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No matter how you use SketchUp, there's likely an extension designed to help you work smarter and faster. Extensions are add-ons that integrate directly with SketchUp, giving you access to powerful tools and features that enhance your workflow without leaving your familiar design environment.
You can explore the online repository of extensions in Extension Warehouse. Another SketchUp extension repository to check is SketchUcation Plugin Store (NOTE: you will need to register for a free account to download from the Plugin Store).
If you're not sure where to start, we’ve shortlisted some essential SketchUp extensions that will improve the productivity of your team. Some of these plugins are free, but we have indicated the commercial extensions with a (C).
General Tools
A wide range of tools to streamline complex or repetitive tasks.
| Extensions | Descriptions |
| Selection Toys | Offers a wide range of selection modifiers, filter out all edges, faces etc. Lets you quickly select entities with similar properties such as material, layer orientation etc. |
| RoundCorner(C) | RoundCorner rounds the edges and corners of 3D shapes along a 2D profile, in three modes: Round corners, Sharp corners and Bevel. |
| Layers Panel | Designed to be very similar to Photoshop's layers panel. It adds the ability to group layers, sort them, lock them, hide/collapse groups, etc. |
| CleanUp3 | Cleans up and optimizes your SketchUp model. |
| Material Replacer | Replace materials by selecting an existing one in the model. |
| True Bend | Bends objects to a set degree. Length of reference segment preserved. |
| Fredo6: Bezier Spline | Draws a variety of Polylines, Bezier and Spline curves, all in 3D |
| MaterialResizer | Finds and resizes materials used in the model |
| Drop GC | Drop groups/components to face below |
| Q JS Align Toolbar |
Aligns objects along the three main axis, x, y, and z.
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| Manage linked models in SketchUp | |
| CG Impact Report | Great tool for model management. Get insights into component complexity. |
BIM and Engineering Tools
| Extensions | Descriptions |
| 3Skeng (C) | 3Skeng is an extension for the design & documentation of MEP, 3D piping, and steel structures. |
| PlaceMaker (C) | Add instant context to your model by importing OpenStreetMap roads, buildings, paths, water bodies, trees, and high-res aerials. |
| ConDoc Tools (C) | Automate and simplify the creation of construction documents in SketchUp for Desktop and LayOut. |
| Profile Builder 3 (C) | Lightspeed parametric modeling of intelligent component assemblies. |
| PlusSpec for Architects and Builders (C) | Think BIM + VDC + Parametric modeling + Estimate. |
Working with CAD Imports & Making Volumes
| Extensions | Descriptions |
| Edge Tools2 | Suite of tools to simplify edges, close gaps, cleanups and more. |
| Eneroth Flatten to Plane | Flatten selected geometry to the horizontal plane. |
| S4u Make Face | Fills line-drawings with faces. |
| Solid Inspector | Inspects and highlights problems with solids. |
| Fredo Tools | A collection of various inspection and simple manipulation tools. In particular, Edge Inspector is a handy tool for inspecting edge connections |
Working with Terrain & Advanced Modeling
| Extensions | Descriptions |
| TopoShaper (C) | Generates terrains from iso-contours, that is, contours which have a constant or quasi-constant altitude |
| CutNfill (C) | It calculates Cut and Fill from two overlaid terrain-mesh solid groups. Also add Skirts to selected meshes to aid the Cut and Fill process. |
| Artisan Organic Toolset (C) | Subdivision, sculpting, and soft selection tools for artists, designers and landscape architects |
| Extrude Tools | A varied toolset for extruding edges into meshes, etc. |
| FredoScale (C) | Interactively apply a number of geometric transformations, such as Scaling, Tapering, Stretching, Plane Shear, Twisting, Bending and Rotation. |
| JointPushPull (C) | Performs push/pull on multiple faces in one operation. JPP can maintain the continuity of the offset surfaces (mode joint push pull). This is useful to thicken non-planar surfaces. |
| CurviLoft (C) | Dedicated to generating surfaces from contours through Loft and Skinning. |
Rendering
| Extensions | Descriptions |
| V-Ray (C) | This robust, professional lighting and rendering tool is included in the SketchUp Studio subscription. |
| SU Podium (C) | SU Podium is a high quality, photorealistic, rendering plugin for SketchUp. |
| Thea Render (C) | Thea Render is a physically-based photorealistic renderer of high quality. |
| Enscape (C) | A real-time rendering plugin that creates remarkable visualizations with one click. |
| Lumion (C) | Lumion offers real-time, photorealistic renderings of your SketchUp model. |
| Twinmotion (C) | Lumion offers real-time, photorealistic renderings of your SketchUp model. |
Rendering Prep & Working with Textures
| Extensions | Descriptions |
| Material Resizer | This tool will let you know the size of every material in your model. You can then choose to resize large materials by selecting one or more, and setting the maximum dimensions |
| Material Tools | The Material Tools plugin lists all materials in the model ordered by their texture size. This means that you could pinpoint which textures are large |