Because there are still a number of variables - can we eliminate the use of the CMYK settings. Work with a model where you have never used CMYK to adjust a material (and where you are not importing components already color edited in another model). Are you still seeing the issue occur?
I’m not using any CMYK settings anymore, and it was determined that wasn’t an issue in the first place. SketchUp doesn’t really care how you pick a color, whether it’s from a color wheel, RGB sliders or CMYK; just different ways of getting to the same place. SketchUp interprets the inputs and makes the color the way it wants to.
In my models, I’m simply using flat color, straight from the flat colors palette. I actually NEED to copy/paste components from one model to the next, as they are used in various instances. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why this is happening, and why it’s only certain models.
I really wish someone would shed some light on the issue.
I am not suggesting changing your working practices.
A process of elimination is a standard detective approach to figuring out where the real problem is.
So it seems the CMYK setting has been eliminated. If we can eliminate copied components that would help to (using a test model).
I’ve started fresh models. I removed all materials from everything, stripping everything down to default materials. Put those into a fresh document, added colors, and I’m still getting the same behaviors.
Ultimately, I’m using my components across several models and I want them to be consistent, so I have a master file of just the components that I can copy/paste into my individual models. Is this not the best practice? Is there a better way for me to be working?
If you create a local collection of components you would just drag them in from the component browser rather than copy and paste from another model. It could well be that other model that is causing your duplication issues.
@Box, I’ve tried several times to drag component from the component browser in one model into another, and it does not work. Nothing happens at all except an audible system error chime.
Maybe you can show me what the correct process is, because I can’t seem to find any other way than to copy/paste them. The only other option I can imagine is to make a separate SketchUp file for each of these dozens of components, and load each individually, but that seems inefficient.
Your profile says you are running on macOS. Is that correct? If so, how are you opening two models at the same time? If not, please edit your profile to the correct information.
I ask because on macOS SketchUp follows the app-centric (aka MDI) convention that a single running instance of the app “owns” all open documents but only one is “active” at a time. You have to go to some extra effort to get two independent instances of SketchUp running at the same time. Have you done that or just opened a second model?
In the normal app-centric manner, even if two model view windows are open on the screen at the same time, only one of them is “active”. Dragging something from one to the other doesn’t tell SketchUp to activate the second model, so it fails. Copy/Paste is different in that paste won’t even work until you activate the second window as the target.
Yes, my profile information is totally accurate and up-to-date. Opening multiple SketchUp files on a Mac is the same as every other application. You simply open them and they each live in their own window. No extra effort whatsoever is required to do this on a Mac, at all. This is normal behavior.
The only reason I even tried dragging a component from one component browser onto a different model is because @Box suggested that is how I should be doing this. That is precisely why I’m copying and pasting.
Once again, I still experience this materials bug and so are many others. I wish someone would explain why this is happening and possibly offer a solution, because this is a behavior that is not intended, desired, or normal.
How is this done, if not by having all components in a single SketchUp document?
In Windows, I can’t drag a component from the component browser to another viewport either (I get a do not enter icon).
Please forgive me, but I think you have a serious misunderstanding of what macOS does. If you open another file, yes, it gets a new window on the screen. But that window is owned by the same running instance of the app and ordinarily only one such model window is active at a time. That’s why you see only one model info window, one layers window, one component browser, and they all display the info for just the active model. It is possible to write a document-centric app on Mac, but unconventional and rare. As I wrote before, when you drag from one model window into another, SketchUp does not activate the second model window to make it a drop target.
@Box runs Windows, not Mac, and I’m sure he would not claim any expertise on Mac. The process he described relies on the fact that Windows apps are, by convention, document-centric (aka SDI). Each open file in Windows is owned by a separate instance of the app, which makes it possible to drag-n-drop from one to another.
It’s not a “serious misunderstanding” by any means. I’ve been using macOS since the very first one. I was only responding to Box who suggested I try dragging from the components browser, saying that isn’t possible. You asked how I could possibly have two models open at once, and I simply reported the fact that I just have them open. It’s not a misunderstanding, serious or otherwise. I know how macOS works, and I know how SketchUp works with it. If you want to take up this discussion, do so with Box, as he is the one you’re discussing with.
I’m only trying to get to the bottom of this issue — dare I report, bug — so while I appreciate your timely responses, you are not, respectfully, helping at all.
YES! hard to pin down why it happens but it’s frustrating. for me it happens sometimes when importing the same material in on two different components. Creates a duplicate for some reason. Sorry I don’t have a good example, can’t do it on purpose.
In the file were all your frequently used components reside, click the in model collection icon (little house) then the blue details icon on the left (right-click) and choose ‘save as local collection’
Choose location and add to favorites, and when this collection is active in the component panel, drag in any window that is active.
FWIW, I prefer the same method for materials, as well (apply material from a saved collection rather then from the ‘original collections’
So here is something to test:
Start SketchUp (closing all windows first)
Delete everything, purge model
Create three components
Color the first from the colors collection,
Then change the list in materials panel to ‘in model’ collection and paint the second with the color that is listed.
Save as a collection.
Close file, open new (clean and purge!)and open the collection in the component panel.
Drag the first one in and watch the in model list in the material panel.
Second
Third
Change the order of components
What happen?
( on a phone at the moment)
Thanks, Mike. On the Mac, it looks like this and has no right-clicking, but I think it does the same thing. 
I’ve created a collection from those components, as you suggested, and what it’s done is create separate SketchUp files for each component in the selected folder. But it also created a bunch of components that I didn’t anticipate, such as one for each open file at the time of creation, as well as sub collections for each of those.
This way of using the components browser is totally new to me, so I’ve got some learning to do. Is it possible to add to the collection as I continue creating components? If so, I’d love to have a nice walkthrough of best practices.
Oh man, I really screwed things up!
I tried to delete the components collection that I created, and then it deleted the model from my computer completely! It’s not even in the trash. The file I had all my components in is gone entirely! Oh my god, my Time Machine I didn’t have set up this week so I lost everything that was in that file. 
I really need help, because this has become way more complicated than it should have been. I think I did things wrong. Oh no! I just lost hours and hours and hours of work.
Don’t do anything hasty.
The data is not gone.
There are apps to help recover “deleted” data.
I haven’t used one for years - but they do work in general.
This may be worth checking out…
I tried creating a local collection as well (windows).
Once I heard of your issue @monospaced - I changed the file name, then reverted to components in the model, then I went and deleted the local collection at source.
No models have been deleted with this process.
This might be expected and normal behavior, but when I created a collection, I believe I selected the wrong option, and what SketchUp did was create collections from everything within the folder structure on my computer, instead of from my open model. It then imported each folder and subfolder of models and components as separate collections (and sub-collections) in SketchUp.
When I tried to delete one of the new model/components from the Components browser, it did warn me the file would be deleted permanently. But I did it anyway, because I thought it would just move it to the trash. It really did delete it.
I was able to recover my files, but I really do need to learn a better — and the correct — process of creating, maintainig, updating and utilizing component collections.
Thanks @MikeWayzovski for your rundown. I’ll get going on the right way here and report if I see anything else fishy happening.
Maybe someone will post a YouTube video about this topic 