GSketch3D modelling that works like SketchUp, in your browser.
Draw a rectangle, pull it up, draw on its faces and push them in. The cursor snaps to corners, midpoints and axes, and you type sizes as you go (4'6", 6 1/2", 24,36). Free with a free account, nothing to install, and the same account as GCarve, where your panels get cut.
Already use GCarve? Sign in with the same account: your plan covers both apps.
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The SketchUp workflow, without the install
Lines, arcs, rectangles, circles, polygons
Lines that close a flat loop make a face. A line across a face splits it. A shape drawn on a face cuts into it, ready to push. Offset an outline in or out.
Faces become solids
Click a face, move, click. Type a distance for an exact height. Double-click repeats the last one. Neighbouring faces stretch with the push. Follow Me sweeps a profile along edges for mouldings and rails; Intersect Faces cuts one solid with another.
The cursor finds the point
Endpoints, midpoints, edges, faces, the red, green and blue axes, and guide lines you pull out of an edge with the tape at a typed distance. Arrow keys lock an axis; Shift holds the one you are on.
Type it as you draw, with math
Feet and inches (4' 6 1/2"), millimetres, mixed units and math (2in + 4mm, 3/4" * 2), width,height for rectangles. Name your sizes once (width, thickness) and type width - 2*thickness anywhere; a group sized by a name follows it when it changes.
Move, rotate, scale, paint
Move and rotate faces, edges or anything joined to them, with a protractor that snaps every 15°. Scale from a corner grip, paint faces from a swatch box, copy and paste, flip along an axis. Undo and redo everything.
Tags, scenes, ⌘K
Put parts on tags and hide them, save scenes that bring back a view and its visibility, cut the model open with a section plane, switch to X-ray or wireframe, and run anything from the command palette. A SpaceMouse flies the view.
Groups and components
Make a group so it stops sticking to the rest, double-click to work inside it, copy it with ⌥ Move. Components share one definition: edit one and all of them change.
Dimensions and notes
Dimension between two points in your units, drop a text note on a corner. They live in the file and come out on the cut sheet later.
Save, open, export
Models in your account or as .gsk files, STL export for 3D printing and reliefs, and a recovery copy if the browser closes on you.
From the model to the router
GSketch and GCarve are made together. Model the cabinet, the sign or the part here; cut it there.
Model it in GSketch
Boxes, panels, pockets: draw it the way you would in SketchUp, at the exact sizes.
Send it to GCarve
One click: the flat panels become a GCarve project in your account, one layer per stock thickness, and GCarve opens on it. 3D shapes go as STL reliefs.
Cut it
GCarve adds the toolpaths, simulates the cut and writes G-code for 2,100+ machines, free.
File › Send to GCarve needs the free account (it saves the project there); without one it downloads the SVG for you to drop onto GCarve. STL export covers 3D reliefs.
Pricing
The same plans as GCarve, and one plan covers both apps.
$0
Everything, in your browser, with a free account.
- Every tool
- Save and open .gsk files, STL export
- A free account keeps 3 models in the cloud
$7/month or $59/year
GSketch and GCarve together.
- Everything in Free, in both apps
- 200 cloud models and projects
- The desktop apps for Mac, Windows and Linux, offline
- Priority answers
Pro opens soon; until then everything is free. Create a free account and we'll email you when it does · Prefer a one-time thank-you? Donate.
Questions
Is GSketch free?
Yes. Every tool, saving and STL export are free in your browser. Pro adds the desktop apps and more cloud storage, for GSketch and GCarve together.
Is it SketchUp?
No. GSketch is an independent app that works the way SketchUp users expect: the same tools, the same shortcuts, the same push/pull way of building. Trimble has nothing to do with it.
Does it work on a Mac or Chromebook?
Yes, in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari. Desktop apps for Mac, Windows and Linux come with Pro.
Can I open SketchUp files?
Yes, through an export: in SketchUp, File › Export › 3D Model as COLLADA (.dae) or STL, then open it in GSketch. Faces come back ready to push and pull. Export COLLADA from GSketch to take a model back to SketchUp. The .skp format itself is closed.