I’m not an expert, but my guess would be that Illustrator either saved the dwg as a different version or that it converted those contents into a different form that SketchUp can handle. There have been a lot of dwg versions over the years, and SketchUp doesn’t handle them all the same.
Right. I could export the Illustrator file as a .dwg file. I remember seeing .dwg.ai somewhere…my brain is getting foggy… But Sketchup doesn’t import .ai files directly
One of the option when importing a DWG is to preserve the drawing origin. If that is checked, and if the geometry is a long way off, it could lead to issues. Try unchecking that box, and after the import choose Zoom Extents from the Camera menu.
If the DWG is not top secret, could you let us look at it?
Didn’t Adobe software get its start on Macintosh computers? Maybe my operating system is made so that all .dwg files are opened by default via Illustrator, otherwise the files get dumbed down. Or maybe, it’s 5 o’clock and it’s time for my scotch on the rocks… 
I did check the box, preserve the drawing origin…I’ll try unchecking the box and trying again. Just let me pour my scotch in the meantime…
I unchecked the box and also tried putting model units instead of inches and the same thing happens; dumbed down drawing. My ticket is clearly Illustrator as intermediary… When I pressed Zoom extents, I just saw the same drawing
Btw, the geometry of the original is pretty accurate. Don’t think that this is the issue…
How do I do that? (duh) Because it is only unadulterated when still in the e-mail. Once I download it, it either morphs into an Illustrator file or a dumbed down useless thing on the desktop. I could send you a copy of the e-mail, in private, I guess…
Thanks. I reopened one of my drawings; in that one, the default colour was marked red in the box and the other layers or ‘tags’ in my 2020 version of Sketchup had blank boxes. So I tried out a couple layers, chose a colour then pressed ‘color by tag’ and nothing happened. The lines on that layer remained black. I closed and reopened the file and…nothing changed. Then, to test, I opened a new tag, chose a colour for the tag, pressed ‘color by tag’ drew some random lines and the lines remained black. What’s up?
This icon in the reply message tools lets you attach a file. You could click on that, then point to the file in downloads.
Hi,
Problem is that I have no way to send you the unadulterated file with forwarding you the e-mail, as the moment I touch the file in the downloads folder, it either transforms into a dwg. file via Illustrator or a dumbed down .dwg file direct from the download file or the desktop. So what would you like? An e-mail with the files attached, the .dwg file via Illustrator or the dumbed down .dwg file downloaded to the desktop? I would want the e-mail to be private as it involves a third party.
Just drag and drop the .dwg file (from the actual folder, not from the dock shortcut) in a reply window posted here. Or use the upload icon Colin posted above.
Here is one of the files in the download file:
1257-01EA002 Élévation arrière.dwg (1.1 MB)
This is the file converted to .dwg format via Adobe Illustrator:
addition 2005 PLAN & EAST FACADE.dwg (2.3 MB)
And this is the Sketchup version if I import the .dwg version to Sketchup via Illustrator (ie the download automatically downloaded to Illustrator then I exported ithe .ai file to the desktop as a .dwg file, then imported it to Sketchup from the desktop):
addition 2005 PLAN & EAST FACADE .skp (14.0 MB)
And this is the file in Sketchup if I import it directly from the download file on the desktop :
File imported directly from desktop or download file.skp (1.3 MB)
By the way, how can I get the colours to read on the layers in Sketchup?
Thanks endlessfix btw!
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Comparing to the original DWG, that looked all correct to me. I would uncheck the “Preserve original coordinates” box because the linework in the DWG is rather far from the origin for no apparent reason. Inches is the correct import unit.
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You need to set the Edge Style ‘By material’ or all will be the same.
if a line (or ‘Edge’ ) doesn’t have a material of it’s own, it will be the ‘Default’ color, which is actually no color, but then you wouldn’t see anything 
If you want to show the Color by Tag, the used Style’s Edge settings still have to be set to ‘By Material’
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Hey Mike
Thanks so much!! I’m looking at your video now. Did find the color by material function in the meantime but your explanation is much more complete. Will take awhile to absorb all the steps. 
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Thanks Anssi for the advice. I noticed that Mike, in his video, didn’t check the ‘preserve original’ box either. You commented that the linework is rather far from the origin (do you mean ‘from the original’?) for no apparent reason. I’m afraid that I don’t quite understand what you mean by that, being a beginner in Sketchup.
Just found some info that I think explains what you were saying (from the Sketchup community):
Move geometry close to the origin
In SketchUp, geometry that’s many miles or kilometers away from the origin (0,0) can cause performance problems. To avoid these problems, check the placement of geometry in your CAD file before you import the CAD file into SketchUp.
For example, say you’re importing Autodesk AutoCAD DWG files, such as civil site plans, in order to work with the contour lines. If the graphic or geometry is far away from the origin, move it close to the origin before importing the CAD file into SketchUp.
Alternatively, deselect the Preserve Drawing Origin option in SketchUp’s DWG/DXF import options, as explained in Importing a CAD file into SketchUp, later in this article.
I can’t edit the Autocad drawings before I import them so unchecking ‘preserve original’ is the best I can do, I guess.
I just thought of something. Since I don’t have access to Autocad and so don’t have the possibility of cleaning up the drawings on CAD; if I use the Adobe Illustrator application to open my CAD drawings, which is the default app for opening them on my Mac, maybe I could clean up the drawing in Illustrator (removing layers, useless information, etc.) before exporting it as a .dwg to Sketchup
Also, should I be checking the ‘import materials’ and ‘orient faces consistently’ when I import my original CAD drawings or should I check only ‘merge planar surfaces’?
Thanks!
There is an plugin that can let you import .dwg file.
In fact there isn’t. Some plugins let you import a DXF file. DWG files can be imported into SketchUp Pro and SketchUp Shop as a native function.
MaureenC has the Pro version so that is not the question here.