Using Sketchup Make to Create 3D Printing Files

[annken]

Can Sketchup Make be used to create ".stl" files that can be exported
to a 3D printer or is Sketchup Pro required to create the files?

        Thanks,

          k     e     n

[TIG]

Yes, you can do it in in Pro OR Make...
But you need to install the STL import/export Extension.
Available from the Extension-WareHouse...
https://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/sketchup-stl

There are some additional 'Solid' tools only in Pro, but you can do all of their operations 'manually' in Make if you need to - it just takes time and thought...
There are also some Plugins which mimic some of these 'Boolean' operations, which you might find helpful...

There are many threads in the SCF forums discussing the many various aspects of 3d-printing.

You will need to make your object a 'solid' - so learn how to check for and effect 'solidity' in groups/components.

Something else to keep in mind is the 'size' of your object.
SketchUp's built-in tolerance is 1/1000".
This is fine for all things relating to buildings, but once you go down to tiny geometry in small objects [as you might want to 3d-print] it can result in missing tiny edges and facets in some operations, destroying its 'solidity' [SketchUp assumes that the two ends of an edge closer that 1/1000" are coincident are]. These are processes like FollowMe, Intersecting and similar work by 3rd party scripts where potentially tiny facets could be created/attempted.
There are well tried workarounds - e.g. making the object a component, scaling a copy of it x1000 and doing the risky operations inside that. Those changes will also replicate OK in the smaller version: delete the blown-up version when you are done.

Learn to use the forums' Search tools - there are dozens of helpful posts...