# Trimble Made a Huge Mistake—But It’s Not Too Late to Fix It **URL:** \ **Category:** SketchUp\ **Tags:** sketchup, modeling\ **Created:** [March 13, 2025, 3:00am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829 "2025-03-13T03:00:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![SE7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/se7/32/200778_2.png) [@SE7](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/SE7)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2025, 11:16pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/104 "2025-03-21T23:16:15Z")
Hamzah is right - speaking as a user, there was no reason to change Materials and th enew version is (a) inadequate in its scope and content, and (b) almost illegible on the screen. PLEASE reinstate the previous version of Materials. ---
**Author:** ![Hamzah198501](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/hamzah198501/32/265217_2.png) [@Hamzah198501](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Hamzah198501)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 1:08am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/105 "2025-03-22T01:08:46Z")
I was thinking along the same lines. The people behind these changes don’t seem like daily SketchUp users. Maybe they’re business-minded, maybe they’re viewing it through a product lens—but that’s not the same as modeling for hours every day. And that disconnect shows. If there’s a beta program, it should be front and center. Decisions like this shouldn’t be driven by assumptions—they should be shaped by the people who rely on this tool to get real work done. Because let’s be honest— **The best tools are built by the hands that actually use them.** ---
**Author:** ![Hamzah198501](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/hamzah198501/32/265217_2.png) [@Hamzah198501](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Hamzah198501)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 1:34am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/106 "2025-03-22T01:34:05Z")
I’m not sure what you mean by “removing them” or “using another location”—but here’s the reality: Most users rely on Twinmotion or D5 Render—and in those workflows, materials aren’t optional. They’re essential. SketchUp promotes itself as an architectural tool right on its main page. If that’s the position, then it needs to respect the tools architects actually use. And that means respecting Twinmotion and D5. Respect means compatibility. Removing or altering core materials without considering how it impacts these platforms? That’s not just a misstep—it’s a strategic mistake. **— Architecture is collaboration. Don’t break the chain.** ---
**Author:** ![Hamzah198501](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/hamzah198501/32/265217_2.png) [@Hamzah198501](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Hamzah198501)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 2:28am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/108 "2025-03-22T02:28:37Z")
> [@SE7](#): > > What??? > What are you talking about? This is way too complex - not all of us are computer boffins. I’ve grown up through pencil drafting and watercolor - CAD is fantastic especially 3D, BUT keep is simple > Why not just reinstate the previous version of Materials? Yeah, things got a little too “techy” for no reason. Meanwhile, I just did what any toddler would do: **copy → paste.** Dropped my 2024 folder into 2025 and suddenly I’m sitting on a material empire. Feels like I unlocked premium content—SketchUp DLC style. Even my D5 Render gave me a virtual thumbs-up. ![SketchUp_n7eKcZ3URR](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/original/3X/3/0/3092d02304e136a30882a7c3ce85d264eb2266e9.png) Now SketchUp feels like mine again. With bonus materials. ---
**Author:** ![SE7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/se7/32/200778_2.png) [@SE7](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/SE7)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 2:50am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/109 "2025-03-22T02:50:46Z")
Ah yeah, that sounds more my speed - thank you. **Stephen** ---
**Author:** ![SE7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/se7/32/200778_2.png) [@SE7](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/SE7)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 2:59am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/110 "2025-03-22T02:59:30Z")
So, to get my “Materials Empire” - do I literally drag the Sketchup 2024 icon onto the Sketchup 2025 icon and…kazam? I was quite happy with the previous Materials content and appearance - it’s a classic case of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” ---
**Author:** ![Hamzah198501](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/hamzah198501/32/265217_2.png) [@Hamzah198501](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Hamzah198501)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 3:04am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/111 "2025-03-22T03:04:27Z")
You don’t need to drag any icons — just copy the **Materials** folder from: `C:\ProgramData\SketchUp\SketchUp 2024\SketchUp` and paste it into: `C:\ProgramData\SketchUp\SketchUp 2025\SketchUp` No need to delete anything — the files seem to use different names, so nothing gets overwritten. Worked perfectly for me. Boom — everything’s back! ---
**Author:** ![Hamzah198501](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/hamzah198501/32/265217_2.png) [@Hamzah198501](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Hamzah198501)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 3:38am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/112 "2025-03-22T03:38:02Z")
> [@colin](#): > > I changed the title of this topic, because there are a lot of useful comments, and replies from Cassidy, and those were starting to be missed because of the original title sounding like the post was only a comment on the way Trimble works. > > For a couple of posts that were a bit off topic (I mean, now that I renamed it…), those posts are hidden, you should be able to read them if you want. > > There are other posts I would hide if I could, but those haven’t been flagged by anyone. If you’re really aiming for solid feedback on where things are headed, a dedicated thread would be the best way forward. This one’s already done its job. There’s nothing left to resolve here. Feel free to take it from here. ---
**Author:** ![MikeWayzovski](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/mikewayzovski/32/98346_2.png) [@MikeWayzovski](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/MikeWayzovski)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 7:30am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/113 "2025-03-22T07:30:22Z")
Let me try to explain. I replied on the post from @StudioSKP where he referred to the long internal discussion about including materials in the downloader. Being part of Trimble, with other apps like Tekla, Quadri, TBC it should be possible to have a common location of the materials. They can than be used by each app. Each installer would have a prompt when the installer sees that the folder exists or not, and the user will be notified. Every download after this (new release, new version, and even reinstall etc.) won’t be downloading the materials, saving a huge amount of data being transferred. Maybe, even web based apps could be using them.. > [@Hamzah198501](#): > > SketchUp promotes itself as an architectural tool right on its main page. If that’s the position, then it needs to respect the tools architects actually use. > > And that means respecting Twinmotion and D5. I do not know how many users these ‘tools’ have, but they would benefit as well, I guess. For sure Trimble’s own Visualizer could benefit and have some more way’s to engage with that resource @Aristodimos and @TheCGO **—- In software, collaboration is key, too** ---
**Author:** ![Hamzah198501](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/hamzah198501/32/265217_2.png) [@Hamzah198501](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Hamzah198501)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 9:17am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/114 "2025-03-22T09:17:35Z")
Just realizing now that some people here are on Macs, and that really puts things into perspective. It feels like there are two very different user groups — those using Mac laptops with limited rendering options, and those on PCs using tools like D5, Twinmotion, and more. So if SketchUp is moving in a more rendering-lite direction to accommodate Mac laptop users, that kind of explains the decisions. ---
**Author:** ![endlessfix](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/endlessfix/32/148757_2.png) [@endlessfix](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/endlessfix)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/115 "2025-03-22T14:57:12Z")
Twinmotion works great on Mac, I use it everyday, it also uses shapes, spheres, to display textures by the way. There are many other different rendering programs beyond the two you keep mentioning. ---
**Author:** ![colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/colin/32/266703_2.png) [@colin](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/colin)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/116 "2025-03-22T15:47:23Z")
Closing the topic was another option, but then we would lose the ongoing discussion with Cassidy. ---
**Author:** ![colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/colin/32/266703_2.png) [@colin](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/colin)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/117 "2025-03-22T15:55:46Z")
The D5 developers say they are exploring Mac compatibility. Vray and Enscape are popular on Mac. SketchUp already has a few Windows-only options, Scan Essentials and Revit for example. I don’t think an advanced graphics feature would be held back purely because it would only help Windows users. All of the advanced material options I know of would help Mac users as well. I feel sure the graphics team will add things as quickly as they can. ---
**Author:** ![Hamzah198501](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/hamzah198501/32/265217_2.png) [@Hamzah198501](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Hamzah198501)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2025, 6:05am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/118 "2025-03-23T06:05:12Z")
Well, if it’s not for MacBook or laptop users… then maybe it’s for iPad users. Maybe that’s what this update is really about—smaller install size, basic rendering, streamlined experience. But then again… the tablet market is shrinking. So we’re back to square one. Still not sure who this was really meant for. Maybe it’s better to let it go—for now. Feels like we’re all just running in circles at this point. Thanks for the chat, folks. Wishing you all good modeling. ---
**Author:** ![SE7](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/se7/32/200778_2.png) [@SE7](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/SE7)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/119 "2025-03-24T21:22:53Z")
Thank you Hamzah, very helpful.🙏 **Stephen** ---
**Author:** ![evgeny27](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/evgeny27/32/243558_2.png) [@evgeny27](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/evgeny27)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 7:58pm UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/120 "2025-06-03T19:58:48Z")
Thanks for the clarification, I completely understand the reasoning behind switching to a unified cube preview, especially considering UV limitations on non-flat geometry. However, this change presents a real issue for users who rely on SketchUp materials not just as generic textures, but as precisely positioned images — such as posters, packaging, labels, or photo-based textures. In these cases, **aspect ratio is critical**. The new **square preview** distorts these materials, making it much harder to visually identify them in the tray, especially when working with a large library of vertical or horizontal assets. In SketchUp 2024 and earlier, the flat preview preserved the original proportions, which made managing such materials much easier. Could we please bring back the option to display 2D previews in their **true aspect ratio**? Even applying this only to non-procedural, flat-image materials would make a meaningful difference. There are screenshots to compare: ![2024](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/original/3X/0/9/096a616b916f29b2c9d03bdada923019c8bfe0cf.png) ![2025](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/original/3X/f/6/f6aebb42ee591f962c0de45d89715762ddc6abd4.png) Thanks again for listening — I really appreciate the direction you’re taking, and I hope this can be part of the ongoing improvements. ---
**Author:** ![dj83659](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@dj83659](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/dj83659)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 10:06am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/121 "2025-07-07T10:06:54Z")
[quote=“Hamzah198501, post:28, topic:318829”] 2025 materials folder > [@Hamzah198501](#): > > Anyway, I ended up restoring my setup. All I had to do was delete the 2025 materials folder and drop the 2024 one back in. Can you tell me how to do that? I also disdain the new material cubes. ---
**Author:** ![AnnoNiem](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/annoniem/32/181618_2.png) [@AnnoNiem](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/AnnoNiem)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2025, 10:35am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/122 "2025-07-07T10:35:12Z")
Would love to see a version without the need of workarounds! What will be next? Disable the basic draw circle feature, since you can also draw a million small lines to create a circle? This millenium may be the (knak-)worst of my sketchup experience… Never had these workarounds or “go back a version” with other programs, like (open)office, autocad, microstation, irfanview, totalcommander, paint, qgis, etc, enz, you name it! ---
**Author:** ![gsmdesign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d07c76/32.png) [@gsmdesign](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/gsmdesign)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 10:52am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/123 "2025-07-29T10:52:42Z")
As i’ve stated in a previous post I’ve gone back to using Sketchup 2024… I simply hate the 2025 Sketchup materials downgrade, who on earth thought this was a good idea, the old menu was so quick and easy to see know most materials are gone with huge iso squares for the few that remain. Glad i did not uninstall 2024. ---
**Author:** ![Box](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/sketchup/user_avatar/forums.sketchup.com/box/32/235164_2.png) [@Box](https://forums.sketchup.com/u/Box)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2025, 10:54am UTC](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829/124 "2025-07-29T10:54:58Z")
So you have joined the forum to complain about changes without bothering to take a few minutes to understand how to work with the updated system. You can easily use it as it was. [Previous page](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829.md?page=5) [Next page](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/trimble-made-a-huge-mistake-but-it-s-not-too-late-to-fix-it/318829.md?page=7)