Sketchup Placemaker Free version ? Alternatives (2024)

Most of Sketchup users are used to free plugins, a monthly or yearly subscription for a Sketchup extension is a bit a pain in the ass especially for third word countries, one cannot afford such thing.

Google Sketchup Place Maker crack, extension full crack, license key, free plugin download, serial...guys are you serious? there is already a free tool that offers the same as Placemaker and even more ! yes more for Free !  sorry Daniel Tal but you should deal with these keywords and offer some free gratis stuff..

What I will share in this article is an alterative to SU Placemaker for the dudes who don't want to buy SU extensions, I mean this is a reality look to what Google search suggests when you enter the keyword Placemaker Sketchup, look how bad people are looking for this extension.

Sketchup Placemaker search suggestions

I'm not going to write a review about Place maker for Sketchup extension, as I was super disappointed with the trial before I even think about the full version, terrain is flat ! and you need import it in Sketchup (via add location), while older versions of Sketchup cannot do this -RIP Google Earth-

Cadmapper is compatible with Sketchup 8, 2013, 2014 ,2015, 2016 , 2017 or 2018, AutoCAD Rhino and Illustrator (2D SVG only) , enjoy the full version of SU placemaker, no download or installation needed here, just enter the the desired area address and you will get 1 kilometer for free, yes 1 entire damn square kilometer! and More than 200 cities 2D maps available for download without registration!

If you want more than that, pricing starts beyond your first kilometer -split and merge your area by square kilometer if you are freebie addict- A quick registration is required to create and download your 3D map, and you can use a student email (.edu, .ac.uk, etc) to get a discount on all purchases, then you are free to instantly generate cities 3d models for 3D printing, 3D rendering or any other CAD purpose. 

 

Create your 3D map :

To create a 3D map just enter the desired address, move / scale the selection box and hit create file, make sure you stay below 1 square kilometer :)

Create a map

Cadmapper options :

Cadmapper Options

• Select your CAD program: Sketchup 8 and above, Autocad, Rhino or Illustartor (2D SVG).
• Create roads as:  center-lines, meshes or outlines. 
• 3D Buildings: you can also chose to add a false height for buildings without data.
• Topography: (30 meter resolution), so no flat terrain here.
• Add 10m contour lines
 

Download your 3D map :

You can preview your 3D map and the terrain topography before download, the preview is very useful while experimenting with the available map options, just hit the back button if you want a different area or different settings.

3D Map preview and Download

Cadmapper VS SU PlaceMaker :

Let's do a comparision between Cadmapper and SU Place Maker for the same area, example : I select this location Edinburgh, Scotland (Edinburgh Castle), since they both use OpenStreetMap, there is nothing to compare here, the results are the same except for the price and the terrain topography.

In one single click I have this :

Placemaker dialog Sketchup

Same area in Cadmapper

Place maker could you please just offer Sketchup users 1 free square kilometer rather than a useless 6 months trial? In case your Sketchup version reached the end of support and your Geo-location is not working see this article.