Preparation
Before installing the DrawMetal™ plugins, make sure that SketchUp® 7 is installed and working properly on your computer.
If SketchUp® is running, you must quit SketchUp® and restart it after completing the installation.
You might also want to verify that your computer hardware is suitable for running SketchUp®. The hardware requirements are available here.
The DrawMetal™ plugins do not install themselves. To install them (or overwrite a previous installation), you must perform four steps:
- Download a file containing the plugins onto your computer.
- Access the plugin files in the downloaded file.
- Move (or copy) all of the plugin files to the proper location on your computer.
- Check your installation.
Step 1 - Download a file
Be sure you know where downloaded files are saved on your computer (or how to search for them) because you need access to those files to perform Step 2.
What you must do to complete this step depends on what kind of computer you use.
If you use a Mac
Mac users have a choice of download files:
If you have a high-speed internet connection, download drawmetal_plugins.dmg. (5mb) [v 1.1 - Updated 2009-06-20]
If you do not have a high-speed internet connection, download drawmetal_plugins.zip. (227kb) [v 1.1 - Updated 2009-06-20]
If you use a PC
Download drawmetal_plugins.zip. (227kb) [v 1.1 - Updated 2009-06-20]
Step 2 - Access the plugin files
Locate the file you downloaded in step 1.
If you downloaded the .dmg file
If it has not already mounted automatically, mount the .dmg file by double-clicking it. The file will appear as a disk image in the Finder. Verify that the disk image content includes three files:
curve_maker.rb
taper_maker.rb
stock_maker.rb
and a folder named "ctsMaker" containing five additional files:
ctsLangEN.strings
ctsMaker.rbs
curve_menu.rb
taper_menu.rb
stock_menu.rb
If you downloaded the .zip file
Double-click on the .zip file. This will expand (unarchive) the contents of the file. Verify that the expanded (unarchived) content includes three files:
curve_maker.rb
taper_maker.rb
stock_maker.rb
and a folder named "ctsMaker" containing five additional files:
ctsLangEN.strings
ctsMaker.rbs
curve_menu.rb
taper_menu.rb
stock_menu.rb
Step 3 - Move (copy) the plugin files
If you use a Mac
Use the Finder to drag all of the content of the disk image (or the content of the unarchived files) to the plugins folder typically found at:
MacintoshHD>Library>Application Support>Google SketchUp 7>SketchUp>Plugins
If you use a PC
Use the Explorer to move or copy all of the content of the expanded .zip file to the plugins folder typically found at:
C:\Program Files\Google\Google SketchUp 7\SketchUp\Plugins
Step 4 - Check your installation
Once installed, the plugins "register" and "activate" themselves the next time you start SketchUp®. Each plugin will add a submenu to SketchUp®'s Plugins menu. Verify that you can see the menu items on the Plugins menu.
A plugin's submenu appears on SketchUp®'s Plugins menu only when it is activated. If you do not want to use a plugin, you can "deactivate" it by visiting the Extensions tab on the Preferences dialog and unchecking the appropriate check box.
The About box for each plugin contains important legal terms under which the software is provided at no charge. In particular, no warranty is provided and no liability is accepted for any problems encountered using the plugins. If these terms are not acceptable to you, please do not install and use the plugins.
To offer feedback, report bugs or suggest changes, click on this link to send us an email:
If you want to be notified by email whenever we update the plugin download files, click on this link to send us an email:
Documentation
Download an out of date user guide in PDF format here: UserGuide.pdf (840kb) [v 1.03 - 2008-08-17]
Download release notes in PDF format here: ReleaseNotes.pdf (13kb) [v 1.1 - Updated 2009-06-19]
Toolbars for Mac OS X & Windows
Thanks to the generosity of Max Coppoletta of Quarr-IT, toolbars are available for Curve Maker and Taper Maker.
Replace the corresponding files in the "ctsMaker" subfolder of SketchUp®'s "plugins" folder with the contents of zip file below:
Download and unzip (expand) this zip file: drawmetal_toolbars.zip (28kb) [v 1.1 - Updated 2009-07-22]