Material Files

SketchUp Pro
1

I have saved some material to the material folder but when I try to import them into Sketchup, they don’t show up in the folder? The folder is showing empty. However, if I go straight to the folder on my computer, I can see them. Can anyone help?

2

If I’m understanding you correctly, only skm files will show up in SketchUp, as they also contain size and transparency info as well as the image itself. To create new material files from scratch you’ll need to import the images into a clean SU file, then do whatever you need to do in terms of scaling and transparency. After that, go to the In Model tab in Materials and save each one to a new or existing library.

1 Like
3

It is where I am changing a material colour to a specific RGB ref and then saving it to the material folder so I can reuse it in future models. Is this not possible?

4

What is the file path you are saving to?

5

C:\Users\stephen.boyt\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp 2023\SketchUp\Materials

6

SketchUp can be a little funny about materials at times…especially if you’re adapting existing ones. I don’t know how many materials we are talking about here, but you could try an experiment with just a few to see if this works.

  1. Draw a small square, then produce an array. Either a single row or a bunch of rows and columns.
  2. Paint each square with an original different material.
  3. Go to the In Model Tab and do this for each colour in turn…Select the colour, then open the Edit tab to see what the RGB value is, then edit the material name in the top text box to reflect this.

When you’ve done a few (or all of them) switch back to the Select tab, r-click each swatch in turn and save As to your new Materials folder.

7

Thanks, I’ve tried that. There is no problem saving them but when I try and import them into another Shetchup model - they aren’t there…

8

That’s really weird…especially as you say you can actually see them in the folder when you navigate to it. So it’s not as if you accidently saved them to another folder.
I saved a library of 24 small woodgrain textures by the same method only yesterday; and they work just fine.

9

When you try to open or select a collection, are you selecting just
the folder ( this is what SketchUp wants ) the material is in or are you trying to open the folder from within SketchUp? Opening the folder within SketchUp is what I suspect is where you are in error.

10

RLGL’s point never occurred to me. You’re not trying to open your collection from the menu on the side arrow, are you? That will show as empty.
Any custom libraries that you create ought to show up automatically at the bottom of the drop-down list in the Materials palette. Your favourites are separated down there by a dividing line, regardless of their expected place in the alphabetical ordering of the built-in ones…

11

Exactly, this is what I was doing. It is now working okay from the list rather than the folders. Many thanks for your help.