“In Model” material thumbnails default to the cube thumbnail in Sketchup 2026 when any of the options are checked for metalness, roughness, etc. It is significantly harder to tell materials apart in the cube view, if not impossible. Most of the transparent textures are completely indistinguishable. Please update with a global option to set the thumbnail view to flat for all material thumbnails.
And can we please have a back button in materials, like in components?
Also, why are the “create collection” functions different in materials and components? It always confuses me when I am trying to add a location to my favorites in one or the other. Wouldn’t it make more sense if they worked the same way?
In 2026 you can right-click on a preview thumbnail for any material, and choose whether it’s a cube, flat, or automatic (based on whether the material has additional maps):
Right click on any larger thumbnail (the one at the top, not one of the individual thumbnails), and whatever you choose is global. You do still need to select a material to then see its flat version. I don’t know if there is a preference set somewhere, but the next files you open are also set to the one you chose.
In the image you last shared, the material is still showing as a cube in the palette. I am not talking about the selected material image at the top.
The problem is that I can’t tell which material is which from the 3D cube icons in the palette, and the only way to make those flat is to uncheck all of the new material options (metalness, roughness, etc).
