuts are identical. That is a good start. You can find videos on YouTube that walk you through using SketchUp free.

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