My Layout File Won't Open Anymore

LayOut
1

Hello,

I have an issue: my *.layout file no longer opens. I was working on it yesterday and was able to export it to *.pdf without any problem. Today, I needed to make some modifications, but when I tried to reopen it, I got a message saying that a more recent version of the file had been saved.

I tried opening the more recent version, but it just opened a new blank, untitled file. So, I attempted to open the original file instead of the recent version, but I received the message: *"Unable to open the document .layout."

I’m using macOS Sequoia 15.3.1, and what’s strange is that when I preview the document without opening it, the file appears correctly.

Can anyone help me ? Thanks in advance !

Lien du document

3

There was something wrong in the file. I managed to rebuild it, but there may be missing items, watch out for that.

It appears to be a LayOut 2024 file, you could update your forum profile, anyone trying to help would have used LayOut 2022 first.

The embedded SketchUp model, SCI Choiseul - Version 1.2 et 1.3_268.skp, has problems. As soon as you get this file open in LayOut, go into Document Setup… References, and relink the SKP to your latest working SketchUp model.

Here’s the recovered LayOut file:

I think you are using an older version of SketchUp 2024. You could update to the latest one, or even try SketchUp 2025. You can get those here:

4

Hello,

Thank you very much for your feedback. You are absolutely right, I completely forgot to update my profile. I’ll do that right away and take the opportunity to upgrade to the 2025 version of SketchUp and LayOut.

I was able to open the file without any issues and relink it to my most recent SKP model. Nothing seems to be missing, but I will take a closer look.

Thanks again, your help is truly valuable. Wishing you a wonderful day !

5

Hello, it’s me again. I’m reaching out because the problem has returned.

After your response, I was able to open the document, link the SketchUp model reference, and for the few days following your reply, I had no issues—I was able to edit, open, close, export and save my LayOut file without any problem… but today, it’s not working anymore.

I’m experiencing exactly the same issue: either the file won’t open at all, or when I try to retrieve the last saved version, nothing opens.

Six days ago, I switched to the 2025 version. I’m attaching the LayOut file and the SketchUp reference file.

I don’t understand where the problem is coming from. Thanks for your help.

Lien WeTransfer : *.LayOut + *.Skp

6

There is something wrong with the SKP inside the LayOut document. The one in there has a name of SCI Choiseul - Version 1.2 et 1.3_268, and the separate SKP you gave is named SCI Choiseul - Version 1.2 et 1.3.skp. Not sure if the _268. was added by you or by LayOut.

Either way, I replaced the bad SKP with the good one, and then saved a new LayOut file:

7

Thank you very much. It’s strange, I went to check in ~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2025/LayOut/working, and it seems that my different LayOut files for this client are linked to the file ‘SCI Choiseul Version 1.2 et 1.3_268’. However, this is not a backup that I created myself; it’s something that SketchUp did on its own. What is also strange is that I had properly linked the LayOut file to my SketchUp file ‘SCI Choiseul Version 1.2 et 1.3’, and yet LayOut later modified this reference.

I’m encountering the same issue with another document, ‘AGCT.layout’, but not with the others. This document was working perfectly until 3:35 PM, and I don’t know why it stopped working since then, as nothing has changed.

Is there something I can do on my own to avoid bothering you again ?

LayOut file “AGCT.layout”

When I reopen the LayOut file you sent, the software asks me if I want to update these references. Maybe a conflict is occurring between two versions of the SKP file, but I don’t know how to reset LayOut’s cache.

Capture d’écran 2025-03-06 à 17.37.27
Capture d’écran 2025-03-06 à 17.37.271920×1080 90.9 KB

Capture d’écran 2025-03-06 à 17.37.38
Capture d’écran 2025-03-06 à 17.37.381920×1080 91.2 KB

8

I was able to fix that one in the same way:

I have asked the LayOut team if they could make it possible for users to relink bad files, rather than completely fail to open the file.

For those update questions, I think you can let it update them. That will link in the latest version of the files.

There are a few ways to get a SketchUp model into LayOut. I would expect Send to LayOut, or File/Insert, to keep the model name intact. If you ever get the model there by doing a copy in SketchUp and a paste in LayOut, then I can imagine there being a change to the name.

9

I saw one of your crashes - and you’re grabbing that skp for the LO document from another /Volume? Is that a network volume or one local to your machine? If it’s networked, have you noticed latency?

b

10

Hello,

All my files are indeed saved on a NAS server.

I haven’t experienced any latency, but it’s true that one of the four disks failed and won’t be replaced until next week. So the NAS is currently running on three disks instead of four…

I don’t see a connection between the two, especially since this issue only affects some LayOut files, even though they are all linked to the same SKP file. But maybe you’re right, and there’s something to investigate in that direction.

Thanks.

11

Thanks again for your feedback. That would indeed be a good improvement.

As for my workflow, it has always been the same: I save my SKP file, send it to LayOut, and keep the automatic reference update enabled. I duplicate my LayOut pages, right-click on my 3D model, and change the scene. I repeat this process for each page in my LayOut file.

When working simultaneously on LayOut and SKP, I make my modifications in the SKP file, save it, switch back to my LayOut file, right-click, and update the model reference.

12

Hello everyone, I’m reopening this topic because I’m experiencing the same issue again.

My layout file was working perfectly fine until last night, and this morning when I tried to open it, I got the same error message saying that it can’t be opened.
I’m attaching the layout file to this message.

I should mention that this is a different layout file linked to a different 3D file — it’s not the same project folder as last time.

Lien du document *.layout

13

Inside the LayOut file is a SketchUp model named Soyez_268. That model is missing some data from the end. Look to see if you still have a working version of that SketchUp file.

If you do, then open this LayOut document, go to File, Document Setup… References, and relink the missing SKP:

PDN+PE minus SKP.layout (570.8 KB)

14

It’s strange, it’s the same thing as last time.

I didn’t create the file Soyez_268.skp… it’s a file that was created by the software itself and is located in ~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2025/LayOut/working.

What does this correspond to? Is this normal behavior ? Could this explain the crashes ? How can I ensure that the *.skp file always remains the one I started with and not a version created by the software ?

15

That folder is where LayOut files are expanded to when you are working on them. The .layout file has the Soyez_268.skp embedded in it, and that was done by whoever placed the SKP into the LayOut document.

Normally you would then work on the SKP and update the LayOut document, or you would right-click on the viewport in LayOut, and open the model in SketchUp. In either case, the file being worked on is an external file somewhere on your hard drive.

If that original file is deleted, the embedded file is still there, and will appear in the working folder.

One possibility is that some geometry was copied from SketchUp, and pasted in LayOut. In that case the embedded file is the only copy. Then LayOut might save the viewport as a SKP.

16

Hello everyone, it’s me again. With the same problem again.

Yesterday, I had to create two *.LayOut files from my Soyez.skp file. Everything was fine until this morning, when neither of them would open, showing the same error message: ‘Unable to open the document’…

I tried going to ‘~/Library/Application Support/SketchUp 2025/LayOut/working’ and saving my *.skp file directly in that folder (it didn’t work). Then I tried deleting the *.skp file named ‘4101671057_Soyez_268.skp’ to try what Colin did — that is, delete the linked *.skp file and open the *.layout file in order to relink it manually.
Mainly to avoid having to come back to the forum and waste Colin’s time having him send me a ‘…MINUS-SKP’ file, and to be able to move forward quickly with my work. But I didn’t succeed.

So I’m asking for your help again.

And if the issue can’t be resolved, is there a trick I could use to create a ‘…MINUS-SKP’ file myself next time, so I don’t lose time again? It’s really holding up my work, especially since deadlines are particularly tight at the moment. Thanks again.

@Colin :
Thanks again for your help. Let me reiterate my workflow, which I believe is correct: I save my SKP file as client_name.skp and send it to LayOut. I duplicate my LayOut pages, right-click on my 3D model, and change the scene. I repeat this process for each page in my LayOut file.

When I need to make changes to the SketchUp file, I make the modifications in the SKP file, save it, then go back to my LayOut file, right-click, and update the model reference. I always follow the same procedure. And I never include a number in the name of my .skp files, so @Colin, when you say :

The .layout file has the Soyez_268.skp embedded in it, and that was done by whoever placed the SKP into the LayOut document

I want to clarify that I inserted the file named Soyez.skp, not Soyez_268.skp. I don’t understand why the file is automatically changed to Soyez_268.skp.

Could that possibly be the source of the problem?

Lien vers les fichiers LayOut

17

Your workflow seems correct.

The number before and after the model name are put there by LayOut. If an embedded copy of 4101671057_Soyez_268.skp had become corrupted in the working folder, you could delete that file and relink to the original Soyez.skp.

I don’t usually do live changes in the working folder. My steps for your file would be like in this screen recording:

The utility I use, The Unarchiver, shows the names of files that have problems while unzipping them, and that tells me which SKP files need to be relinked. I delete those files and compress everything else back into a new zip, that I rename to .layout. That then opens in LayOut, with the SKP missing, and I would relink to the original SKP.

Copying the original named SKP into the working folder won’t help.

18

Thank you very much, Colin.

I was able to “fix” my faulty *.layout files thanks to your instructions and continue making progress on this project.

Even though I don’t understand why it sometimes malfunctions while other times everything works perfectly… at least now it won’t block me for too long.

Thanks again, and have a great day!