Chapter 2

Getting Started

Objective: This chapter discusses what’s needed to run SketchUp, how to download and open it, and tours the workspace.

Concepts and Functions: three-button mouse, video card, tablet PC, graphics tablet, digital pen, computer tablet, Space Navigator, splash screen, workspace, menu bar, axes, scale figure, origin, measurements box, instance, viewer, template, Photoshop, Dropbox, Save, Save As, Save A Copy As, Save As Template, backup files

In Chapter 1 we discussed what SketchUp is and saw ways interior designers and interior architects can use it. Now we’ll discuss what’s needed to run it, and peek at its workspace.

Hardware, Operating System, and Browser Requirements

SketchUp is a graphics-intensive program. The more detailed your model, the more processing power it needs. A late-model computer and operating system is needed, specifically:

PC: At least 2+ GHz processor, 2+ GB RAM, 500 MB of available hard-disk space, and a 3D-class video card with 512+ MB of memory or higher. Video card driver must support OpenGL 1.5+. SketchUp Pro requires .NET Framework version 2.0.
Operating System: XP, Vista, Windows 7, 8, and the Internet Explorer 7.0+ browser.
Mac: At least 2.1+ GHz Intel processor, 2 GB RAM, 500 MB of available hard-disk space, 3D-class video card with 512+ MB of memory or higher. Video card driver must support OpenGL 1.5+.
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.7, QuickTime 7, and the Safari browser. Boot Camp and Parallels are not supported.

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