Sketchup Pro 2020 - MAC
This problem is specific to Mac - Saving materials
The problem is that when you save a new texture/material it does not stay saved, when you close sketchup down and open a new template those materials are not there. Yes the materials will been in the existing project but not in the new template.
So when you save them where do they go? as they do not seem to go into the materials folder in Sketchup.
This problem has been happen since Sketchup 2017 with real fix.
How you are going about saving them? What steps exactly?
Materials are not normally saved in a template. They are normally saved in collections.
You can save you’re own templates, yes? You could save you’re own template with the material included in the “In Model” collection. The kludge I know to get a material from one model to the next is to copy a surface or object with the material in it, and paste it into the other. You can delete the object, and the material remains “In Model” until you purge unused.
I suspect a lesson in creating your own collection is a more robust solution, and not all that intuitive on the Mac? I’m no master of managing materials myself.
Yes. You could save a template with your materials in it however that is a kludge. That method is problematic because you it will bloat your file and if the materials aren’t actually used in the model, purging unused will discard them.
I just want to save materials so they are there to be used next time.
Forget the template.
Even if you open a new model (simple Metric) the material previously saved are not there, why?
Open the old model and sure the materials are there. What is going on.
It sounds like you aren’t taking any steps to actually save the materials except in that model. Until you do something to save them somewhere else, they won’t be available in other models. The native materials that are included with SketchUp are not in the template. They are saved in a directory of materials that can be accessed from any SketchUp file. You need to save your custom materials so they can be used in the future.
To save a Material for future use it must be saved in a list inside the materials browser. Switch to a view of all the material lists by clicking on the brick icon in the materials browser. The stock lists and their materials, like “asphalt and concrete” Glass and Mirrors" are there, they are un-editable. To save custom materials for use in all SketchUp files you must first make a new list. From the list menu at the bottom chose new and you will be prompted to give your new list a name, this will make a new empty list which you can drag materials into from the current material swatch box in the lower left. Or, set the material browser to the “in model” materials and from the list menu below choose duplicate, you will be prompted to give your new list a name and the new list will have a copy of every material that was in the list which you duplicated. Note that lists are presented alphabetically and this is not controllable, to keep things organized I start all my custom lists with the letter z so they stay grouped at the bottom of the list.
There are Quirks on the mac interface: Colors cannot be removed from a list via the material browser, the remove option does not work, it’s a bug. Lists cannot be renamed or removed via the material browser, again this option is present in the menu system but it does not work. To manage the list names and delete lists or individual materials from an existing list it’s best to enter the file system and do this manually. The file pathways are available under Preferences>Files>Materials, hit the folder icon on the right.
Some more reading on this complex subject: