Sketchup upgrades

[pugilato]

I purchased Sketchup Pro when it was still Google, and my current version is 8.x. I paid close to $500 for this. Someone posted a sketchup file recently and I was not able to open it because I needed to upgrade, which is fine. But when I went to check the upgrade, found that to upgrade, I need to lay out (pun intended) $145 annually.

Well, I am not going to do that. I am wondering, though, if I upgrade to the latest version of what they call Sketchup Make, will I still be able to send files to LayOut (v 3.x)?

I love Sketchup and am perfectly content to continue using what I have, but I have found many files in the 3D warehouse are not backwards compatible to my version of the program.

 

[Dan Clark]

Have you tried the base (free) version of Sketchup?

 

[gkaiseril]

Many have found the free version is sufficient for their needs. It might mean some additional work to accomplish what the Professional version provides, but I would first try the free version to see if it meets your needs.

 

[CharlesWilson]

I have used the latest free version of sketchup running on a slow machine to convert files to version 8, so that I can use it on a faster machine that refuses to install newer versions of sketchup.

(Its actually the same machine, with a standard hard drive boot (slow), and a solid state drive boot (fast), each with Windows 7)

Charles

 

[pugilato]

My main question is whether the old version of Layout will be compatible with the new version of Sketchup.

 

[tiralie]

My main question is whether the old version of Layout will be compatible with the new version of Sketchup.

Yes, but it's not backwards compatible. Once the file is saved in version 8 it cannot be opened in an earlier version.
Tim

 

[jimmylittle]

I had the same issue.  I keep my older version of Pro, and download the updated free version.  I'm on a Mac, and I just have to make sure the title of the apps are different so nothing gets overwritten.  I'm not sure about the Windows side of things.  I renamed "SketchUp Pro" to "Pro_SketchUp" just to make sure nothing is accidentally deleted when I update the free version.

You can open a newer file in the free version, then save it as an older version.  Click File>Save As, then choose an the newest (old) file format that works with your Pro version.  SketchUp 8 can save all the way back to SketchUp 3 format. 

Then, open the new (old version) file in the Pro software.  It's a kludgey work around, but I don't use SketchUp enough to justify the yearly expense.  I haven't had any issues with losing parts of a drawing by re-saving in the free version, but your mileage may vary.

That being said, it seems like everyone is going the subscription route for software except Apple, these days.  Microsoft Office is now $100 a year, All the Adobe stuff (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc...) are yearly subscriptions, and now SketchUp. 

Between these software pricing models, and my music streaming subscriptions, it seems like I don't own anything that's on my computer anymore!

 

[pugilato]

Thanks... that pretty much answers my questions.