Hey everyone! I have a question…
I’m looking for a plugin that can export views from SketchUp to a 2D image of that view, but in a *.skp format. This way, I could export complex floor plans to LayOut without it becoming very slow.
I know there is already a plugin from Curic called “Make2D,” but when I install it, SketchUp 2026 becomes unstable and often won’t start. I’ve reported this to Curic, but they haven’t responded.
Could someone create a or knows a similar plugin?
Thanks in advance!
I don’t know of an extension that would do this but you could export a 2D DXF from SketchUp and insert that into LayOut.
Here’s an example.
SketchUp:
2D DXF in LO:
Presumably you want to do this because viewports take a long time to render as Vector or Hybrid? It may be that there are some options to speed things up but I would need to see one of your typical LayOut files to know for sure.
Keep in mind that whether you have and extension to do what you ask or use the .dxf export you will wind up with a disconnect between the original model and the 2D you insert. You would probably want to wait until the model is finalized before you make the 2D export.
Yes, exactly, that’s actually what I’m already doing with complex scenes. I export them to a DWG file and then import that into LayOut. However, I do lose all colors and textures, which are often essential information.
Ideally, I would export all my scenes, especially for complicated en complex projects, to 2D and then use them in LayOut. LayOut runs super smoothly that way! 
As @tt_su has said in the API issue tracker, Issue 1022 :
The 2D exporters don’t have a good API support. Their options are not exposed. This is already tracked internally as an issue. [SKEXT-4459]
Other API Issues requesting 2D Export support:
2D dwg export · Issue #270 · SketchUp/api-issue-tracker
Unable to export 2d PDF on Windows · Issue #367 · SketchUp/api-issue-tracker
Bottom line is that the reason you don’t see 2D export plugins is that the SketchUp APIs have never supported it. Any that do are “hacky” and fragile at best.
@CraigTrickett (ping to remind that this request goes back probably more than a decade.)
Translation:
Thank you for your response. This is very unfortunate, because it is possible, it just needs to be optimized. In my opinion, this is actually the solution to make Layout work quickly and smoothly. But then again, who am I.
Would Fredo Portrait work for this?
@Fredo6 Correct me if I’m wrong, but your extension is using View#write_image correct?
…, so it does not use the Model#export and doesn’t have its limitations?
I suppose it is possible, to write out an image file of the view, create a new skp file and insert the image into it as an Image object. But [when inserted into LayOut] it would not auto-update as changes are made to the original model.
Hi, sorry for the delayed response.
I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble with Curic Make2D. Which build did you install? Have you already tried the latest version? If not, I can send it to you via direct message.
Hi, Curic, thanks for your support! Yes latest version of the plugin installed. When the Studio installed, everything works fine except Make2d. When Make2d is enabled Sketchup won’t even start.
Well, actually it works exactly the same as it does now. In Layout you don’t need any 3D data (!); that only makes it extremely slow and unworkable. You only need a 2D image of a certain view from SketchUp — that’s basically how it works right now as well. The only thing you need is scale information for dimensioning. If a scene in SketchUp changes and you export it to Layout, then the dimensions in Layout should also update, just like they currently do.
For as far I know Fredo portrait only exports bitmap files.
Or you could just Copy/Paste the view you want directly into Layout, set it as Vector and Explode it…
One potential drawback with that approach is that for each copy and paste you do, the entire SketchUp model is embedded into the LayOut document.
Even if you explode it and Purge?
If you purge the unused references it’ll be removed. Still would need to render the viewport as vector or hybrid before exploding or the viewport becomes an image with no scale and nothing to snap dimensions to. Might just as well insert the .skp file correctly and set up the viewports before exploding them. Or don’t explode them so you maintain a link from the SketchUp model. Either way it doesn’t solve the OP’s issue.
For any newer users here’s what happens when you copy and paste from SketchUp into LayOut. Each viewport winds up linked to a separate embedded copy of the SketchUp file. Here I’ve copied and pasted from the same SketchUp model three times so I end up with three copies of the .skp.
I have used Curic Make2D and it works fine. I am on a Mac.
