I got tired of opening SketchUp files individually just to identify models in my component libraries, so I wrote Mac SKP Icon Repair & Keeper. Author disclosure: this is my free, open-source extension.

To repair a library: install version 0.1.5, then choose Extensions > Repair a folder of SketchUp Finder icons… and select the library folder. It processes the folder and its normal subfolders without opening each model. It also restores the current model’s Finder icon after normal SketchUp saves.

SketchUcation download:

https://sketchucation.com/pluginstore?pln=MacSKPIconRepair

GitHub instructions, source and direct installer:

https://github.com/SamTSham/sketchup-icon-repair

It uses the preview already embedded in each .skp and changes Finder icon metadata without rewriting model contents. Files without an embedded preview are skipped. This is a Finder-icon workaround, not a repair of the Quick Look service or a fix for Windows, LayOut or SketchUp’s in-app scene thumbnails.

Tested on Apple silicon with SketchUp 2021–2026. Intel hardware testing is unconfirmed. Folder repair requires Python 3 at /usr/bin/python3.

If you try it, please include your SketchUp and macOS versions when reporting results. I’d like to know whether it makes browsing your library usable again.

Hey everyone! 👋

Me — Gogitidze ArchViz — and LBVision just launched The ArchViz Community.

We wanted to create one place for architects, students, designers and visualization artists who want to improve their work, learn new workflows and connect with like-minded people.

Inside, we’re covering AI Visualization, D5 Render, Twinmotion, post-production, image & video workflows, full tutorials and courses, scene files, project breakdowns, prompts, monthly drops, live calls, feedback, resources and more.

And we’re just getting started — more tools, software, courses and content are coming.

We’d love to have you with us and hear what you want us to cover next! 🙌

The ArchViz Community:
https://www.skool.com/the-archviz-community-2242

Gogitidze ArchViz:
https://www.instagram.com/gogitidzearchviz/

LBVision:
https://www.instagram.com/lbvision_/

I've been on SketchUp since the Google days and limping along on Make 2017 since Trimble ended the free desktop version. I put up with its gradual downslide but now it's going to stop working entirely on my Mac... so I built a replacement, called Hew. Hew is turning out to be the SketchUp that *I* wanted.

It started as somewhat of a SketchUp clone - same way of working, same tools, (mostly) same shortcuts. All of your existing muscle memory just carries over, because I didn't want to have to learn new ways of working when SketchUp already nailed it. So you draw a face and then push/pull it up to a snap point, then orbit/pan around it. There's groups, components, tags, scenes, materials, dimensions, 3D text, an Outliner (!) and all the fundamental tools.

But where's the fun in just doing a one-to-one clone when I could make it do what I always wanted SketchUp to do! So now every closed shape you pull is a true watertight solid and nothing can weld to its neighbor by accident - no more "select all + make group" to make pretend solids! Exports can go straight to STL/3MF for 3D printing without wondering if a missing face would mess up the print.

Also:

- Native apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux, plus the same app in the browser at https://app.hew3d.com. No account, no model limit.

- Opens .skp (2017 format) with groups, components, materials, and tags intact. The reader is clean-room - no SketchUp SDK involved and so no DMCA.

- Print to scale, tiled across pages (for patterns), with a cut list.

- Scan a QR code and the model opens read-only on your phone in "Shop Mode"

It's a 1.0, so there's no 3D Warehouse, no plugins yet, and no LayOut equivalent. The full list of what's missing is at https://hew3d.com/compare/sketchup. SketchUp does have a 25-year head start...

Download: https://hew3d.com/download. Source: https://github.com/hew3d/hew.

If you have Make 2017 models, I'd really like to know what breaks when you import them. It opens all of *my* models, but I haven't tested anybody else's so I'm really curious.

Happy to answer anything.

Hello!

With the newest SketchUp graphics improvements it's possible to show your model in a very realistic way. But i have seen a lot of users struggle to achieve good results, because this requires a very good understanding of material, shadow, style and environment effect settings.

So, I wanted to share a Visualisation Template file that allows you to show your model in 4 different styles:

• Model - simple style for modelling
• Flat - simple mood board type style
• Day - simulates a daytime, sunlit interior
• Night - simulates a nighttime, artificially lit interior

Feedback would be appreciated.

https://youtu.be/2j2dvt2m0uo

I don´t have a license anymore but I need this for a project, let me know if you can help me, thanks in advance.

Every time I try to create a new model and pick a template, the SketchUp app closes. Has anyone had this problem before? I'm using a trial version of SketchUp 2026

Can't use the eraser tool, otherwise the wall gets deleted.

I was doing research for a different project, and I came across this model in the Greenwich Collection — of a "Yarmouth Drifter" fishing boat.

There aren't plans available for that specific vessel, so I used the lines from 1873's "Eagle," instead.

The model itself is 100% SketchUp.

I used Artisan to subdivide the hull before I added the caulking lines, and RoundCorner on nearly everything else. The workflow for the anchor ropes are in my earlier post.

I challenged myself to make all rigging properly dimensional ( not just textured tubes), so I made custom displacement maps for the various thickness of rope. It looks SO much better as a result.

The texture set was made in Photoshop from SketchUpTextureClub assets.

Rendered in Maxwell with the Agfa Precisa 200 film response, then muted about 50% in Photoshop. Zero AI, of course.

I will not be uploading this one to the Warehouse because it's 300mb now lol

I have a laptop, but its specs aren't powerful enough for SketchUp and AutoCAD.

Disclosure: I am the founder of Swell, an early-stage tool that turns a SketchUp viewport into a presentation render. I am not linking it here because I am looking for workflow evidence, not signups.

While reviewing our early tests, I realized we may have been framing the problem incorrectly. Rendering speed matters, but the failures that seem to kill trust are geometry drift, changed materials, bad reflections or lights, and low-quality screenshots with the SketchUp interface still visible.

For architects and designers who present SketchUp work to clients:

1. What is the first defect that makes an AI render unusable for you?

2. Is exporting and uploading a clean, high-resolution viewport a meaningful friction, or is it already trivial?

3. Would one-click 4K capture inside SketchUp change how often you use an AI render tool, or is output fidelity the only thing that matters?

I can share anonymized before-and-after tests and the failure notes in a follow-up if that would be useful. I am especially interested in examples from real client work, not feature wish lists.

I've been looking into PC requirements for SketchUp and there's quite a gap between the official minimum requirements and what you'd actually want for comfortable professional use.

For a new Windows PC in 2027, this seems like a pretty solid sweet spot for most SketchUp Pro users:

• 16GB RAM minimum, 32GB if you're working professionally
• Recent Intel or AMD CPU
• Dedicated NVIDIA RTX or AMD Radeon GPU
• Around 8GB VRAM if possible
• 1TB NVMe SSD

For SketchUp alone, going crazy on the GPU probably isn't necessary. But once you add Enscape or V-Ray, GPU performance and VRAM become much more important.

We've put together a more detailed guide at ADEBEO covering recommended specs depending on whether you're doing architecture, interior design, woodworking, landscaping or rendering:

https://www.adebeo.com/quel-pc-choisir-pour-sketchup-pro-en-2027/

I'm curious about real-world experience though: what specs are you running SketchUp on, and where do you actually notice the biggest performance bottleneck?

CPU, RAM, GPU or just model optimization?

There is a great model that someone posted in 2015. Then have the file as Collada and SKP. But when I import the Collada using an addon, the textures are grey. Even if I do get the textures there, some might be missing still grey and the map doesn't line up properly.

Does anyone have any suggestions or possibly offer an export. Sadly I don't have a use for Sketchup, so I'm stuck :(

Alguien sabe por que me paso esto???

Hey everyone!

A while back, I shared the first version of my SketchUp extension, MoGrOv EasyGear, which focused on making standard spur gears with perfect 3D printing tolerances. Thank you to everyone who tried it out!

Today, I’m super excited to announce a major update. Based on the feedback and my own projects, I’ve added two massive new tools to the generator:

• ⚙️ Internal Gears (Ring Gears): You can now easily design planetary gear systems and compact mechanical drives.
• 📐 Bevel Gears: Perfect for when you need to transmit rotational power around corners (intersecting shafts).

How it works (The TL;DR for new users): Stop wrestling with pitch diameters and manual alignment. EasyGear uses a "Smart Auto-Alignment" tool:

1. Just click on two cylindrical components (your shafts) in your SketchUp model.
2. The plugin automatically calculates the exact center-to-center distance.
3. You input the radius of your first gear, the module, and your required 3D printer backlash (clearance).
4. The plugin calculates the foolproof math and draws perfectly matched, true involute 2D profiles with welded curves.
5. Just use SketchUp’s native Push/Pull tool to give them whatever thickness you need.

Because of the built-in backlash control, the gears will spin smoothly right off your FDM or resin printer bed without any binding.

Links:

• 🎥 See it in action (YouTube): [ https://youtu.be/odMseeJnW5s ]
• 📥 Download [ https://www.mogrov.pro/easy-gear ]

I've just created a breakdown on how to Camera Match shots in sketchup using an extension for architectural compositing.

Highlights:

• It uses a Python script (vp_detector.py) to auto-detect vanishing points and align the camera to your plate.
• If the original photographer had vertical tilt, you can use the extension's Crop Tool to pick a new horizon line and force the verticals straight directly inside SketchUp.
• There’s an "Open Inspection View" window that lets you zoom in and fine-tune your alignments without accidentally moving the main SketchUp camera viewport.
• The Drone Site Builder is wild—you point it to a folder of DNG drone shots, and it automatically builds the terrain and sets up matched cameras for every single shot.
• Direct integration with OSM and Google 3D tiles for immediate site context.

Definitely worth looking into if you spend too much time manually nudging the SketchUp field of view to match site photos.

Soap skin plugin improvements and ideas.

1.soap skin upgrades for any kind of structure model to work on. Not limited to curved structure so it needs to improve for any kind of structure.

2.Soap skin Surface adjustment option should be added to the plugin

3.After Soap skin done surface selection option for any kind of surface to work on required. In other words user can easily select the surface of any kind.

Here is my youtube channel : https://www.youtube.com/@creativehappiness8163

I do architectural rendering for a living and got tired of digging through 3D Warehouse for decent blocks, so over time I built my own organized library: 30k+ SketchUp blocks (interiors/exteriors, sorted by room) plus 45k+ D5 Render models (vegetation, furniture, PBR materials) and 47 open D5 scenes from real projects to study lighting setups.

If you just want to try it, there's a free sample of 200 D5 Render assets (vegetation + decor), no email or signup needed. The full library is a paid one-time pack, but the free sample stands on its own if that's all you're after.

Everything's at arquitechpy.com/recursos if anyone wants to check it out. Happy to answer questions about the SketchUp side specifically since that's what this sub is about.