I would like to see an option to send all scenes to Layout instead of only the active scene.
The menu option: File/Send to Layout… currently sends only the active scene to Layout.
When sending to Layout, a dialog box could be presented to the SU user that:
Allows for selection of the current or all scenes
The line scale used by LO
The rendering option (vector, raster, or hybrid)
The scale (select the scale or zoom each scene to fit).
Upon selecting a LO template, multiple pages would be created in LO, each with a Viewport containing a view of each SU scene in the SKP file.
If the user selects a template that already has Pages, the export should not overwrite any pages, but add pages based on the scene option selected. For instance, if there is a Cover Sheet page in the template, don’t write to it and don’t overwrite it.
Others may have input here, but these options would meet the basic needs and reduce the workflow in LO of having to duplicate each page, update the scene, etc. If there are several dozen scenes in the SU drawing, this can become quite tedious.
You could set up a LayOut template to do this now.
I would ask if your feature request is developed, how would you determine which viewport is shown on which page? What if the user wants more than one viewport on a page? How would that be handled? In my SketchUp and LayOut work I almost never have just a single viewport on a page. In many cases I also have multiple viewports on multiple pages that all use the same scene in the SketchUp model. How would that be handled with your exporter?
I would ask if your feature request is developed, how would you determine which viewport is shown on which page? - If a scene exists in SU, it would be added as a page in LO in the order that they are shown in SU. Right now, only the current scene is sent to LO. I would like to see all scenes sent to LO.
What if the user wants more than one viewport on a page? How would that be handled? - Manually in LO, like we do now.
In my SketchUp and LayOut work I almost never have just a single viewport on a page. - I almost always have a single viewport on page. If I need extra viewports, I will add and manipulate them manually.
In many cases I also have multiple viewports on multiple pages that all use the same scene in the SketchUp model. How would that be handled with your exporter? - Again, not the goal to fully manage the output to LO - just to get ALL of the scenes into LO for me to work with at will. Right now, I get one scene and then it’s up to me to create any additional pages, manipulate the viewports, etc.
Not sure what you mean that I can setup a LO template to do that now. Perhaps you could point me to a resource that shows how I can have a custom LO template that receives all of my Scenes. I have templates that include a cover sheet, default details layouts, etc. But if I Send to Layout and select that template, I only get the current scene and I’m still doing most of the legwork. If the pages and viewports are created for me, I only have to copy, paste, move and size the viewport into where I want it. Most of the time, I would just leave it is because it already conveys what I’m trying to display. If the scene is not in the drawing, I have to copy, paste, move, size, change the scene reference, and update any options I want for that viewport. The goal of the added functionality is to reduce the number of steps I’m taking regularly in LO.
You can do this already. SKP template keyed to a LO template. If the scenes from each don’t match they get filled in with the first scene in the model. I use this everyday…
Make a SKP template with scenes you want - for my SKP template I have plan views, section views, 3d views, etc. these have the proper tags turned on, proper style selected, section cuts active, etc. When I start a new project I use this template. I may add some things, delete some things, change where section cuts are, etc.
Create a LO template with as many pages as you want. Have it linked to a dummy SKP file that was setup from your SKP template. You can have multiple viewports per page, titleblocks, etc. I auto text my page names, have lots of stuff already filled in, etc. I do this for schematics design and I have one adapted to construction documents. The CD one takes more time to tweak after as every project is so different - but it saves a lot of work.
Save this as a LO template.
When you ‘send to layout’ and your new project that you started with the SKP template and choose the LO template that goes with that file it will update the scenes in your LO file with the scenes from your SKP file. Sometimes I will adjust the scale, or add a few pages of extra views.
Not everything is perfect, and it needs some adjustment, but it saves a huge amount of work.
I was going to record a video this morning to show you but @bmike has covered it. Here are some screenshots illustrating that with a template I use.
This is the first sheet of one of my templates. Three viewports showing a scenes of a proxy model. They are rendered as Vector and the line scale is set as I want it for a typical project. There’s also a proxy .xlsx spreadsheet.
The SketchUp project has scenes with the exact same names. Obviously the template can have as many pages as you want and as many viewports on each page as you need. If you frequently use images in your projects you could have proxies set up for them, too.
To use the template I open it in LayOut and immediately go into Document Setup>References, highlight the .skp reference, click relink and relink it to my project .skp file. I also relink the .xlsx reference while I’m at it. And a bunch of the project specific page text is auto text so I also go to the Auto Text section and replace that text. (The title block and other page text is on layers that remain locked almost always.)
After the relink there is sometimes a need to resize viewports in my case because the physical size of the object I’m model can vary quite a lot. That’s fixed by dragging the edges of the viewports as needed.
Here are the first two page of a project using this template.
The second page ended up with an additional viewport because I didn’t have space for it elsewhere.
FWIW, the page names from the Pages panel are used at the bottom of the pages so they are auto text. All of the labels on the exploded view use auto text so I don’t have to type any of that in LayOut.
Somewhere in a recent post (last 2-3) months I showed a quick screen capture how I move from SKP to LO with this process. I can’t find it at the moment…
If OP thinks about how LO and SKP work they will be well on their way with setting up his own template.
I also do like @bmike and @DaveR describe. When creating your Sketchup template pay attention to your camera in each scene if you want the Layout view port to be close on import. I dont normally worry about this. (but I should) I just like having the view port populated and close based on the Sketchup scene. My tags are already setup in the Sketchup Template so as I draw I just assign groups and components to them. Im an old school draftsman so I use guide lines more than most to align view ports and things like Grid Labels. Those are on each sheet in the Layout template so they simply have to be moved or copied if necessary along with some grid labels. I usually place view labels after adjusting the viewport along with dimensions and notes but that could be better automated than I do. Its just personal preference.
One note dont let SU purge your tags it will strip empty tags that you intend as place holders from your template.
Sketchup and Layout can do a lot and dont force you to do things a certain way. I personally love that. It just takes a little understanding.
Remember you can always update the camera position in the scenes in SketchUp. In the perspective view in my example the camera is above and to the right in front of the model but there’s no reason it could be below and behind the model if that was appropriate for the model.
As Ivan pointed out, your SketchUp template can have your standard tags set up and you can give those tags to the groups and components in your model. (Remember to avoid tagging geometry).
Keep in mind that if you override scene properties for viewports in LayOut, those viewports may not accurately reflect the scenes in your project file. Especially don’t modify the Camera properties.
Set up your elevation scenes so the camera height is identical for all. This will make alignment of the elevation in layout automatic. Set up all plan scenes using the same camera position so the plane scenes also line up automatically in LayOut. You can always crop viewports if needed by dragging their edges and/or using clipping masks.
The response by @endlessfix Riley was closest to what I’m looking for. I’ve been using SU since 2009 and am intimately familiar with getting a SU file into a LO template with the views I want. I simply wanted the ability to quickly send all of the views into a LO file in one click.
As a side note, I use the CabinetSense software plugin and the developer has included an export to LO function that does a great job. However, in v2025, the function crashes SU. It works perfectly in v2024.
It should also be noted that the solution provided by Riley also crashes SU v2025. Haven’t tried it yet in v2024…
Thanks @DaveR for the screenshots - I use a lot of the same procedures.
It’s a simple extension with few options but for what it does it’s useful. One other small function of the extension you can leverage: once exported to Layout the extension names each page with the scene name, so if you have an auto text on an every page layer you get scene name labels on each page. By being intentional with scene names in SKUP this can make for an added workflow bonus.
I am still in 24 for my daily workflow, so I have not tested in 25 but I have it installed and will test later today.
The extension is limited, it allows users to chose some basic paper sizes and the page orientation, then populates a fresh Layout doc with one page per scene, and the pages named by scene. It’s quick and simple but I find it useful from time to time. It is not part of a workflow for making detailed con docs, but a way to output a series of images that respect different style choices quickly into a labeled or branded and shareable PDF booklet through Layout.
@JStockCo I have tested in SketchUp 24 and 25, the extension works fine for me in both.
Here we are in SketchUp 25. Copy Paste or Scrapbook in a quick set of autotext on an every page layer (I randomly chose these to demonstrate the idea), add a personal logo and get somthing one can share with collaborators or stakeholders very quickly. Dimensions, Labels and other Layout tricks optional.
