Can someone point me toward actual documentation, preferably PDF or some other print / offline friendly format?
I’ve seen the videos, but they jump straight into modeling with no coverage of theory, environment setup (units, grids, coordinate systems, templates, text / line / print settings, etc., etc.). I’d really like to find a complete A-Z listing of everything the program does, all tool details, a glossary, index, TOC…You know, a real user’s manual. Something to read before I really jump in. Videos are great in some situations, but they’re no substitute for real documentation.
I’ve searched the forum here as well as Googled, but virtually everything I find (which is minimal) is old, dating back to pre-Trimble versions.
I found this reference to be very helpful … although it’s for version 6, almost all of the material applies to the current release. ug_sketchup_win.pdf (3.0 MB)
Yes, it’s a decade old. But having read all 390 pages, the only essential things missing are Dynamic Components and Layout (that I can see). All the basic tools and their multiple uses, the importance of inference, creating and using groups and components, how layers differ from other CAD programs, sandbox TINs and their tools, photo-matching, scenes and animations, navigating the user interface, viewing and orbiting the model, etc. Read this and you will be fully oriented to SketchUp … any new things will quickly make sense in the proper context.
You’re not the only one to request this … myself included. However, you asked for a manual with everything the program does, and this one covers all the important things you need to know about using SketchUp.
Well, if the basics haven’t changed (much), then the age is mostly irrelevant. I was assuming (!) they had but obviously not. If “your” 390 page v6 manual is still current, I think I’ll try to plow through it instead of “my” nearly 900-page v7 manual. Plus, I’m on Windows and the v6 doc is apparently Windows only. Nothing against the Mac, but there’s no point in navigating around the Mac parts of the combo Mac/Win v7 manual if it’s not necessary.
Most of the screenshots match 2015, but 2016 has a different interface … however, the tools are still the same. BTW, your 900-page manual includes a section on Dynamic Components, which is not in the version 6 manual.
Something to read before I really jump in. Videos are great in some situations, but they’re no substitute for real documentation.