
If you wish, there is also a checkbox option to create a copy of any object that you want to convert into SketchUp. You can import any kind of file that you have in memory and simply click on the "Open" button to begin importing. SketchUp Make's free desktop version allows you to open and edit any kind of file that can be converted to a.DXF file, which is a common format used by many applications. Although SketchUp Make has many of the features of the paid edition of SketchUp, it does cost nothing to use, making it a good value for both artists and designers looking for a basic, intuitive interface to get their projects off the ground. SketchUp Make was initially designed to make it simpler for artists and designers to experiment with 3D visualization software, and is currently the free version of the core software for 3D artists. When Trimble acquired SketchUp, it forked the product into several tiers, keeping the free desktop version around as “SketchUp Make.SketchUp Make, formerly known as Trimble Create, is now the default visual interface for Trimble's rendering and modeling software, SketchUp. The SketchUp web app is decent and might be good enough for many people, but for a long time, the desktop version was completely free, too.

If you want the latest full desktop app, you’re looking at $300 a year for personal use. At the time of this writing, the only modern free version of SketchUp is a web app. SketchUp has changed hands a few times over the years, once having been owned by Google, and currently owned by a company called Trimble. Trimble even warns it might have security problems as it hasn’t been updated since 2017. However, as of May 2022, the official SketchUp website is no longer offering the free version (SketchUp Make 2017) for download. Update, 5/23/22: This worked when we published it in 2021.

Or does it? You can still download a free desktop version if you know where to look. Originally released as free open-source software, the popular 3D-modeling program SketchUp now comes with a premium price tag.
