# Apple Mac woodwork design software



## Ruskie7 (8 Oct 2017)

Does anyone know of any design software that would work on an Apple Mac for designing woodwork projects?

Thanks in advance


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## MikeK (8 Oct 2017)

You can try SketchUp. It works on the Mac and has a free version. I loaded it, but haven't used it yet since I still have access to AutoCAD. There are plenty of online tutorials for SketchUp on YouTube.


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## redmoorphil (13 Oct 2017)

Have a look at Sketchlist - often available at a discount and its a very clever bit of software. I haven't used it for a few years but when I bought it I found it extremely easy and useful to design fitted bedrooms for my kids.


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## Brentingby (13 Oct 2017)

A second for SketchUp. More versatile than Sketchlist and many more users out there who can provide help as you are learning to use it.


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## MatthewRedStars (19 Oct 2017)

Not very hard to dual boot a Mac. I have a Windows partition for AutoCAD and Reaper, and an OSX partition for eveything else.

Point being: you can use both Windows and OSX software easily.


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## fezman (25 Oct 2017)

another for sketchup. I have PC and Mac puters, it's creat to be able to use either and share the skethup files across them 

Also loads of youtube tutorials on sketchup too.


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## Jacob (25 Oct 2017)

No idea but if you can't do it with a pencil and ruler you have F.A. chance of being able to do it with an app. Get your basic skills in first.


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## Eric The Viking (26 Oct 2017)

Sketchup. 

Look for some really good tutorials online from Dave Richards, both for the beginner and much more advanced -- really helpful!

Incidentally, the "trick" to it, if there is one, is understanding _"inference"_: You're going to draw something and you want your line to start in the middle of an edge, or something. Sketchup wiill help you do this when it "thinks" it can. But 3D models get pretty complex pretty quickly, so the trick is to learn how you can use the keyboard along with the mouse to force Sketchup to 'help' in exactly the way you want. For example, you can force it to make a line exactly parallel to the long axis of your object, and not try to 'suggest' something else. 

It is much easier than you think, as long as you do take a few minutes to do the basic tutorials (online at the web site).

Sketchup is used extensively in schools nowadays -- my children all used it ten or more years ago - because it IS easy and yet you can do really complex things with it if you need to.

Every time I use it, I find myself marvelling that it is still free -- it is so useful! I can't really do stuff with pencil and paper nowadays (I still do though!), but Sketchup lets me get the bugs worked out of the design before I make an silly person of myself with real wood. You can also get exact measurements from it too, which is really brilliant.


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## Johnboy (2 Nov 2017)

Fusion 360. Proper parametric modelling. Cam and rendering included and free for hobby use.

John


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## Brentingby (3 Nov 2017)

Johnboy":1i3q8rtj said:


> Fusion 360. Proper parametric modelling. Cam and rendering included and free for hobby use.
> 
> John



Of course you must have an internet connection to use it since it is cloud based. SketchUp Pro and SketchUp Make install locally. And there's my.SketchUp for those who want to work with cloud based software. It also works with Chrome OS.


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## Eric The Viking (3 Nov 2017)

Brentingby":2fmotxe9 said:


> Johnboy":2fmotxe9 said:
> 
> 
> > Fusion 360. Proper parametric modelling. Cam and rendering included and free for hobby use.
> ...



I do wish Trimble would hurry up and port it to Linux. 

I am stuck on SU2015 presently, just because I can't get the latest one running under Wine (the Linux Windows emulator). It is still really good and extraordinarily useful, but it's frustrating. I would happily pay money for the full version, too, just to have some of the plugins I have used in the past (under XP).

If anyone hears of a beta program, I'm running xubuntu 

SU 2015 "make" edition is rock solid, by the way, just a bit limited. And I occasionally bump into floating point maths issues (at a guess) where things that should be co-planar end up not so (meaning you sometimes can't make a single, flat surface immediately by inference). 

But honestly it is so useful for woodwork, I'd make a smart box to keep it in, if I could!

E.

PS: Wild horses couldn't make me go back to a Windows environment - horrible!


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## Brentingby (3 Nov 2017)

E the V, although it would be nice, I wouldn't expect them to port to Linux. Unfortunately there's not enough folks using Linux who would be willing to pay for a pro version of SketchUp for Linux. Trimble would need to realize some benefit from the cost of adding staff to support a Linux version. My guess is that my.SketchUp is the alternative since it runs in your browser. It's still in open beta but you could give it a try.


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## MR H 91 (3 Nov 2017)

I use Sketchup for all my design work on Mac.


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## Eric The Viking (4 Nov 2017)

Because Macs have been unix-based for a while (originally modified BSD, IIRC), 9/10ths of the work involved in any port to Linux is probably done.

But I'm sure Trimble do look at it from time to time.

That said, other people are making money from Linux: I have used AfterShot for photo processing workflow for years (Corel now own it - used to be called "Bibble"). It has an enthusiastic user base, and I pay for upgrades regularly. But the whole pricing model is quite different to Trimble's for SU: the full package costs a lot less, so is an affordable step-up for far more people. Similarly I use paid-for specialist panorama processing software from a small company: binaries for Win, Mac and Linux, and it's fine.

There is a sweet spot for pricing that maximises revenue (basic marketing/economics). IMHO, Trimble are way off that - the licensed version offers too little added value for too much cost - the step-up is simply too big. They would also do better with three tiers: Freeware, Licensed (full features, no support) and Support Contract (for professional users and larger organisations, on a per-seat basis). Tier #2 is an almost-no-cost revenue stream, but from it you can also get relatively inexpensive product marketing feedback, early warnings of security issues, etc. and a strong community (yes I know that already exists, but the signal/noise ratio would be better). 

There's no reason Linux would necessarily add a penny to their post-sales support costs directly (apart from maintaining the code, that is).


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## Brentingby (4 Nov 2017)

Surveys have been done asking Linux users if they would buy a pro version of SketchUp. The vast majority of respondents indicated they expect to get it for free. The SketchUp team is small and working hard. I doubt they have time to deal with supporting a third operating system.

The Google years were hard on SketchUp. Google didn't invest much in the development. After Trimble bought SketchUp, it invested resources into making improvements. Many of the improvements that have been made are not really visible from the outside. Much of the code was rewritten to allow additional features to work. Every year there have been some new visible features but most of the work is under the bonnet. I expect to see more new features with SketchUp 2018. LayOut has improved dramatically in the last few versions and that's likely to continue. Of course not all of those features will be useful for those who use SketchUp Make.

As for the price of SketchUp Pro, it is still much less expensive than many of the other options available.


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