This application allows you to make 2D and 3D models. While it has enough features to make it possible to create designs, many people may find its interface a little confusing and clumsy to work with it. Every project I undertake starts with a good pencil and fashionable paper. I like this method to develop ideas quickly.
Once I'm happy with the sketch, I move. SketchUp is a great tool for designing your carpentry projects. Once you've worked out your designs and all the details, you can use the models to create plans for yourself or others. LayOut, which is part of the SketchUp Pro package, offers an easy way to create those drawings from your SketchUp model.
In this video, I'll go over some things I do in SketchUp to get ready to create a plan, and then I'll show you an overview of how to set things up in LayOut. This video is by no means intended to be a complete tutorial on using LayOut, but I hope it will give you some ideas. If you like woodworking, you've probably thought about making your own carpentry plans at one point or another. I think this last step has made a huge difference in the success of my carpentry plans selling as they have.
I had been on my YouTube channel for about a year before I decided to make carpentry plans for a couple of my projects. I have modified my methods over time, but the basics of how I create my carpentry plans are basically the same. While it's quite easy to learn how to draw carpentry plans with graph paper and pencil, there may come a time when you want something a little more professional. I wish I could say that the rest is history and now I have a library of hundreds of carpentry plans, but I don't have it.
As you have shown, the look of a carpentry plan intended solely for using scenes in SketchUp 3D space with one designed for Layout is very different.
