Hello,
Some time ago I made an extension for personal use which basically turns SketchUp’s UI dark by messing with the Qt engine SketchUp uses. Still needs some polish here and there but works surprisingly well so far. Makes working at nights so much easier.
I was wondering if it would be okay to share it with the community as a free extension or to share the source code users can compile themselves considering “the way” it works.
Thanks.
I moved the thread to the extension section.
you can share what you want code, packaged rbz, depending on what you choose to share, you’ll get different answers from different people, simple users trying it out, vibecoders asking their ai to vibe thing out, and coders checking the actual code.
just a thing, if you post code, you’ll need to format it correctly
cheerio !
Hi, sorry for the confusion. My main question was whether it would be okay to release it, considering that it works by manipulating the Qt engine.
From reading SketchUp’s TOS, it seems like this could potentially be against the TOS, which I definitely don’t want to break, unless of course someone from SketchUp makes an exception and gives me the go-ahead.
I wouldn’t be making any money from it anyways, it would just be something I’d release for others to use.
You are unlikely to get an ok to breach the TOS from anyone except your own legal team.
I think it’s pretty plain as day what they say about reverse engineering the software, doing that in itself is a breach.
Looks awesome. SketchUp keeps saying this is really hard to get done for some reason…
Mainly because we want it to be better than “[quote=“mickyninja, post:1, topic:349839”]
Still needs some polish here and there but works surprisingly well
[/quote]”, because while it’s great what Micky has achieved, as a company we need to support the product and ensure it works as they expect (bugs notwithstanding) and in all areas of the product and on all platforms.
To be fair, doing it properly would take a lot more effort. For SketchUp to implement it officially, they’d need a proper UI redesign throughout the entire application while keeping everything consistent.
There are also things like tool icons and other UI elements that would need to be redesigned or adjusted specifically for dark mode. Extensions are another issue, since most of them were designed around the current light UI, so most would look “inconsistent”.
I did see a proposed set of native dark mode icons. So it is on Trimble’s radar.
They are most definitely waiting until both platforms are using the Qt libraries. (I.e., we’ve requested dark mode for years and this GUI unification is given as a prerequisite step.)
But I like that you’ve proven it can be done natively with Qt.
I suspect most would be happy with an inconsistent workaround then an official nothing.
well, they’ve been on the ipad version for some time now.
it’s likely. they wouldn’t do it to do it again and again. and again.
on the other hand, I hear that whenever someone requests it, they delay by a version. 
I think sharing it would be useful, especially since a proper dark UI is something many users have wanted. As long as it doesn’t modify or redistribute SketchUp’s proprietary files and you clearly explain how it works and any risks, I’d say it’s worth asking the SketchUp team/community moderators about releasing it. A free extension or open-source project could be a great option.
It is more complicated because the Qt libraries themselves have a license separate from that for SketchUp.
Hey @mickyninja,
This looks amazing! Even if Trimble can’t officially endorse it or host it on the Extension Warehouse due to ToS / Qt injection concerns, would you consider open-sourcing it on GitHub?
Putting it in a public repository would allow the community to test it, help refine the unpolished parts, and keep it maintained for personal use. Many users (myself included) would love to have even an imperfect dark mode while we wait for an official implementation.
Thanks for your work on this!
The bright interface can be quite uncomfortable after a while, so having a proper dark UI makes a noticeable difference. Your extension sounds really useful, especially since it works by modifying the Qt engine and still manages to keep SketchUp usable. I think sharing it with the community would be a great idea, as long as it’s within SketchUp’s extension and licensing guidelines. I’d definitely be interested in trying it.
okay , i will not share to anyone .
Since many of us really need this for late-night work, with the help of AI I went ahead and built an open-source
Dark Mode extension for SketchUp 2025 and 2024 on Windows.
You can download the rbz installer or check the full source code on GitHub:
It does not modify any SketchUp files on disk and simply uses Ruby’s built-in Fiddle library to apply the Qt 6 dark
palette and stylesheet in memory. It also keeps native toolbar icon sizes so toolbars do not get cut off, darkens
the Windows title bar, and includes an optional dark 3D viewport and material list.
It is free and open-source under the MIT license. Feel free to try it out or share any feedback and suggestions.
Would it be possible for you to share it privately? I’d love to be able to use it
Since many of us really need this for late-night work, with the help of AI I went ahead and built an open-source Dark Mode extension for SketchUp 2025 and 2024 on Windows.
You can download the rbz installer or check the full source code on GitHub:
It does not modify any SketchUp files on disk and simply uses Ruby’s built-in Fiddle library to apply the Qt 6 darkpalette and stylesheet in memory. It also keeps native toolbar icon sizes so toolbars do not get cut off, darkens the Windows title bar, and includes an optional dark 3D viewport and material list.
It is free and open-source under the MIT license. Feel free to try it out or share any feedback and suggestions.
And please wait for some 3 hours i made changes to code
Can you translate the Ruby Console messages from Polish into, say, English please ?
Otherwise an interesting idea…
If it’s relatively ‘easy’ to do, why have hasn’t SketchUp made an su_ extension to do this ?
They inundate us with AI slop but ignore longstanding requests than might be easier to resolve…
Fair enough @mickyninja, totally get your point
Formally speaking, yeah calling private Qt 6 symbols via Fiddle breaks Trimble’s US EULA. But here in the EU, reverse engineering for interoperability is actually protected by law (Directive 2009/24/EC), so EULA bans don’t really hold up. Plus it’s 100% free, doesn’t touch DRM, and redistributes no Trimble binaries. Worst-case scenario is just a deleted forum post or a DMCA on GitHub if support gets spammed with tickets.
And yeah, KDDockWidgets and tray tabs were a real pain to get right.
Hopefully Trimble just adds an official Dark Mode soon so nobody has to hack around with this.
