So, with the weather cooling down a bit here, I thought it is time to start woodworking again. First order of business is to move my custom wood materials from my 2020 installation to the 2021 version. Opened 2020, Preferences, Files, Materials - then went to the default folder in my library - no files found. Searching the forums showed I was looking in the right place. Anyway, to cut my losses I recreated the materials from the original images in SU2021. Open the Color Picker, Select Wood from the dropdown, Right-Click - New Texture, Select the image and save. Did a quick test and all seem to be working OK.
Then I went to look for the .skm files. Checked the file location as before (which hasnât changed between versions) and sure enough the Materials folder is empty. There is a new folder for 2021 called ShippedMaterials with a copy of all the default materials PLUS my new custom materials. Apparently SU isnât using the File Preferences for storing custom materials.
The plot thickens - created a new material in SU2020 to see where it was storing the .skm files and it is also not using the default file location. Where is SU putting these material files in 2020??? And why is it not using the Preferences to store the files?
I am afraid itâs a bit more complicated. Custom lists that where made in 2020 should by default end up in the user library ~/library/Application support/SketchUp/SketchUp 2020/SketchUp/Materials
If you had set the file preferences to another location via [menu] SketchUp > Preferences > files, they would be on that specified location, if not, something is out of syncâŚ
Hereâs the thing, any Finder actions wonât be noticed by SketchUp unless you restart it.
If installed correct, 2021 should have taken over that specified folder in 2020.
Mike - what you are telling me is how we understand it to work - it doesnât appear to be behaving how we expect.
I havenât changed any file locations - everything is default from the original installations. I have two separate installations for 2020 and 2021. The default file locations are separate for each version:-
~/library/Application Support/SketchUp 2020/SketchUp/Materials
and
~/library/Application Support/SketchUp 2021/SketchUp/Materials
Hence the apparent need to copy custom materials from one version to the next. These default folders are empty and apparently not used for the creation of custom .skm files in either version. This is what I donât understand.
I always use the default location for my custom materials and so copy the subfolders (based on wood species) from one versionâs location to the next.
If you are looking at ~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2020/SketchUp/Materials and it is empty, is it possible you have things set to show a specific file type?
Iâve done a search for .skm files from /Application Support/⌠and there are none anywhere in the 2020 materials folder. However, in 2021, there is a whole folder structure based on the sections in the color picker under this new folder /ShippedMaterials/âŚ
Is there an even earlier SketchUp version?
Whatâs the name of your customized list? Does it end up in ~/Library/Colors?
No - just the two versions - I only keep two.
I donât have a customized list - is that required to create custom materials?
The 2021 version created the six .skm files for the new materials. It just created them in:-
~/library/Application Support/SketchUp 2021/SketchUp/ShippedMaterials/Wood which as I said earlier is not the default Materials location specified in Preferences.
On Mac, itâs best to create a new list or duplicate the âin modelâ collection. That named list should end up in the folder of the set preference.
The âshipped materialsâ is new for 2021 and wood (
) restore itself, I believe if you mess with the materials that are also in the package.
Thereâs something odd going on⌠For instance, I cannot remove textures through the UI.
Custom native Mac .clr lists in the ~/Library/Colors also wind up in the lists of SketchUp, but you can only have true colors (no textures) in these .clr lists.
Did a bit more investigation last night and here is my current understanding.
In SU2020, creating material textures, using the Colors UI from an image, results in the .skm file being stored directly within the Application bundle - see the items shaded yellow in the screenshot.
Then, I copied another .skm file from my 2021 ~library/⌠location to the default Materials folder in my 2020 ~library/⌠On starting SU2020, this file then got copied into the Application bundle (interesting that it ended up under Wood where it came from in 2021 - presumably thereâs metadata in the .skm to facilitate this) This is the item shaded green in the screen shot.
Removing the file from the Materials folder in the user library does not remove the material from SU as itâs still in the Application bundle. As @MikeWayzovski indicated, itâs not possible to remove the material using the UI either - I guess this is a MacOS security feature to prevent tinkering with Application bundles. I did several minor version updates to 2020 over its life and the custom materials persisted from version to version, so the only way to remove unwanted materials would be to remove the SU application and reinstall fresh.
In SU2021, I followed Mikeâs advice and created a new color list from the UI which appeared as a folder under the user library Materials folder. Then .skm files copied here show up in SU as expected after restarting. Trying to remove materials from the UI doesnât work - they âappear to disappearâ but then reappear after an application restart. However, manually removing the .skm files from either the Materials folder or the ShippedMaterials folder does remove the items from SU. This might be another MacOS security feature preventing applications from deleting usersâ files.
Clearly SU2021 has much improved handling of materials files.
Iâm wondering whether it is possible for a user-created materials collection to use the same name as a built-in collection. If not, then the explanation is that your custom materials are being merged into the built-in âwoodâ. Iâm not where I can verify this notion right now, but perhaps someone can experiment to verify or refute.
I am wondering the same thing as @slbaumgartner about library names. I havenât tried it but I never wanted to use the same name. I have a folder called âWood Speciesâ and in it, subfolders each of the wood species I have materials for.
By the way, you really donât need horizontal and vertical versions of your materials. That just makes management more difficult.
I just tried to create another list/collection called âWoodâ and it creates the Wood Folder under Materials. In SU, there are now two collections - âWoodâ (new one) and âWood (1)â the original - so no merging taking placeâŚ
Iâm new to materials - only started using them last year because the OpenCutList plugin requires materials to be assigned to components in order to generate the parts list. I couldnât figure out how to get the grain to follow the long dimension, so fudged it by creating two materials. My collection is not as extensive as yours, thoughâŚ
Dave,
Thats a well organized wood rack of materials, only capable on windows. MACs dont allow the subfolders. 
If you apply the materials to the faces in your components, you can right click on a face and choose Texture>Position. Right click again and choose Rotate>90° or whatever. Or uyou can drag the green push pin to rotate to any angle you want.
Once youâve rotate the texture on one face you can sample it to place it in the same orientation on other faces in the model, even in other components.
Thanks. It accumulated over time just like the wood on my real lumber rack and the screws and nails in the old coffee can. 
Another reason Iâm glad I use a PC. 
I think thatâs another feature missing from the Mac version - thereâs no Texture>Position or Rotate options in the right-click menu after editing a component and selecting a face.
There is if the material is applied to the faces and you right click on a single face.