Being a design engineer it is common to work on multiple CAD software according to the requirement and feasibility. Similarly, if you are familiar with Solidworks as well as Sketchup, it will be a common practice to exchange CAD files between these two for various projects. Before we know how to do it let us have a quick recap about Solidworks and Sketchup and what makes it possible to exchange files between them. Solidworks and Sketchup Solidworks and Sketchup are both amazing CAD tools that can be an engineer’s best friend. For a better understanding let’s brief them under the categories:
a. Features
While Solidworks and Sketchup companies are Dassault Systemes and 3D for Everyone work tirelessly to provide an unmatchable experience to the user, most reviewers admit that they get a better work interface and more features in Solidworks.
b. Pricing
Solidworks provides a free trial to all its users after which there are multiple subscription packs available to choose from depending on the user’s requirements. On the other hand, Sketchup provides the basic plan for free to all its users with lifetime access but also has premium subscription packages having more enhanced features.
c. Packs Available
Users can find discrete packages for various purposes and can buy them separately both for Solidworks and Sketchup. Some of them are Solidworks Simulation (Standard and Professional), Solidworks Flow, etc. Exporting Files from Solidworks to Sketchup It will come as a relief to many people who were unaware of the fact that there are ways to export a Solidworks file to Sketchup or import a file from Solidworks to Sketchup. It doesn’t matter how you say it as the job remains the same.
Exporting files from Solidworks
The process is a simple five-step task that you can get on your fingers just by doing it once. Let’s get started
1. Save your file in Solidworks.
Since we want to export a file made in Solidworks to Google Sketchup. Firstly we will require to save it in Solidworks as *.DWG, *DXF, or *.STL file. The image shown below represents the window that will pop up when you will save a file in Solidworks and also shows the format to be chosen.
2. Go to File > Save as. In the options, a window opens the location to save the file. Then, give a name to the file in the form file formation dropdown and select any one option (*.DWG, *DXF, or *.STL). At last click on the Save button.
- Saving DXF and DWG files.
In the case of the dxf and dwg files, you will see some options in PropertyManager that we have to give. As these property parameters help in creating the file according to the user. The DXF and DWF file is imported as a sketch or drawing in google SketchUp.
- Saving STL file
Exporting the STL files is easy and the file will be saved as a solid model.
3. Opening in Sketchup
Go to Google SketchUp and choose the File option, then select Import. Now, locate and select the *.DWG, *DXF, or *.STL file that you just saved in the previous step. And finally, select the Import button to import the file. There you go! Your Solidworks file has been imported to Sketchup.
