When I was first introduced to SketchUp Pro, I remember opening LayOut a few times and messing around with a few buttons. Honestly, I didn’t really have the time to figure it out, so I would close it down and go back to drawing in SketchUp. Working for myself as a remodeling contractor, I typically used SketchUp to help me visualize new projects for my clients.

But I wanted my sketches to look more professional, instead of just having a piece of paper with an image on it. I wanted to have a titleblock with my company name and logo. I wanted to have the job and customer information on the drawing too. And I started working on larger projects that required me to create elevations and sections with dimensions and annotations, so I knew I needed to make a serious effort to learn LayOut.

Tell me if any of these things have happened to you:

• When you first opened LayOut, were you like “Ok, seriously, how do I insert a SketchUp model? Is there an insert button or something??”
• Do your dimensions not always scale correctly, or do they detach from your model unexpectedly?
• Do you have trouble getting the right “view” of your model?
• Have you tried selecting an object, but it seems "locked"?
• Can’t figure out how to use patterns in LayOut?
• Don’t understand what scrapbooks are for?
• You want to create a section cut of your model, but don’t want the “insides” exposed?
• Have you tried Googling for the term "Layout", and not find anything that actually has to do with the program because it's such a generic term?

Yup, that was me, pretty much. It was really frustrating for a while, but I got better at it in time. When I was stuck on something, I’d search for an answer online or spend hours messing around until I could figure out a good solution. It wasn’t easy, because there really wasn’t a good resource out there for learning how to use LayOut, so I had to do my own research and investigation on my own.

This was the same experience I had when trying to learn SketchUp. Information was scattered about the internet, so I had to go looking for it in order to learn anything.

My tutorials are frequently featured by the official SketchUp Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter pages.

SketchUp even personally invited me to World Maker Faire in New York to help answer questions at their booth.

Here’s a picture of me with John Bacus, the SketchUp Product Manager. (Both wearing awesome limited edition SketchUp T-Shirts.)

Here I am presenting at the SketchUp 3D Basecamp conference in Colorado.

I was actually a carpenter by trade who just had a natural passion for design. I love architecture and carpentry! Any time I would go into a new restaurant or building with my wife I’d immediately look all around at how everything was built. I’d visualize in my head all the different steps that were needed to build it. It’s just habit.

So now, with all the great feedback I’ve received about my SketchUp tutorials, I wanted to do something even more amazing to help my fellow woodworkers, carpenters, architects, contractors, builders, and designers learn LayOut.

Download the Table of Contents

The SketchUp to LayOut book is the essential guide for woodworkers, carpenters, architects, contractors, builders, and designers who already know the basics on how to use SketchUp, but are looking to create stunning presentations to visualize their ideas with their clients using LayOut.

It's a 288 page instant digital download (PDF 30MB) that you can view right on your computer. Each chapter and section are bookmarked for easy navigation, and all hyperlinks in the book are just a click away.

UPDATE 11/12/14: With the new SketchUp Pro 2015, you'll get faster performance with 64-bit versions, expanded IFC compatibility, and the ability to attach data to objects in your model and read it from LayOut using annotations. I have updated the book to include all the new 2015 features.

SketchUp to LayOut has received countless 5 star reviews on Amazon. Read them here, right on Amazon. Here are a few selected reviews:

I am an architect trained in AutoCAD. Developing a familiarity many years ago with Sketchup as a design tool, took no small amount of effort, due largely to the fact that the two software's have many differences. Over the years I have utilized Sketchup mainly as a design/presentation tool. However, in the last few years I have tried to familiarize myself with sketchup in the Construction Document Phase of a project - hence Sketchup to Layout! Working with Layout quickly manifested future alienation from AutoCAD's process. Purchasing and working through Matt Donley's "Sketchup to Layout" book has lessened the learning curve - something one cannot bill the client for!

This book is most helpful for beginners as well as more seasoned users of Sketchup/Layout. Text as well as graphics explain a presented process in a most user friendly manner. The format of text, graphics, illustrations, tips, etc. flows easily & logically from the book. Presented material is bundled and categorized in a manner that allows for ease of study as well as present & future reference. I particularly appreciated the "step-by-step" method of presentation of a given subject.

The author seems to have a excellent grasp of knowledge with Sketchup as well as Layout, particularly when comparing this book with many other books on similar subject(s).

I would highly recommend this book to any professional in any applicable field as well as a non-professional utilizing the software for a personal application.

John L. Demers, Architect AIA

Matt's guide for using Sketchup and Layout has been an invaluable reference tool for my drawing projects. I use Sketchup as a general contractor and draftsman drawing plans for simple home additions, new home construction, kitchen cabinets, and furniture.

I wish I would have had a tool like this when I began using Sketchup in 2008 (it would have saved me a lot of time!), but I am constantly learning new stuff from this book. Setting up a model in Sketchup for importing into Layout is not as easy as one would think. Matt helps you establish good habits to make importing into Layout easy, good looking, and as seamless as possible.

This book is a great investment if you are using Sketchup in your business. I highly recommend this book for every level of user, from those brand new to the software to those well advanced users, there is stuff to learn for all. I look forward to future books and tutorials published by Matt Donley.

-Aearrinn

I have have been a SketchUp user since it was first released by @Last, well before they were bought by Google. As a full-time woodworker, SketchUp is indispensable to me. When LayOut was introduced as a part of the SketchUp Pro package, I could see it's potential benefit in preparing client presentations for my custom furniture designs, but somehow it's connection to SketchUp was a bit too obscure & confusing to me.

I bought Matt Donley's ebook several months ago & it opened up a whole new world in the use of SketchUp. Matt is a natural educator & he knows his subject extremely well. SketchUp To LayOut covers LayOut and its integration with SketchUp thoroughly and in a well-ordered, step-by-step manner that is comprehensive and easy to follow. In addition, Matt covers several functions of SketchUp that I had never fully understood.

After reading his book, I upgraded to include the accompanying videos. These are excellent as well!

-Gerry Kmack

Before you even begin modeling that first rectangle, you'll need to fully understand which type of model you should be building for LayOut. Don't make the mistake of creating twice the amount of work for yourself because you didn't properly organize your model ahead of time.

I'll teach you how to save time and frustration by organizing your model so YOU are in control of how your model viewports look.

The entire first half of the book is dedicated to preparing your model for LayOut. From organizational workflow, to scenes and styles. I share with you my 5 point method I use to visualize and prepare every scene I create for LayOut.

Not only will you understand exactly what those five points are, you'll learn multiple ways to control them. Using these methods, you will gain complete control over the look of your viewports in LayOut. You will master every aspect of a SketchUp scene and style, to enable you to create impressive presentations and drawings in the least amount of time possible.

This book is designed for construction professionals who don't have any prior experience in LayOut at all. But it's also structured in a way that lets you look up specific tasks or methods without having to read the book cover to cover. I’ll save you all the time and frustration that I went through when I first learned LayOut by quickly orienting you with the workspace, then jumping right in to creating your own titleblock, inserting SketchUp models, and adding dimensions.

You should have some basic knowledge on how to use SketchUp. But if you're just starting out, you'll have complete access to my entire library of tutorials and videos for free on my website to bring you up to speed quickly.

Every important aspect of LayOut is explained in the book, with step by step instructions for you to follow along. Learn exactly what you need to know and skip over all the little details you don’t need to worry about. The book has been updated for 2014 so you'll even learn about the new Auto-Text tag feature, saving you a ton of time on those redundant text edits.

Here’s an example page from the book that gives you step by step instructions on how to insert a linear dimension in LayOut. All of the instructional content in the book is laid out, step by step so you don't miss anything:

The sample projects in the book are real projects, not hypothetical meaningless shapes and boxes, so you can see exactly how to apply the concepts you learn in context with the real world. Plus, the SketchUp and LayOut files are included with each book download so you’ll be able to follow along and discover for yourself how to organize a similar project of your own. The sample projects include a woodworking table project, a kitchen project, and a three story house project.

At the same time, each step by step instruction can be read and followed independently from the project. So if you need to go back and reference a certain part of the book to learn how to do something specific, you'll be able to do that too.

I’ve consulted with many of the best SketchUp gurus in the world! I’ve hung out with Nick Sonder at the SketchUp basecamp conference. I’ve interviewed Aidan Chopra, SketchUp evangelist and author of “Google SketchUp for Dummies”, Eric Schimelpfenig from SketchThis.net, and Alexander Schreyer, author of “Architectural Design with SketchUp”. I’ve also consulted with Mike Brightman, author of “The SketchUp Workflow for Architecture”, Daniel Tal, author of “Rendering In SketchUp”, and many other great SketchUp experts.

By consulting with the best SketchUp gurus in the world, I’m able to find and extract all of the best methods for using SketchUp and LayOut for a variety of different types of projects. From them, I’ve created easy to follow, step by step workflows for some of the best tricks and secrets in the SketchUp universe. You’ll learn multiple ways to create section cuts, apply hatches to surfaces, manage section cuts, control line weights and more.

There are a ton of plugins (aka extensions) available for SketchUp these days. The trouble is, how do you know which ones are worth the time to download and try out? In the book, I’ve hand picked a small number of plugins that I find essential to my workflow and save me a ton of time.

I'll also introduce you to how dynamic components can increase your modeling speed. Although we don't go into any of the how-to, I show you a few examples of how dynamic components can be helpful in your projects.

If you’re serious about transforming your sketches into stunning presentations, you’ll need some tools. In the Professional Package, you’ll get the SketchUp to LayOut PDF along with a complete set of tools, including:

• 63 CAD style hatch materials for SketchUp
• 63 seamless patterns for use as LayOut Patterns
• 7 High quality seamless photo wood materials
• 44 Custom Styles (overlays)
• 3 custom titleblock templates
• Electrical/HVAC Scrapbook collection
• Mask/Break Scrapbook collection
• 30% Discount to Sketchucation Membership ($25 value)
• 30% Discount for BuildEdge plugin ($8 value)
• 30% Discount to Go-to-School ($100 value)
• 1 FREE month to SketchThis Kitchen plugin ($49 value)

When printing out construction documents on paper, sometimes it's hard to distinguish materials that are textured to look like their "real-world" counterpart. Especially when creating section cuts, it's very important to be able to clearly communicate the type of material each space represents. That's why in most standard CAD programs, you'll find a set of standard hatch patterns for common types of materials.

In SketchUp, there aren't too many of these types of materials built in. That's why I created these custom CAD "styled" hatch patterns. They have a unique "sketchy" style to them, so they will stand out from drawings created from a traditional CAD program.

These are included with the Professional Package in two different formats, so you can use them however you'd like. Use them in LayOut as patterns, or use them in SketchUp as materials. They'll help you communicate more clearly, and you'll save on ink when printing your construction documents because of their simple style.

If you're a woodworker, using a set of high quality wood materials in your models can set your drawings apart from the rest. With the Professional Package, you'll get 7 high quality wood materials to use in your models.

These materials were created from a high resolution flat-bed scan of real wood veneer panels, so there is no lens distortion in the image at all. They were then professionally edited by a graphic artist to make the materials seamless. They can be tiled along large surfaces with no discernable seams from the image. Veneer types include bamboo, birch, maple, plain cut oak, rift cut oak, and steamed beech.

Styles can create unique effects when you pair them up with a watermark. You can finally make your edges appear dashed, or you can apply a hatch pattern to your entire model without having to change the materials on any of the faces. In the Professional Package, you'll also get 44 custom styles that you can use in your models to create these effects with one click.

Many of the styles are the same patterns included in the CAD Hatch style material pack, so it gives you an additional option on how to apply them to your model.

For any residential or commercial architect, having a set of electrical and HVAC symbols is essential for creating fully annotated drawings. Unfortunately, LayOut does not come with any electrical symbols built-in.

With this package, you'll have a full library of electrical outlets, switches, light fixtures, data, and HVAC symbols for you to drag and drop into your LayOut document.

And more...

When you purchase the Professional Package, you also get the Mask/Break scrapbook collection that will allow you to create break lines over your viewports that automatically create a mask over the object as well. You'll get exclusive discounts to Buildedge and SketchThis plugins, as well as a discount to the Go-2-School premium video tutorial membership site, and Sketchucation's premium membership site. The Professional Package is a complete offer that includes the SketchUp to LayOut book. It's the best choice for those looking to add a powerful set of tools to their SketchUp and LayOut arsenal.

For the ultimate training package, which includes the SketchUp to LayOut book, Professional Package, as well as over 3 hours of video tutorials, choose the Video Package. Each video is broken down into short, focused topics so you can find exactly what you want to learn very easily.

Watch videos from any device using the Udemy app for your Apple or Android devices. You can choose to either stream the videos, or download them to your computer. If you ever have any questions about a specific video, post your question in the discussion forum and I will answer it for you!

If you purchase a package from me and find that it doesn’t live up to your expectations, simply write me an email at support@SketchUptoLayOut.com and I’ll issue you a 100% refund on your purchase. I want you to be completely satisfied, nothing less.

Download the Table of Contents