# The Ubuntu Forum Community > Other Discussion and Support > Art & Design >  Sketchup in Linux?

## alexv305

I searched and couldn't find Google Sketchup for Linux. Prolly doesn't exsist. Anyways is there a linux program available that is similar to it? I'm doing basic wood working models in inch sized units.

Any suggestions?

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## omega_user

No, there's no Linux version of sketchup and there doesn't look like there'll be one for a little bit.  

Others:
Blender 3D seems to be okay.  Equinox seems quite good too, but that isn't in the Add/Remove Programs like Blender.  Hope that's a step in the right direction.

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## rfruth

No sketchup for linux yet ... :Confused:

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## IanW

> No sketchup for linux yet ...


People (me included) have been asking Google for it for at least a year now, still no progress. :Sad:

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## jetrost

> Any suggestions?


I just downloaded SketchUp from Google and installed it via wine, and it worked fine. The menu bar and the "quick pick" buttons on the top of the screen, as well as the status bar on the bottom of the screen would go black frequently, but when I moused-over them, they would reappear. 

Modeling a quick house went without a hitch, and the 3D rendering worked fine. I'm no expert, but the menu bar issue may not be a universal problem...but again, it wasn't _that_ big of an issue. If you use the program enough, you will get the hotkeys down quickly enough. 

So, to answer your question, my suggestion would be to install and run it using wine. Good luck!

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## gigafish

Maybe Google intends to release a Linux friendly version of Sketchup when it releases a Linux Distribution.

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## Ecclesia

I doubt that google is going to release a linux distro.  This is a rumor that keeps going around.  Apparently they use linux in-house, but aren't planning on releasing anything.  I'd personally be interested to see what they come up with, but I doubt they're going to take such a major undertaking.  Or perhaps they're using Android as a test bed for what this type of thing might look like for them.

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## IanW

Sketchup now seems to work OK for me using Wine 0.9.54 on 64-bit Ubuntu.

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## hardyn

sketch up was aquired by google, as was initially written by a small unknown 3rd party (i think my old man still has an old copy with the original label on it somewhere).  it was never designed for linux, so a port may be REALLY difficult.

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## weelibin

im very suprised that there isnt something like sketchup for linux theres every thing else, open office, lmms, hydrogen etc... blender seems to be ok but i think its a bit over complicated to be honest i was going to learn it till my workload became just a bit too much and i realised that its more of a 3 D rendering tool than a design program.

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## Jeffa

> sketch up was aquired by google, as was initially written by a small unknown 3rd party (i think my old man still has an old copy with the original label on it somewhere).  it was never designed for linux, so a port may be REALLY difficult.


The company that originally developed Sketchup was called @last Software. 




> I doubt that google is going to release a linux distro.  This is a rumor that keeps going around.  Apparently they use linux in-house, but aren't planning on releasing anything.  I'd personally be interested to see what they come up with, but I doubt they're going to take such a major undertaking.  Or perhaps they're using Android as a test bed for what this type of thing might look like for them.


Google does use a flavor of Ubuntu in house (called Goobuntu). While rumors have been circulating for years that they are going to release on OS (perhaps even a web based OS!) most insiders generally agree this probably won't happen. (at least not in the near future)




> I just downloaded SketchUp from Google and installed it via wine, and it worked fine. The menu bar and the "quick pick" buttons on the top of the screen, as well as the status bar on the bottom of the screen would go black frequently, but when I moused-over them, they would reappear. 
> 
> Modeling a quick house went without a hitch, and the 3D rendering worked fine. I'm no expert, but the menu bar issue may not be a universal problem...but again, it wasn't _that_ big of an issue. If you use the program enough, you will get the hotkeys down quickly enough. 
> 
> So, to answer your question, my suggestion would be to install and run it using wine. Good luck!


This is precisely what happened when i installed sketchup via Wine. Glad I'm not the only person. I tried disabling Compiz, but still had the same problem. Maybe it's an OpenGL problem?

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## trig

I do not know what this is, can anyone discribe it
trig

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## senectus

they've hinted at doing a linux version of sketchup...

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## jorwex

I've been running Sketchup with a patched version of 0.9.40 wine for a while. It's pretty damn stable and I can't find one thing that hinders my normal usage of the program on Windows.

http://aksels.de/php/count.php?actio...../d/SketchUp/

His readme is not the most user friendly (or it wasn't for me 3 months ago when I switched from windows), so if any one wants it, I wrote a little readme to complement his.

I tried 0.9.56 for a few minutes, and everything that was a problem without using the patched old version of wine seems to have been worked out.

In 0.9.57, there's actually a bug fix in the release notes for Sketchup:
   8694  Google SketchUp Fails to Launch

I haven't tried it since then, but it must be even better.

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## ubunter1

mine just crashes and says- sketchup was unable to initialize open gl, please make sure you have installed the correct drivers for your graphics card. error;choosepixelformat failed.

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## albertoramirez

It is a real shame that Google has not released Sketchup for Linux.

I installed it through wine, and installation worked fine, buy got the same "open GL" problem.

There must be a workaround around....

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## IanW

The changelog for Wine 1.0rc2 claims that they've fixed the "choosepixelformat" bug for Sketchup.

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## Tyche

Sketchup 6 requires the .NET framework, which may explain the reason there are problems with porting it to Linux.  It may also explain why there are the problems that have been reported in running it under WINE.

 :Sad:

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## grimsqueaker

> Sketchup 6 requires the .NET framework, which may explain the reason there are problems with porting it to Linux.  It may also explain why there are the problems that have been reported in running it under WINE.


hasn't stopped them porting it to Mac....  or maybe i'm missing something ??

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## -yay-

I never tried this Sketchup thing, is it better than for example Wings3D?

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## kayosiii

The two are quite different - Sketchup is really targetted at architectural models and to a large extent it is successful at this. Sketchup is a really simple tool to learn - but makes it easy to make really bad models - from the point of view of using it in a multi program workflow. At work we spend a lot of time cleaning up bad sketchup models. 

Wings3d is targetted on the other hand towards subdvision surface modelling which lends itself better to impresise organic style modelling.

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## -yay-

I see, thanks for clarifying it kayosiii  :Popcorn:

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## alexhrdr

> Maybe Google intends to release a Linux friendly version of Sketchup when it releases a Linux Distribution.


That and Chrome eh?

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## dankegel

Sketchup 7 is working fine for me once I follow the tips in http://wiki.winehq.org/GoogleSketchup
but I'm no expert.  Can anybody who's having problems
report them to the wine appdb or bugzilla?
Thanks!

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## jeromio

I have proprietary NVidia and I've tried both Sketchup 6 & 7 on both wine 1.0.1 and crossover office 7.1.0. I have tried changing the registry key(s) and even deleting the key - I still get the OpenGL error on every configuration.

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## dankegel

> I have proprietary NVidia and I've tried both Sketchup 6 & 7 on both wine 1.0.1 and crossover office 7.1.0. I have tried changing the registry key(s) and even deleting the key - I still get the OpenGL error on every configuration.


Your Wine is probably too old.  Try again with wine-1.1.11 (or
a newer version, depending on when you read this).

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## desconocido

> sketch up was aquired by google, as was initially written by a small unknown 3rd party (i think my old man still has an old copy with the original label on it somewhere).  it was never designed for linux, so a port may be REALLY difficult.


It is supported for Mac OS X which is UNIX so it can't be that difficult to port to Linux/Ubuntu..




> Mac OS X
>     * Software
>           o Mac OS X® 10.4.1+ and 10.5+.
>           o QuickTime 5.0 and web browser for multimedia tutorials.
>           o Safari.
>       Neither Boot Camp nor Parallels are supported environments.
>     * Recommended hardware
>           o 2.1+ GHz G5/Intel processor.
>           o 2 GB RAM.
> ...

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## markov035

> It is supported for Mac OS X which is UNIX so it can't be that difficult to port to Linux/Ubuntu..


http://www.mono-project.com alloows you to develop on several platforms, and should be easy to "port" the code: just say "compile to linux"....

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## mesae

I use Varicad (www.varicad.com).  They have Windows and Linux (deb & rpm) versions.  This is commercial software so is not free (around 600-700$ retail for commercial use), but there is an academic license as well for around $110-120, depending on the exchange rate.  This is excellent mechanical engineering software, IMO, and is very suitable for home educational woodworking projects, which is what I use it for.  It is very easy to use, once you learn the basics (much easier than TurboCAD).  I am not an engineer or even a pro draftsman but I find that I am much more productive in 3D with VariCAD than I ever was with TurboCAD, AutoCAD LT, or any of the AutoCAD clones.  VariCAD is parametric (you can specify standard screw or bolt holes types, grooves, booleans, etc., specifying the size parameters, etc, and you can later go back and easily move, resize, delete or otherwise change any "parameter" of the hole or other parametric feature.  It supports 3D constraints as well.  It's very stable under Ubuntu, and I have used it extensively for more than a year.  It can very quickly and easily generate 2D views from 3D models, which you can then dimension using familiar methods.  Another benefit of the student license it that it is not time-limited like the ones from AutoDesk, etc.  Once you purchase a license, it's yours to use forever, just not commercially.  You obviously must purchase a commercial license if you want to use it commercially.  It does not have sophisticated rendering ability, like materials, raytrace etc., but it is very suitable for my purposes.

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## Newfoundlander

> People (me included) have been asking Google for it for at least a year now, still no progress.


I'm curious how you have been asking them.  E-mail?  Forum?  So I can do the same because I'd love to have a Linux version.  It crashes under Wine.

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## yakov_w

Hi, Art of Illusion is a good option to Google Sketchup, try it. http://www.artofillusion.org/

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## chips24

blender is hard to learn, but try that, thats what im trying to learn right now.

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## mfr1003

Just wait for Google Chrome OS, or whatever the Silicon Giant decides to call their new Microsoft-rival Operating System. =D> Surely a Google OS would come with or at least be compatible with all Google's wonderful software! :Very Happy:  Unless they are just imbeciles.  :Brick wall: 

 :Popcorn:

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## djfunkey

another good program is k-3d on ubuntu  :Smile:  but google sketchup didn't work on my computer  :Sad:  even though I used wine I clicked run with wine and nothing happened. :Confused:

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## jackpipe

http://www.sweethome3d.eu/

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## Mysearch

Hi,
I am new to Ubuntu having just installed 9.04. So I hope this posting is not inappropriate for this forum. One of the things I am trying to get a handle on is what applications are Windows dependent. As a Sketchup user I was interested in what SU options were available. Tried WINE, but had problems that I will posted on separately, but thought there might be some interest in a discussion within the Google SU feature forum, see below. 

-------------------------------------------------------
On Sun, 2009-08-30 at 08:41 -0700, LewisWadsworth wrote:
Gerhard asked me to stop by this discussion group.
> 
> I spoke to the SketchUp team about this topic at the Googleplex in
> Mountain View last summer: I'm sorry to inform you that you will not
> find SketchUp as a native application in any Linux distro in the
> foreseeable future.  There are only a handful of people working on
> SketchUp in the Google Boulder office, and I was told that there is
> simply not the manpower to develop and maintain any more versions of
> it.  Development on Windows and Macintosh versions is continuing
> (don't even think to ask about that), of course, but any Linux version
> is a non-starter. You can infer from this that SketchUp, as beloved as
> it is by a certain relatively-small user group which includes myself,
> is not a priority for Google in a larger sense.  It is simply not a
> core product for the company.
> 
> Your best bet is better performance with SU on Linux using WINE.
> However, I do not consider this a particularly hopeful avenue...with
> the kind of complex architectural models I develop using SketchUp, the
> screen-redraw lag makes SketchUp unusable on Linux systems for me, and
> I have wasted too much time that frankly could be better used
> elsewhere in attempting to make the software work acceptably in Linux.
> 
> With regard to Chrome OS and 3D modeling, you might get a better sense
> of Google's "3D" interests from their efforts with O3D:
> 
> http://code.google.com/apis/o3d/docs/techoverview.html
> 
> If Chrome OS is to be essentially a minimal gateway to "the Cloud", it
> would be logical to see future developments in 3D modeling from Google
> arising from things like O3D or alternative, OS-independent
> implementations of 3D in Javascript that run in a web browser and
> store data on a remote server as Google Docs do now.  Google is not
> the only company working on Cloud-based applications of course:  for
> instance, Aviary has acknowledged that it is working on a 3D modeler
> called "Hummingbird" that will sync with its own Flash-based (and
> fairly impressive) image editing tools.
> 
> http://aviary.com/blog/posts/adverti...gbird_revealed
> 
> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Feature suggestions" group.
> To post to this group, send email to sketchupsuggestions@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sketchupsuggestions+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sketc...gestions?hl=en
> -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
>

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## jlukescott

alexv305, you mentioned you wanted a program for wood working. For this I would recommend QCad over Blender3D.

QCad is definitely more of a CAD/CAM oriented program, although it is simple. But I personally prefer its simplicity, and I also prefer its adherence to a more standard interface & workflow, like AutoCad. The main drawback compared with Sketchup, Blender3D, or other 3D programs is visualization. It's harder to print out a meaningful drawing if you're not used to looking at line drawings and knowing what they correspond to in real life.

I built my first deck (ever) using a drawing made with QCad, and I have to say with total modesty that it came out perfect, except for one mis-measurement that happened in the drawing - before I printed out the diagram - which then got transferred into a bad cut. This goes back to what I was saying about being comfortable reading/interpreting line drawings.

Hope this helps.
Luke

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## bknhnd

> Maybe Google intends to release a Linux friendly version of Sketchup when it releases a Linux Distribution.


 What??!! Their releasing a linux distribution?? Well, anyway, I'm going to try Google Sketchup in Wine and see how it goes. It probably won't work anyway. :Icon Frown:

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## loell

> What??!! Their releasing a linux distribution?? Well, anyway, I'm going to try Google Sketchup in Wine and see how it goes. It probably won't work anyway.


it's been working for the last six months or so, it's a bit rough but usable.  especially if you nvidia card, sketchup will work.

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## rodericx

if u can.... maybe have the both OS could a good responde... 

sketchup can export to format to COLLADA.

1) export your model to collada
2) change extension of collada to .ZIP
3) unzip... all the stuff materials etc, keep in one folder
4) leave or copy in some media to be read in ubuntu
5) open blender, and import the model.

maybe u can learn blender and practice.

thats its what i do to learn blender.. the 2.5 its incredible.

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## acornbrain

Hoping someone in the forum can help me with this.

Just learned about SketchUp the other day. Decided to DL sketchup 7 and take a stab installing thru WINE. (ver. 1.01) (I am on jaunty)

seemed to work at first, but got the "open gl" error. Should have checked the forums first, but I wasn't in the mood, so I just gave up, uninstalled sketchup7, and installed it on my other Windows box instead.

now I'm thinking I was a little too hasty. I'd like to try again, but now I can't re-install googlesketchupWEN.exe. I downloaded another copy, but instead of a fresh install, it only gives me the option to "repair" my first installation. When I click on this, the installer goes thru its paces and appears to finish, but I can't even get Sketchup to start, just does nothing.

I think there is some remnant of Sketchup stuck in my system somewhere, via a 'cookie' or registry or something. Or maybe the product can only be registered to a given computer once or something. I am afraid that unless I somehow expunge all evidence of my first install, I won't be able to try again with a fresh copy.

At this point, I don't know if the offending issue is with Ubuntu, WINE, or Google itself.

Any advice?

-Brian (noob)

EDIT:

I guess I should add that I am also willing to find a Linux substitute for SU. I am going to be using it pretty much exclusively for architectural renderings. Even though I am a 2D CAD drafter, I've always done my renderings by hand, and I don't have much, if any, experience with 3D CAD, so I need the software to be quick and easy to learn. Needs to have the ability to export to PDF, JPG or other raster image. Hopefully is geared towards architectural rendering, and has surface materials like siding, brick, shingles etc, landscaping also a plus. I'm going to give Sweet Home 3d a try. Any other suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks again!

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## hyburn

sketchup works fine for me through wine

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## acornbrain

UPDATE:

DL'd a registry cleaner that zapped SketchUP entirely. I was then able to reinstall a fresh copy. Did the openGl registry fix. Now SketchUP will open, and I can use it for a few minutes, but then it crashes. Also, there is a white box that surrounds the cursor image which partially obscures the points I am trying see. Pretty annoying.

I'm going to do some more digging and see if I can make this work better.

-brian

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## 23dornot23d

I have just installed sketchup 7 ..... works great through using wine 1.2 .... 1.1.39-0ubuntu1~karmic5 ,,, 
from synaptic download ........ 

I also have a Nvidia card ... which seems to be a useful thing for this application to run properly ......

it is also good that files can be moved from 3ds into sketchup ..... 

_____________________________________________

? back out again if needed .... as Colladra files .... 

(.dae) .... seem to need to start paying money if you want useful 3D output files from it

Ok as of just ........  I cannot get the .dae file output from sketchup ..... it needs to be upgraded to Sketchup Pro ........

and I cannot find any free plugins .....

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## huangweiqiu

run it with Wine

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## robsc

i've had success on my pc installing sketchup 7 and some plugins. i've run sketchup ona pc and two laptops running linux int 8. oddly, sketchup 7 and the dim_angle.rb plugin work fine. howeve3r, one either of my laptops, sketchup runs, but the dim_angle.rb jplugin will not load. i get thisw message: Error Loading File dim_angle.rb
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 7/Plugins/dim_angle.rb:2: syntax error
# The code related to click 3 points was reused here from an original
^
C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 7/Plugins/dim_angle.rb:11: syntax error
require 'sketchupclass DimAngleTool.       any  ideas on what might explain this odd incongruency?

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## gandra

How about Autodesk Autocad ?

Anyone could run it unde Linux??

Wich version ?? 

Regards 

Gandra

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## scoty1991

> =D> Surely a Google OS would come with or at least be compatible with all Google's wonderful software! Unless they are just imbeciles.


haha, you mean unless they're microsoft!  :Wink:

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## jfreak53

> I doubt that google is going to release a linux distro.  This is a rumor that keeps going around.  Apparently they use linux in-house, but aren't planning on releasing anything.  I'd personally be interested to see what they come up with, but I doubt they're going to take such a major undertaking.  Or perhaps they're using Android as a test bed for what this type of thing might look like for them.


I bet you feel foot in mouth now don't you!  Chome OS baby, waiting for it with anticipation, very soon, very soon now!

And yes sooner or later all Google's software has to port to Linux since they are releasing Chrome OS, they have to.  So it's just a matter of time.  Hey they released Chrome for Linux, so the others are soon to come people, just be patient.

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## dchurch24

Give the bloke a break!

That post was over 3 years ago!

I bet even Google didn't know they were going to release an OS back then!

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## Thomas_Bates

> Give the bloke a break!
> 
> That post was over 3 years ago!
> 
> I bet even Google didn't know they were going to release an OS back then!


You really think they an code an OS and provide functionality for everything, ranging form hardware to software, to internet things, in just 3 years? LOL.
I'm sure they've been working on this for quite some time.

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## evgen_m

i installed wine through add/remove programms. version is 1.2
than i try install sketchup. in beginning looks ok, only not scroll down and up for choose templates, but than when i push start using sketchup it writes: "sketchup was unable to initialize OpenGL! Please make sure you have installed the correct drivers for your graphics card. 
Error: ChoosePixelFormat failed

any advice?

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## 23dornot23d

> i installed wine through add/remove programms. version is 1.2
> than i try install sketchup. in beginning looks ok, only not scroll down and up for choose templates, but than when i push start using sketchup it writes: "sketchup was unable to initialize OpenGL! Please make sure you have installed the correct drivers for your graphics card. 
> Error: ChoosePixelFormat failed
> 
> any advice?


What graphics card do you have in your computer ?

System - Administration - Additional Drivers ....... just check that there are no outstanding or newer drivers that need installing to make things work properly.

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## dchurch24

> You really think they an code an OS and provide functionality for everything, ranging form hardware to software, to internet things, in just 3 years? LOL.
> I'm sure they've been working on this for quite some time.


Nope, but I do think that with their dosh they could easily put together lightweight window manager for Linux in which all the applications they provide are web-based (meaning that they could develop them without the OS even being in existence) - which is what Chrome is.

Indeed, according to Wikipedia:




> Google developers began coding the operating system in 2009

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## scottme

Just a quick note to say that I installed the latest Sketchup 8 under Wine on Ubuntu 10.10, and after the registry fix for OpenGL, it appears to work very well.

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## Yaroslav_L

During the installation of Pro version I'm getting error:
".NET Framework 2.0 must be installed prior to installation of this product"
Is it possible?

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## bug770515

.net Framework 2.0 does work with wine/crossover. so try to install it and then run it. the other versions... not so much

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## montreano

hello  all , google sketchup  now in linux .

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## grey1beard

> Just a quick note to say that I installed the latest Sketchup 8 under Wine on Ubuntu 10.10, and after the registry fix for OpenGL, it appears to work very well.


Just found your post scottme.
Could you spell out the fix, as I'm in the same boat, and seem to have lost the paddle.
John

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## alanmoore78

> hello  all , google sketchup  now in linux .


Nein.

from the Sketchup Blog:

"*SketchUp for Linux*
'Desktop Linux users should be able to run a native port of SketchUp on their distro of choice.'
We hear this request all the time, but realistically were not likely to ever make a version of SketchUp that runs as a native client application on Linux. However, SketchUp can be run effectively on Linux using Wine, and were keen to improve that where it is practical to do so."

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## grey1beard

Ja.
I have just solved my problem with the help of a thread I found in the wine sub-forum, so many thanks to noriegafam for his final step.
John

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## Yaroslav_L

> .net Framework 2.0 does work with wine/crossover. so try to install it and then run it. the other versions... not so much


trying to install .net Framework 2.0, but get error message - look at screenshot.
Any ideas?

Sh... can't attach *.jpg

Can anybody make step-by-step instructions of how to install .net Framework 2.0?
Thanks!

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## grey1beard

I didn't need to install .net Framework 2.0 for google sketchup version 8.0.3117, the basic free download.
Are you installing a different version, perhaps, the Pro for instance ?
John

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## hyperAura

it should be working with wine..

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## danger89

It disappoint me from Google. Please, just build a native Sketchup application for Linux. Why Windows & Mac only (5 year later...).. come on please.. please..

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## overdrank

Back to sleep thread. Thread closed.

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