Google SketchUp has been launched, adding to the company's collection of online tools. Google describes the service as a free, easy-to-learn 3D modeling program that enables you to explore the world in 3D. It allows you to create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects - just about anything. All you need to do is use a basic mouse to drag-and-click.

"3-D is probably one of the most expressive tools to express dreams," said Brad Schell, who founded Boulder, Colo.-based SketchUp in 1999, sold the company to Google last month and still manages the product. Most existing three-dimensional drawing software is highly technical and hard to use, he said, so it limits the audience to architects, structural engineers, graphics artists and the like.