[Plugin][$] FredoPortrait - v2.9a - 01 Apr 24

AnneliesB · 26 Sept 2019, 04:16

Fredo,
If I use fredo portrait to make an 2D component of a tree, SU PODIUM doesn’t render the tree properly. There are ‘squares’ around the leaves.
I am a beginner with sketchup and I use a laptop that sometimes gives me troubles with rendering 3D plants, because the file is too heavy and I run out of memory.
I saw about the Fredo Portrait plugin on youtube and thought this could be the answer...
Am I wrong?
Thanks for feedback!

fredo6 · 26 Sept 2019, 13:31

What happens if you render the model directly without using FredoPortrait?

Do you see the squares?

BeePee · 15 Oct 2019, 05:45

I posted a question about close-cropped black 2d image export for laser cutting on another forum, and people recommended Fredo Portrait. To avoid repetition, here is the thread:

https://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=79&t=71692&p=653479#p653479

Is it possible to get what I need in SketchUp 2016, or do I have to update?

BTW Fredo, thanks for your brilliant plugins and patient, detailed, helpful explanations in text and video! It must take so much time and care; really impressive, and an example to all other plugin creators. I've donated in the past and will do again if you can give me what I'm after in this instance for my laser cutting. It will save so much hassle!

BeePee

fredo6 · 15 Oct 2019, 11:57

The Generation of 2D components requires SU2018 and above. So not possible with SU2016...

In your case where you just need a PNG or JPG image of your component, you should use the generation of image, which does work with SU2016. Just make sure to configure the view to "from Top" and select transparent background. The image should be exactly adjusted to the size of the component in the vertical direction (if you need to crop horizontally, just do it in an image editor).

Possibly, you may want to post or PM me your model so that I have a look.

Fredo

PS: You should really upgrade to SU2017 unless you have a 32-bits Windows. SU2016 suffers from a number of problems related to high-resolution screens, which are nicely solved as of SU2017.

BeePee · 15 Oct 2019, 17:20

Thanks for your reply Fredo. It turns out that my Sketchup Make version is 2017: 17.2.2555. I tried to update to a newer version (2019?) by clicking the Help tab and 'Check for Update'. It says "You currently have the latest version of Sketchup".

I'm confused. Sorry to ask what I assume is such a basic question, but how do I get the 2019 version so I can use the extra features of your plugin?

Dave R · 15 Oct 2019, 17:27

@beepee said:

Thanks for your reply Fredo. It turns out that my Sketchup Make version is 2017: 17.2.2555. I tried to update to a newer version (2019?) by clicking the Help tab and 'Check for Update'. It says "You currently have the latest version of Sketchup".

I'm confused. Sorry to ask what I assume is such a basic question, but how do I get the 2019 version so I can use the extra features of your plugin?

Check for update only looks for the latest revision of the current version. For hobbyist use, you have the latest version of SketchUp Make that exists.

To get SketchUp 2019, go to https://www.sketchup.com/plans-and-pricing/sketchup-pro

fredo6 · 15 Oct 2019, 17:38

@beepee said:

Thanks for your reply Fredo. It turns out that my Sketchup Make version is 2017: 17.2.2555. I tried to update to a newer version (2019?) by clicking the Help tab and 'Check for Update'. It says "You currently have the latest version of Sketchup".

I'm confused. Sorry to ask what I assume is such a basic question, but how do I get the 2019 version so I can use the extra features of your plugin?

Anyway, for what you need, SU2017 should be OK as you do not need to generate a 2D component.

Could you post or PM your model so that I check how to solve your issue.

Fredo

PS: SU2018 and SU2019 are only Pro, and therefore paid versions of SketchUp. So upgrading is a matter of money.

BeePee · 15 Oct 2019, 18:35

Thanks for your replies Dave and Fredo. Hmm, I'd just discovered that from an internet search for "Download Sketchup Make 2019"...

I hadn't realised - that's a big change in Trimble's business model! I read that lots of people are unhappy with the new online version Sketchup Free, because it's obviously not as good as Make without the extensions. I'm not impressed either, for that reason. I guess I'll just stick with 2017 Make for now, because the jump to Pro is pretty costly!

I'm surprised the powers that be didn't continue Sketchup Make as a lower priced in-between option between Pro and Free, as I'm sure many Make users would be willing to pay a reasonable amount (maybe $50PA?) for continuing to use it with new versions. Do you think they might consider this option in future?

Anyway... Getting back to the topic in hand.

I use Sketchup in a different way to most. I use each Model file as a design bed for an ever increasing number of iterations of related novel harmonica parts, which I either 3d print or lasercut. Many models have thousands of parts created over the years, each one discrete and lying over a plane. There is no point in sending you the whole file, but I attach a snapshot of one. You can see a mix of related parts, mostly ones for 3D printing, but also the black 2d ones which are for lasercutting. These are the ones I'd love to export cropped to a rectangle which fits them exactly - just as they appear when highlighted in blue as grouped objects.

Exporting them with ANY extra width (white or transparent) means I can't resize them with correct domensions in the lasercutter sofware. That makes me doubt the PNG option will work because, even if I can't see the extra background, it will be there.

Over to you, thanks for your help.

Sample Model.skp

Dave R · 15 Oct 2019, 18:57

@beepee said:

Thanks for your replies Dave and Fredo. Hmm, I'd just discovered that from an internet search for "Download Sketchup Make 2019"...

I hadn't realised - that's a big change in Trimble's business model! I read that lots of people are unhappy with the new online version Sketchup Free, because it's obviously not as good as Make without the extensions.

There are a number of reasons why they began development of the online version. It's still early days with it yet. Due to the the way the software is implemented, it currently isn't possible to add extensions. The vast majority of SketchUp users, even with the desktop Make versions actually don't use extensions at all.

@beepee said:

I guess I'll just stick with 2017 Make for now...

I had a look at your website. You have some interesting harmonica stuff, there. Considering you are using SketchUp for your business, you need to have a Pro license. SketchUp make is not licensed for commercial use.

@beepee said:

I'm surprised the powers that be didn't continue Sketchup Make as a lower priced in-between option between Pro and Free, as I'm sure many Make users would be willing to pay a reasonable amount (maybe $50PA?) for continuing to use it with new versions. Do you think they might consider this option in future?

The alternative they offer now is called SketchUp Shop. It has more capabilities than SketchUp Free and provides a license for commercial work. It's extremely unlikely that they will go back to development of Make.

@beepee said:

I use Sketchup in a different way to most. I use each Model file as a design bed for an ever increasing number of iterations of related novel harmonica parts, which I either 3d print or lasercut. Many models have thousands of parts created over the years, each one discrete and lying over a plane. There is no point in sending you the whole file, but I attach a snapshot of one. You can see a mix of related parts, mostly ones for 3D printing, but also the black 2d ones which are for lasercutting. These are the ones I'd love to export cropped to a rectangle which fits them exactly - just as they appear when highlighted in blue as grouped objects.

Exporting them with ANY extra width (white or transparent) means I can't resize them with correct domensions in the lasercutter sofware. That makes me doubt the PNG option will work because, even if I can't see the extra background, it will be there.

Over to you, thanks for your help.

As before, you need to be using SketchUp Pro for the license. In addition, it would give you some options that you don't have with Make such as the ability to utilize LayOut to assist in the creation and exporting of your images.

fredo6 · 15 Oct 2019, 19:23

@beepee said:

Exporting them with ANY extra width (white or transparent) means I can't resize them with correct domensions in the lasercutter sofware. That makes me doubt the PNG option will work because, even if I can't see the extra background, it will be there.

Why don't you invest in a free or cheap image editor where you can crop images and perform other changes much more easily than in Sketchup...?

Dave R · 15 Oct 2019, 20:34

It's not my argument. Read the terms of use for SketchUp Make and Pro. You are using SketchUp Make commercially and are violating the agreement. You need to have a license that allows it.

BeePee · 15 Oct 2019, 20:51

Dave: I think your argument that I should pay the high cost for the Pro version because I use Sketchup to make some things to sell doesn't hold water. I use a LOT of other software as part of my business too: MS Word, Excel and other aspects of MS Office, Outlook, Video making software, music recording software etc etc etc. All of these are just as important as my CAD design software, but they don't charge an arm and a leg - and they don't try and police what I can use them for, as you seem to be wanting to do on behalf of Trimble. The other software makers I use charge a reasonable annual fee, which feels fair. As noted, I'd be happy to pay a reasonable amount to continue using an updated version of Sketchup Make, and I believe many other Make users would too. But the Pro version fees don't feel reasonable by comparison with these other softwares.

Sure, you can point to several other professional CAD programs that cost a lot more than Sketchup Pro. But Sketchup is different, because of how it developed and the many years that Sketchup Make was free to use. It made Sketchup much loved, hugely successful, and generated the enthusiastic body of keen expert users (like Fredo) who devised wonderful plugins and extensions. After many years of that positivity, for Trimble to make a unilateral decision to ditch Make without consulting their community feels to many like a kind of betrayal. Because long-time users love Skethup, they feel hurt as well as angry. In my opinion Trimble should take note of the huge amount of negative feedback they've received over abruptly stopping Make, and do something about it in the way I suggested. That will ensure long-term users remain loyal and don't ditch the program altogether as Make 2017 gets further and further behind the times.

What I'm experiencing is a case in point. I want to use Fredo Portait's extra functionality and make a thankful donation to Fredo for it , but I can't because it's only available in Pro. For now that's a deal breaker, unfortunately.

Thanks for your suggestion Fredo. Actually I am already using an image editor to crop the images in the 10 tedious steps I listed at the top of the other thread: MS Paint. I just had a quick look to see if there is an image editor that does cropping which is any better than MS Paint, but they all seem to involve the same process: make a manual selection box around the image, then crop.

If you know of one where you just click on a discrete area of colour (black in the case of my images) and it does automatic cropping, I'd love to hear of it. That would be a decent half-way solution - not as good as the extra features of Portrait, but better than what I'm doing.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time and trouble to answer my posts, and those of the many other Sketchup users on Sketchucation. Though we might differ on some things, one thing we have in common is that we all love this quirky old software!

fredo6 · 15 Oct 2019, 20:57

@beepee said:

If you know of one where you just click on a discrete area of colour (black in the case of my images) and it does automatic cropping, I'd love to hear of it. That would be a decent half-way solution - not as good as the extra features of Portrait, but better than what I'm doing.

This can be done by scripting, but unfortunately the Sketchup Ruby API to manipulate images is available only as of SU2018.

Most likely I will propose the option in FredoPortrait to auto-crop exported images (when in PNG and transparent). This make sense, a the cropping is done currently only in one direction, not both. But, again, this will require SU2018 or higher.

BeePee · 16 Oct 2019, 08:49

Thanks Fredo. For now I will continue as I am.

I'm sure you, Dave and other plugin developers have significant influence with SketchUp. On behalf of the many (millions?) of us who taught ourselves on and still love to use SketchUp Make, please try to persuade the Trimble decision makers to reactivate it in a new annual subscription model with a reasonable cost. There is definitely a gap between Pro and Free for a version without some of the high-end functions of Pro but which still enables plugins & extensions to be used.

It would make a lot of long-term users happy, be a PR coup for Trimble - and bring in more income for the likes of yourselves from a much wider user base who can use, and pay for, your latest plugins. Win, win, win!

fredo6 · 18 Nov 2019, 23:19

NEW RELEASE: FredoPortrait v2.0a - 18 Nov 19

Requirement: LibFredo6 9.4

FredoPortrait 2.0a introduces the Screenshot tool, which is about exporting images from the viewport or a portion of the viewport with strict respect of specified dimensions.

Note: this functionality is available for**SU2018 and above**.

1) Screenshot - Quick silent video

2) Screenshot - Tutorial

Home Page of FredoPortrait for information and Download.

Main post of this FredoPortrait thread .

fredo6 · 25 Nov 2019, 22:40

NEW RELEASE: FredoPortrait v2.0b - 25 Nov 19

Requirement: LibFredo6 9.4b

FredoPortrait 2.0b is a minor release fixing some bugs

Home Page of FredoPortrait for information and Download.

Main post of this FredoPortrait thread .

klpauba · 26 Nov 2019, 15:43

@beepee said:

Dave: I think your argument that I should pay the high cost for the Pro version because I use Sketchup to make some things to sell doesn't hold water. I use a LOT of other software as part of my business too: MS Word, Excel and other aspects of MS Office, Outlook, Video making software, music recording software etc etc etc.

I don't think I should have to pay the high price of your music on MP3's because I only listen to them while I'm on the road and not all the time (I like country too). I can find your (great) harmonica songs on another site where they are free. In fact, there are a lot of free MP3's available on regular sites so why should I pay the much higher price for yours? You would do your listeners a favor and it would be a PR win for you if you just gave them away.

Like the developer's at sketchup, I find you to be very talented.