A Beginner's Guide To SketchUp For Landscape Architects

Prévia do material em texto

Landscape Architects Network Publications
A Beginner’s Guide To SketchUp 
For Landscape Architects
By Kevin J. Pfeiffer
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Initial Thoughts………………………………………………
At First Glance………………………………………………
The Mouse……………………………………………………
Menus………………………………………………………
From Scratch…………………………………………………
What’s The Deal With Selections?……………………………
Moving, Scaling, & Rotating Objects…………………………
Components / Groups………………………………………
Styles………………………………………………………
Animation + Camera Basics…………………………………
Camera View Options………………………………………
Exporting……………………………………………………
3D Warehouse / Extension Warehouse / Google Earth……
Contours From Google Earth…………………………………
Making Your Own Trees……………………………………
Divide / Multiply / Build A Forest……………………………
Layer Management…………………………………………
AutoCAD To SketchUp………………………………………
Quickly Building………………………………………………
In House Render………………………………………………
Layers To Photoshop…………………………………………
Setting Up Your File…………………………………………
Filling In The Details…………………………………………
Adding Entourage……………………………………………
Start Yesterday!………………………………………………
Table of Contents
Getting Around
Let’s Build
Let’s Render
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Initial Thoughts On SketchUp
 Clear your mind for 
just a moment and try to 
imagine a gray cube. Turn it 
over in your mind left, then 
right, then left again. Now 
try to copy five of those 
cubes identically, make them 
twice as tall, and space 
them evenly. Paint each 
cube a different color of 
your choosing and throw 
in some trees around each 
new ‘building’. Now take 
all of the buildings and 
make their sizes random 
and put at least twenty 
windows on each of them. 
After a point this becomes 
too daunting for your mind 
to handle. Transferring your 
visions of site design and 
concept from mind to paper 
becomes such a daunting 
task you may want to give 
up before your start. But, 
there is a simple solution in 
the marketplace - a solution 
that maximizes your time 
and lets you experiment with 
not hundreds but multiple 
of thousands of elements 
in a design. This solution is 
called SketchUp, a powerful 
program utilized by not only 
landscape architects but a 
plethora of other design 
professions. 
I have always thought that 
SketchUp is like playing 
with Legos, but on the 
computer. Just like Legos, 
Sketchup is easy to pick 
up but as you dive deeper 
into the program’s uses 
you’ll learn there can be a 
steep learning curve. Not 
unlike how a 4 year old can 
play with Legos but also a 
30 year old engineer can 
pursue a career in crafting 
with Lego. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This beginner’s guide to 
SketchUp for landscape 
architects will tackle the 
basics of SketchUp, it will 
give you a place to find your 
feet, and hopefully point 
you in the right direction on 
how to hone your craft of 3D 
modeling. SketchUp has an 
incredibly strong community 
producing free components 
as well as extensions, it is 
incredibly easy to pick up 
and hard to put down, and 
it is an industry standard 
program that most every 
office will be able to use 
and collaborate under. 
This book is in no way a 
complete guide to SketchUp 
but more of a way to 
become comfortable with 
the program. So let’s get 
started and jump right into 
this guide on getting started 
with SketchUp for landscape 
architects. 
it is incredibly 
easy to pick 
up and hard to 
put down
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Getting Around
…So let’s start with the first thing you see when opening SketchUp. Fairly simple with only 
a few icons to click throughout. This is something very nice about the SketchUp, there is 
plenty of room in the model area to draw.
At First Glace
menus drawing tools model area status bar
Menus: Standard for most 
every computer program out 
there, this is where you can 
find every option available 
in the drop down menus. I 
will further explain each 
drop down shortly.
 
Drawing tools: This initial 
list of drawing tools given to 
you are the most basic tools 
in SketchUp. I suggest to 
click each one and see what 
they do. As well if you hover 
over each icon, you will get 
a short description. 
Model area: This is the area 
you will be interacting most 
with. Here you will model, 
manipulate, and build!
 
Status bar: The status bar 
is often overlooked in 
SketchUp. You can use the 
status bar to make exact 
measurements of your 
geometry, like in AutoCAD. 
As well it will constantly give 
you feedback as you build.
TIP: Right click the gray 
area next to the drawing 
tools to pull up all the 
other toolbars you want 
to make active. I always 
have shadows, styles, 
sandbox, large tool set, and 
warehouse turned on. This 
will make using SketchUp 
even more efficient.
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Getting Around The Mouse
orbit pan zoom
+ shift
Orbit allows you to take 
control and become a pilot. 
Simply click in on your mouse 
wheel and move your mouse 
around. Left, right, up, down, 
and in between. Wherever 
you click your mouse 
wheel, SketchUp will use 
as an anchor point to move 
around. This is one of the 
most vital concepts to get 
down when using SketchUp, 
so make sure you are 
comfortable with orbiting. 
While you could click the 
orbit icon on the large tool 
set, using a mouse is much 
more efficient.
The difference between 
orbit and pan is subtle yet 
extremely different. While 
both are moving your “view” 
around, orbit approaches 
it in a 3D aspect while 
pan locks you into a 2D 
movement. With pan you 
will be able to move in 
every direction but this time 
only on a single plane. I 
find this tool best used to 
navigate around my whole 
model, instead of inspecting 
a single piece of it.
…The hardest part of modeling in 3D space on a 2D screen is navigation. It will feel very 
strange at first but with some practice the act of orbiting, panning, and zooming will feel 
natural. Think of yourself as a cameraman on a movie set and the model area is your lens. 
While some can model with just a track pad, I would say it is essential to have a mouse 
with a scroll wheel to use SketchUp.
before before beforeafter after after
TIP: Use Ctrl + Shift + E to 
zoom out to see the whole 
model that you have been 
making. This saves so much 
time, instead of zooming 
manually out with the scroll 
wheel constantly.
Zoom should be the most 
natural movement you 
achieve while navigating 3D 
space since we are so used 
to using it in other computer 
software. Simple scroll the 
mouse wheel in and out to 
zoom in and out.
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MenusGetting Around
…While much of SketchUp is easily accessed through the use of tool bars and icons, which 
are highly customizable, to access the most fine grain actions one must use the menus. Let’s 
quickly go over what can be found in each so you can familiarize yourself with them.
File: One of my most often 
used menus. Here you will 
find the standard save, 
open, and create actions. 
As well as exporting and 
importing data types from 
SketchUp.
Edit: Probably my least used 
menu due to the fact that 
most all of these commands 
can be carried out by 
shortcuts. Regardless, you 
can find commands to take 
on selected object in this 
menu. 
View: This menu holds 
commands that affect the 
look of your user interface 
or the model itself. I mostly 
use this menu to tweak my 
edge style.
Camera: A powerful set 
of tools for controlling 
your camera’sview. To get 
standard orthographic views 
turn on “parallel projection” 
and then choose the views 
you want. Using this, I 
sometimes draft in SketchUp 
rather than AutoCAD.
Draw: I rarely use this menu 
due to the fact that its tools 
are easier to locate on 
the large tool set or by a 
shortcut.
Tools: Another menu I don’t 
often use to the fact its tools 
are easier to get to on the 
large tool set or by shortcut. 
Although the advanced 
camera tool is a powerful 
set of options for setting up 
a scene you want to export.
Windows: This menu hosts 
all of the extra fine grain 
details for SketchUp, 
from materials to styles. 
Make sure you become 
accustomed to most all of 
the tools in this menu. Also, 
for beginners I suggest 
turning on the “Instructor” 
which will guide you through 
each tool you select!
Plugins: This is where 
your installed plugins are 
housed. They are extremely 
important, more on them 
later.
Help: Typical boiler plate 
information for most 
computer programs can be 
found here. 
TIP: Make your own 
shortcuts! Go to Window 
> Preferences > Shortcuts. 
From here you can search 
all of the possible actions 
in SketchUp and make your 
own. This will massively 
quicken your work. My 
favorite is assigning Ctrl + L 
for opening the layers menu
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From ScratchLet’s Build!
…So now that we have familiarized ourselves with SketchUp’s layout let’s begin building 
our first objects. This truly is the most enriching part of SketchUp and not to mention one of 
the easiest. 
Understanding lines / surfaces: In the exercise you used a series of lines to create a 
surface. Whenever a closed circuit of lines is made SketchUp will generate a surface 
bound inside of it. Understanding the is essential to using SketchUp. These lines and 
surfaces are independently selectable, more on that later
Understanding the axis: Because SketchUp is a 3D modeling program it functions in the 
realm of three dimensions. These axis are color coded for our convenience. Y being green, 
X being red, and Z being blue. So in order to draw the flat square above you do not want 
to draw on the blue axis at all! 
First press “L” on your 
keyboard to activate your 
line tool. Snapping to the 
red and green axis and 
typing 5’ (just go ahead and 
type then press enter) draw 
a square. This will result in a 
square surface.
Now press “P” on your 
keyboard to activate your 
push/pull tool. This will allow 
you to bring up and down 
your objects. All I did was 
click the surface and pulled 
up a bit, then type “5’” to 
make a perfect cube. 
Now let’s make use of the 
rectangle tool (R) to make 
this quicker. Draw a 10’,10’ 
rectangle next to your cube, 
then extrude is 10’ in the air.
TIP: An incredibly easy 
way to repeat push/pull 
commands is to double click 
on the surface you want 
to repeat the extrusion to. 
Example, if I double clicked 
the top surface of my cube 
now, it would be 10’ tall. This 
becomes very handy when 
modeling stairs and such.
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one click two click three click
The most basic selection you 
can make is the ‘one click’. 
Either clicking once on a 
surface’s face or edge. From 
here you could manipulate 
the face or edge with a 
plethora of tools.
…Adding and subtracting selections can be tricky when it 
comes to key combinations. But follow this guide to make 
sense of it all.
Holding shift will bring up the “+ and -” sign next 
to your cursor. This means that things unselected, 
when clicked, will become selected. As well things 
selected, when clicked will become unselected.
The second option is to hold down the ctrl key. This 
will bring up only the “+” sign, meaning when you 
select things only additions will be made to your 
selection.
Finally, the least well known, holding down shift 
and ctrl will bring up the “-” symbol. This will 
cause anything you select to become unselected. 
The second option is to 
double click on a face. This 
will select the face and 
all edges touching it. This 
is important for selecting 
whole sides of an object.
My favorite and often lesser 
known type of selection is 
the triple click. If you triple 
click an object, it will select 
all faces and all edges 
of that object. Great for 
wanting to manipulate the 
whole object!
What’s The Deal With Selections?Let’s Build!
…An action that you will be constantly be performing is making a selection. It’s used for 
everything in SketchUp and understanding the dynamics of how to make selections and 
the different types of selections there are is vital. So press the spacebar to bring up the 
selection tool and let’s begin!
+
+
-
-
TIP: You can also make 
selections by dragging your 
mouse to make a bounding 
box. If you drag right to 
left, all objects it touches will 
be selected. If you draft left 
to right, only objects wholly 
in the bounding box will be 
selected.
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Moving, Scaling, & Rotating Objects
Moving Scaling Rotating
Let’s Build!
…Now that we understand the concept of how to extrude and select objects let’s dive 
deeper in how to manipulate them. You’ll be surprised on the similarities between the 3.
Moving objects is one of the 
easiest, yet most nuanced 
commands in SketchUp. Press 
M, but make sure you select 
the whole object (triple click, 
or select it with a bounding 
box). If you don’t select all 
of the surfaces and edges, 
you’ll drag only those 
entities, see below what 
happens if you do that.
Scaling objects works much 
the same as moving an 
object. Make sure you select 
the whole object, if not, 
you’ll scale only the edges/
surfaces selected. Press S to 
bring up the scale tool. From 
there you can type in the 
scale you want in the status 
bar or choose an anchor 
point and drag. With almost 
every tool in SketchUp you 
have the option to use your 
mouse or be more exact 
with typing in the status bar 
(including move and rotate).
Rotating is probably most 
simple tool to handle of 
these three. Press Q on your 
keyboard to bring it up and 
select your whole object. 
You’ll notice the protractor 
changes different colors 
depending on which axis 
it is going to be rotating 
on. Above you’ll see mine 
is rotating on the blue axis 
meaning I’ll simply just be 
spinning my cube. Also my 
anchor point is in the center, 
so it will rotate on that 
center point. As well, the anchor point you 
click to move your object 
from is important, I almost 
always choose a bottom 
corner.
So in order to move a object 
in a consistent direction I 
use the arrow keys, see the 
guide below. Just simply 
press the arrow once before 
moving.
blue 
axis
green
axis
red
axis
blue 
axis
before beforeafter after
TIP: You can scale objects to 
an exact measure by using 
the tape measure tool. Press 
T to bring up the tool and 
measure from one point to 
another on the object. Type 
in the new size you want and 
press enter. SketchUp will 
resize your object for you 
automatically.
TIP: You can make copies of 
your objects with the move 
tool! Simply press the Ctrl 
key while on the move tool 
and it’ll make a copy of 
your selection.
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The main thing to know 
about components is 
that they are “isolated 
groupings” of objects that 
you make. Let’s take our 
cube for example, go ahead 
and select the whole of the 
cube and right click on it. 
Choose “make component”. 
From there you can decide 
to call it what you want. 
Press create. Now when you 
click on your cube again, the 
whole thing is selected. 
What’s magic aboutcomponents is that they 
update on the fly. Go ahead 
and make a copy of your 
cube (use the copy with 
move tool tip from above). 
Place the copy away from 
the original. Now double 
click on your original cube 
to go into editing mode. Use 
the push/pull tool to pull 
a side of the cube. You’ll 
notice the copy of it follows 
suit!
Another huge frustration 
with SketchUp is what we 
call “sticky geometry”, let’s 
see what that is. Go ahead 
and make your cube again 
as well as a flat rectangle. 
Place your cube on top of 
the rectangle. Now try to 
move the rectangle away. 
You’ll see the rectangle 
drags along with the cube. 
Using components gets rid of 
this problem by isolating the 
cube. 
You can also use groups 
(seen right below “create 
component) for the same 
function. But, components 
offer the ability to update 
on the fly.
Components / GroupsLet’s Build!
…Organization is key while using SketchUp, you can easily make your model cluttered 
and disorganized causing mass hysteria later down the line. The first line of defense for 
neatness is components, they’re great for keeping your model tidy as well as a myriad of 
other uses.
TIP: The components you 
make can be used for later 
in another project. Bring 
up the components window 
(window>components) and 
right click on the one you 
want to save. Click save as 
and put it where you like. 
It’s smart to create your own 
library of components, a 
selection of trees you like 
for example to offer easy 
access.
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StylesLet’s Build!
How you utilize SketchUp 
largely depends on 
where you place it in your 
workflow. How you use styles 
can be a large indicator 
of that. If you want simple 
imagery (seen top left), then 
likely SketchUp is your last 
step, from here you’ll take 
the images and hand them 
off to a client. If you plan 
on rendering your model in 
Photoshop or by hand you’ll 
likely go for simple linework 
(seen middle left). If you 
wanted a hand touch made 
by the computer then you 
can get fancy with styles 
(bottom left). The thing is, 
SketchUp has developed a 
base “computer look”, and 
playing with the styles can 
make your model look more 
creative and less sterile. 
Simply go to window>styles 
and from there you can 
select from a slew of 
premade styles, or edit and 
create your own. Have fun 
with it to get away from 
traditional looks.
…A fantastic component of SketchUp is the styles tool. This tool offers a huge amount of 
ways to make your model appear. From blueprint style to a sketchy hand style, you can 
achieve the look you’re looking for. 
TIP: I model in simple black 
and white. To achieve this 
go to the styles window, 
then edit the background 
settings. Uncheck sky then 
click the background color 
and change it to white. 
Then make your style type 
“hidden line”. You model will 
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Starting an animation is 
incredibly simple. Orbit 
around to where you want 
your camera and go to 
view>animation>add scene. 
You’ll see the scene pop-up 
on your tool bar. From here 
you can move your camera 
around to anywhere and 
add more scenes. If you are 
educated on camera lenses 
and models you can go to 
tool>advanced camera 
tools and toy around with 
the type of camera that 
takes these images. So now 
let’s say you want to make 
a movie, right click on your 
scenes in the toolbar and 
press “play animation”. 
Typically, I like it to be a 
fluid fly through. If you go 
to view>animation>settings 
and then selection animation 
and change your scene 
delay to 0 you will have a 
seamless sleek fly through. 
So now let’s say you want to 
add shadow (or any other 
style change) to one of 
your scenes but not the rest. 
Select the scene you want 
and make your changes then 
right click that scene and 
select “update scene”. The 
animation tool is dynamic 
but very easy to pick up, so 
mess around with it!
Oft when taking these 
perspective scenes the 
scale of things can be 
hard to relate. That’s why I 
always recommend making 
at least one scene using 
the Position Camera tool, 
this sets your camera 5’6” 
inches (average human 
height) off the ground. This 
tool is fantastic for making 
perspectives. Simply press 
the button and select where 
you want to stand, from 
there you can look around 
by clicking and dragging 
or walking around using the 
Walk tool.
Scene 1 - Morning
Scene 2 - Afternoon
Scene 3 - Evening
Position Camera / human 
height
Animation + Camera BasicsLet’s Build!
…Whether you are looking to make a movie or a collection of stills, using the animation 
tool in SketchUp allows you to take exact shots of your model that will let you make your 
model shine.
TIP: You can make an 
easy shadow study using 
the animation tool! Turn 
on your shadow tool 
(window>shadows). Change 
the time of day and add a 
new scene to the animation, 
then update that new scene. 
Do this as many times as you 
like to show how the shade 
changes on your model 
throughout the day. Great 
for residential projects!
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Camera View OptionsLet’s Build!
…By using SketchUp’s camera options you can achieve orthographic standard views that 
typical take a long time to draw while drafting. 
To get these types of views 
you simply need to click 
camera and make sure 
“parallel projection” is 
checked. From there you 
can go into the subfolder 
of “standard views” and 
select the orthographic 
views you want. I especially 
like the isometric view for 
modeling in black and white. 
These views can be used to 
achieve standard drafting 
views that are used as 
industry standards, but done 
now in a 3D view - how 
great! 
 
As well you can cut sections! 
Go to tools>section place 
and select a wall to cut. 
Using the move tool, push 
the section place back to 
where you would like to 
see through. From here 
you can use the standard 
views again to make quick 
and easy sections that 
would take much longer to 
generate in AutoCAD.
TIP: You can cut multiple 
sections, just run the tool 
again and create another. 
All it takes to see your 
previous one is to double 
click your first section.
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TIP: Want to export a 
video of the animation 
you made? Simply go to 
file>export>animation. From 
here you can make a movie 
of images of your scenes, or 
a fly through movie. These 
are great for presentations 
and to show the scale of 
your model to your peers.
ExportingLet’s Build!
…So now you have built your model, set the scenes for the views you wanted, and now 
want to export it for further photo editing or to send off to a client. Luckily exporting is 
easily achieved. 
To export all you need to do is go to file>export. From 
here you have the choice of bouncing out 2D graphics 
(images) or 3D graphics (model, or linework). The settings 
you use are critical for this process. Let’s look at 2D 
graphics first.
Click options on the file explorer, here you will be given the 
chance to change the file type. I typically always export 
JPGs, but there are many options (including DWGs). From 
here click the options button. You’ll have the chance to 
change the image size for higher resolutions, make sure 
anti-alias is checked and you should be good to go!
From here I will take my stills into Photoshop or any other 
photo editing program and render out my linework (further 
on that later). If you’re totally happy with the level of 
detail SketchUp has already provided to you, then these 
images can be used to submit!
The same rules apply for exporting a 3D model, choosethe file type and then use the options button to tune your 
export to your liking. Exporting 3D models can be used for 
3D printing, use in other 3D programs, and a whole bunch 
of other uses.
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3D Warehouse / Extension Warehouse / Google Earth
3D Warehouse Extension Warehouse Google Earth
Let’s Build!
…One of SketchUp’s strongest elements is its community. Through the 3D and Extension 
Warehouse, you can find a plethora of already made models to utilize and tools to use to 
make your time in SketchUp easier and more efficient. 
Think of the 3D Warehouse 
as a store that holds an 
insane amount models, 
components, and more 
made by other SketchUp 
users. Want to populate 
your model with cars that 
you are unable to make? 
Then it is easy to go to the 
3D Warehouse and search 
for some that would work 
for your model. You can 
access the warehouse from 
SketchUp itself (file>3D 
warehouse) or on the web 
(3dwarehouse.sketchup.com). 
From here you can search 
and inspect other models 
users have uploaded and 
then download them for 
your own use! As well as you 
become more well versed 
with SketchUp you can 
upload your own models to 
the warehouse and become 
part of the community. Even 
using Google Earth with 
SketchUp you can build 
real world models that will 
populate Google Earth.
Click here to read more 
Landarch.com articles on the 
3D warehouse.
The other, and in my opinion, 
most important community 
that drives SketchUp is 
the Extension Warehouse 
(while there are many other 
extension communities such 
as Smustard, Sketchucation, 
and more) houses a mass 
of free and paid for 
extensions that will make 
you a SketchUp power user. 
Think of SketchUp without 
extensions as a house with 
no furniture. Yes you can 
use the house for shelter 
and it has a lot of utilities, 
but when you add furniture 
(Extensions) it becomes 
much more powerful and 
comfortable. You can access 
the Extension Warehouse 
by going window>extension 
warehouse or on the web 
(extensions.sketchup.com). 
From there browse the 
extensions and download 
then install. Instantly your 
SketchUp use can be much 
more efficient.
Click here to read a 
Landarchs.com article on 
recommended extensions.
Another great tool is 
importing Google Earth 
imagery that you can build 
on top of. All you have 
to do is go to file>geo-
location>add location. From 
there you can search your 
location, draw a bounding 
box, press “grab” and it is 
imported into your model. 
If you turn on your layers 
(ctrl+L), you’ll see you can 
either have flat Google 
Earth imagery or terrain 
(which is a great way to see 
the hydrology of the site) 
turned on.
TIP: Want to see your model 
in Google Earth? Easy! Go 
to file>export>3D Model 
and change the file type to 
KMZ. From there you can 
open it in Google Earth 
and see it placed in the 
real world. See the house 
I placed into Google Earth 
below!
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Contours From Google EarthLet’s Build!
…Here is a simple trick that whenever I share with people, are blown away. With a few 
steps you can generate topography from Google Earth terrain. Follow the steps below.
Your first step is to grab some Google Earth imagery (see 
above) and turn the terrain on. Go to your layers window 
and make Terrain the only Google layer turned on.
Now draw a large rectangle underneath the terrain, 
making sure none of it touches the terrain. To get this 
rectangle use the skills previously gone over of double 
clicking it, then using the move to and pressing the up/down 
arrow to move it directly below the terrain.
Next, make a copy of that 
rectangle (double click, 
move tool, tap ctrl, and use 
up arrow) directly above the 
terrain - making a sandwich. 
Now using the divide tool 
(I’ll explain next page), 
type “/50”, this will make 
50 copies of your rectangle 
between the two you have 
made.
Now use a bounding box to 
select all of your rectangles. 
Make them a group (right 
click, make ground). Now 
right click, and click intersect 
faces>with model. Next, 
select the rectangles and 
delete. Surprise! Perfect 
Contours generated from 
Google Earth. From here 
you can select the linework 
and run “from contours” 
in the sandbox window to 
generate a surface on it.
First rectangle
Second rectangle
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Making Your Own TreesLet’s Build!
…As landscape architects, one of the prime things we need in our SketchUp models 
is vegetation. The 3D Warehouse does not have a huge selection of trees, and full 3D 
models can bog your computer down. Follow these steps to make your own!
First we need to understand the different types of trees you can use in SketchUp. There’s 
2D “face me”, 2.5D, and 3D. Follow the guide to the to understand how to make them.
These will always face 
your camera, giving the 
appearance of 3D. You can 
find plenty of these on the 
warehouse and they’re the 
lightest on your computer. 
They are easy to make as 
well, simply import a PNG 
of a tree you like, stand 
it up using the rotate tool 
then select it all and right 
click and choose “make 
component” and make 
sure to click “always face 
camera”. Very simple and 
easy to do!
2.5D trees are a nice 
compromise of not having 
simple 2D trees or having 
3D trees that will bog 
down your computer. They 
have 8 sides, tricking the 
eye into thinking it is a 3D 
model. Especially when 
these are massed together, 
a convincing forest comes to 
light. 
 
Click here to follow my 
guide on how to make these 
wonderful components, 
that you can make a whole 
library of for later use!
Here are the 3D trees, high 
in detail that will slow and 
possibly crash SketchUp on 
your computer. I typically try 
to use these very sparingly 
in a model, unless I need to 
show off a specimen tree. 
While there are ways of 
using these and letting the 
average user’s computer 
handle them, it often comes 
with frustration and a slow 
computer. There are plugins 
to make these trees by hand 
that are fantastic, but there 
are also plenty of them 
found on the 3D Warehouse.
2D “face me” trees 2.5D trees 3D trees
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Divide / Multiply / Build A ForestLet’s Build!
…There’s a few hidden functions in SketchUp that make using it much quicker. I often use 
the divide / multiply tool hidden in the status bar to make quick copies of components. 
Follow along below.
So let’s combine a few things we have learned so far! First 
go to the Extension Warehouse and download CLF Scale 
and Rotate Multiple (Link here) and place a 2.5D tree. 
We’re going to make a forest in seconds flat.
One secret of the status bar when making a copy of 
something is the divide and multiply functions, using “/” and 
“x”, respectively. A number will either divide that space 
with the amount you typed in, or make a multiplier of it. 
Use the guide to the left to see.
First I turned on my move tool (m) then pressed the ctrl 
button to make a copy. I pressed the left arrow key to go 
along the green axis, then typed in 20 to make it the copy 
go 20 units away. From there I typed “/3”, this divide 
function takes that distance and divides it by 3 of the 
components I moved! 
 
Now if I did the same thing, but typed “x3” is would take 
that distance of 20 and place a tree every 20 units. A 
quick and easy way to place components.
Now I’m going to use the 
multiply function on the 
green and red axis to make 
a grid of trees. In 5 seconds 
I have a huge grid of trees, 
but a forest is random - 
that’s where the plugin 
comes in handy. Go ahead 
a select all yourtrees and 
run the plugin, you want 
randomly. Run it with my 
settings and you now have 
a convincing forest! Fly in to 
look at it up close. Congrats 
you just made a whole forest 
in ~20 seconds flat.
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Layer ManagementLet’s Build!
…Just as with any other computer program organization and file management is key. This 
is especially true with SketchUp. Let’s dive into the layer tool to figure out how to make the 
most of it. 
So let’s take a look at the layers window (window>layers, 
or if you followed my shortcut tip ctrl+l) it looks like any 
standard window management panel in most design 
programs. With an add and subtract (delete) button and a 
default layer which in SketchUp’s case is Layer0. Whenever 
I start a model and I know it is going to have trees, people, 
cars, or any other type of object I will go ahead and make 
individual layers for each by pressing the plus sign.
So why is this important? There are two main reason, one 
being not bogging down SketchUp and the other being for 
post rendering purposes. 
So let’s say your model has, like mine, 3D trees, people, 
cars, and beds. These are just a few quick and simple 
objects placed in SketchUp, yet when I turn on shadows and 
try to pan around the program becomes very laggy. It is 
because SketchUp is trying to process all of those polygons 
at once. But if you put all your trees on a specific layer 
and turn of their visibility, you computer does not need to 
worry about processing them anymore! This makes layer 
management key as your models become more complex 
and gains file size. 
In order to change the layer 
that an object is on simply 
select it, right click, then 
select “entity info”. From 
here choose which layer you 
want it to reside on. Now 
you can even select all the 
items on that layer quickly 
by right clicking one and 
hovering over “select” then 
“all on selected layers”. 
 
For the second reason, when 
rendering with SketchUp in 
tandem with Photoshop it 
becomes key that you can 
break out all your objects 
onto certain layers. Let’s look 
into that in the next section!
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AutoCAD to SketchUpLet’s Build!
…Importing AutoCAD linework into SketchUp is a vital tool used regularly in our industry, 
let’s go over how to achieve that.
While I won’t go into depth 
about how to xref, trace, 
and place block vegetation 
in AutoCAD there are just a 
few things you need to know 
about your CAD drawing 
before bringing it into 
SketchUp. Run the command 
“units” and check what 
length type you are using, 
you’ll see I used decimal. 
As well you need to check 
insertion scale, which I have 
inches. 
 
Now in SketchUp go to 
window>model info>units. 
Make sure your format 
matches your AutoCAD units 
In SketchUp go to 
file>import. Make your file 
type DWG, select options 
and make sure your units 
match. Then go ahead and 
select open. SketchUp will 
now bring in your linework! 
Continue onto the next page 
and let’s start building.
Now file structure of your AutoCAD file is important. 
SketchUp will not only import your linework but your layers 
as well. Note how all of my linework on the ground plane 
is on layer 0 and all of my vegetation is on the vegetation 
layer. As well, all of my vegetation are made up of 
different plant symbol blocks.
So now we are all organized let’s import! One quick note, 
you need SketchUp Pro in order to import DWG linework.
Hand Drafted Plan
AutoCAD Units
CAD Lines
SketchUp Units
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Quickly BuildingLet’s Build!
Now all my linework and 
layers are in SketchUp, and 
if I select one of the plant 
symbols it shows the block 
has been preserved.
So let’s quickly replace all 
of my vegetation blocks with 
actual plants. I’m going to 
select one of the symbols 
blocks and right click. Hover 
over “instances” and then 
click “select active”. Now all 
similar blocks are selected. 
This saves an immense 
amount of time of selecting 
each individual block.
This next step will wow you! 
Go to your components 
(window>components) and 
find a tree that you want to 
use for this symbol. Try using 
the tree you made earlier 
in this ebook. Right click on 
that component and select 
“replace selected”. Instantly 
all of those blocks transform 
into the tree you selected! 
Now let’s do that with the 
rest of the blocks.
After that I used the 
previously learned plugin, 
scale and rotate random. 
I then place all of this 
vegetation in less than a 
minute flat. 
Next let’s tackle the ground 
plane and extruding shapes!
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In House RenderLet’s Build!
Now we want transition the 
ground plane from 2D to 
3D by using the extrude 
tool. In order to do this we 
need to change this linework 
of edges into surfaces. I 
call this process “healing 
the linework”. Notice that 
if I draw a rectangle then 
delete the surface it, just 
the edges remain. Then if I 
draw a line down the middle 
it “heals the linework”, 
creating a surface that 
you can extrude. This is 
exactly what we’re doing! 
This process can be made 
easy by using a extension. I 
like Make Face (link here). 
Highlight all your linework, 
and run the extension.
Now with just a few clicks, I 
have all my surfaces ready 
to extrude. But first, I’m 
going to paint the surfaces 
using the bucket (B) tool, 
it is important to do this 
before extruding for it will 
be applied to all sides. Then 
I’ll grab a house from the 
3D warehouse and fit it all 
together with some quick 
entourage!
Now in just 10 minutes flat 
I have a quick SketchUp 
render ready to go.
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Layers to PhotoshopLet’s Render
…Most often Photoshop can be used to render on top of SketchUp. The “SketchUp look” is 
ubiquitous and people want to get away from it and see photorealistic rendering. Here’s a 
quick guide on how to achieve that in Photoshop.
Just as we needed to have organized layer structure when 
exporting from AutoCAD we need to keep that minds 
et when exporting linework from SketchUp. The main 
goal when rendering in Photoshop is to export each like 
entity to be its own layer; a layer for people, a layer for 
vegetation, a layer for cars, etc. As well textures (the colors 
and materials of a render) don’t need to be derived from 
SketchUp unless you have rendering software already in 
place (Vray, Shader Light, Kerkythea). But this guide will 
not require that extra software. Thus we will just be export 
individual layers of linework. 
 
First choose your view that you want to render and make it 
a scene so you can consistently go back to it. 
Now make your style just black and white linework, as 
I’ve shown you before. We want to get the shadows from 
the house, everything else we’re replacing in Photoshop. 
Uncheck edges and profiles from view>edge style. Now 
turn on your shadows. You now have a fantastic view of just 
the shadow in the model. Go ahead and export that and 
make sure you keep a consistent resolution (file>export>2D 
graphic>options). 
 
Next, turn your shadows off and turn your edges back on. 
Export each layer individually. I have people, vegetation, 
car, and layer0. Because the house I imported already 
has photorealistic textures on it, I will turn on “shaded with 
texture” and export that individually. 
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Setting Up Your FileLet’s Render
Now you should open all of 
your exports in Photoshop. 
Next you need to get them 
onto the same file. Go to 
each file and right click 
on the backgroundlayer. 
Click “duplicate layer”. I’m 
sending all of my layers 
to the layer0 file. Do this 
until you have all of your 
exported images stack on 
top of one another.
Because SketchUp’s exports 
have white background, 
you need to be able to 
see through each one to 
see all of the linework. 
In order to do this, select 
each layer and change its 
blending mode to “multiply”, 
this essentially means that 
Photoshop will mask out all 
of the white on that layer. 
Which is perfect because all 
we exported was the black 
and white linework. 
So what was the point 
of exporting layers of 
vegetations, people, and 
such? The simple answer 
is for reference. Using a 
texture library now filled 
with photorealistic trees, 
textures, entourage and 
more we will place into this 
Photoshop file to bring our 
model to life. Follow the links 
below to a few good texture 
resources. 
Skalgubbar, Pitcrit, 
Immediateentourage, 
Gobotree, Textures, 
and Mrcutout. All of the 
resources are great, but you 
can always search Google 
images as well! Make sure 
to search PNG, “cutout”, or 
seamless.
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Setting Up Your FileLet’s Render
Let’s handle the ground plane first. I’m turning off all layers 
besides “Lines” (layer0). We want to use seamless textures 
and place them on the ground. For example, the driveway 
- Go and find a “seamless” texture of cement, or any other 
material you would like the driveway to be made of and 
open it up. Duplicate it over as previously done and put 
it in a “texture folder” as I have done, this will keep you 
organized. 
Now we need to give this texture the look of perspective. 
Select your cement layer and turn on the transform tool 
(ctrl+t). Right click the image 
and select “distort” then drag 
the edges of the image to fit 
the horizon line. Look to the 
image to the left to see what 
I exactly mean. 
 
Now we need to cut out 
the texture everywhere but 
the driveway, this is what is 
called creating a “mask”. 
Turn on your magic wand tool 
(w) and change your selected 
layer to the lines layer. Go 
ahead and click inside each 
part of the driveway. You 
will see in the image to the 
left, I only have the driveway 
selected. Now select the 
driveway layer and click the 
add layer mask button at the 
bottom of the layers panel. 
Magically you are left with 
just the texture!
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Filling In The DetailsLet’s Render
You will see below how I 
applied the same method 
we used to mask out the 
driveway for the lawn and 
brick walkway. As well I 
imported the house’s texture 
layer from SketchUp. 
Now let’s add some detail 
to make the ground textures 
seem more realistic. First 
bring up your stamp tool (s) 
and change you brush type 
to the standard grass blade 
that comes with Photoshop. 
Select the texture part of 
your grass layer (seen top 
right) and hold down the 
alt key on your keyboard. 
Notice your pointer becomes 
a bulls eye. Now click on 
the glass texture, what you 
just did is told photoshop to 
sample this texture by where 
you clicked it, basically 
making a “stamp”. 
 
Now switch over to the 
mask portion of your layer 
(seen bottom right), make 
sure your foreground color 
is white and start painting 
on the edge of the brick 
walk. Hit all the edges with 
the grass edge, resampling 
your texture as you go. This 
will give the edge a more 
life like feel accurate to how 
grass grows.
Now use your burn tool (o) 
and darken the edges of the 
texture beneath the grass 
and where the grass hits an 
edge. This will create the 
shadow of where the grass 
hits. As well apply shadow 
to wherever two materials 
meet.
TIP: Mastering masks is 
easy once you practice 
enough. Try to do all of 
these textures show below, 
including the sky. As you 
load in each texture it will 
tie the whole rendering 
together.
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Adding Entourage Let’s Render
Now we are going to find use of all the other layers we 
exported from SketchUp - the people, car, and vegetation. 
Go ahead and turn on your vegetation layer in Photoshop, 
we are going to use it as reference for the entourage trees 
you downloaded. Use the transform tool (ctrl + t) to size 
the trees correctly. Hold alt and drag to make copies of the 
trees. 
Now using the methods used on the previous pages make 
copies of different types of vegetation, bring in people, 
and add other entourage. Add the grass using the stamp 
tool to where it is needed at the base of the vegetation. 
Place in shadow / sunlight using the burn and dodge tool 
(o) where needed to stay consistent with the shadow coming 
from SketchUp. Your render will come together quickly with 
all of these details. Make sure to stay organized and name 
your layers as well as using folders. This will make your 
Photoshop life much easier. 
 
Within 30 minutes I was able to produce this render. Taking 
AutoCAD linework, importing to SketchUp, building and 
exporting from SketchUp, and rendering in Photoshop. The 
depth you can take in rendering is endless and I encourage 
you to seek out as many tutorials that you can! 
 
As well I encourage you to take those SketchUp lines and 
use them to make easy hand drawn renderings, here’s 
a quick guide (link here). There are so many methods to 
rendering with SketchUp in your workflow, find what you 
are comfortable with and add your own personality!
TIP: It is vital to make your 
entourage look variable. If 
every tree looked the same, 
it would look unnatural. 
Using the alt key copy in 
tandem when using the 
transform tool right click and 
choose “flip horizontal” as 
well as resize each layer. 
These little difference will 
make it look more realistic. 
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 The best advice I 
could give to anyone who 
wants to pursue 3D modeling 
in SketchUp is, “start 
yesterday”. This program is 
so easy and fun to pick up, 
but if you don’t try it then 
it will always seem like a 
daunting task. Just at a basic 
level of getting comfortable 
to orbiting around a cube is 
so essential to 3D modeling 
not only in SketchUp but in 
most all modeling software.
This guide is in no way 
shape or form an exhaustive 
tutorial for SketchUp, that 
book can fill hundreds of 
pages, but this guide is 
a resource you can use 
as a starting point as a 
landscape architect when 
beginning with SketchUp. I 
am a big believer that we 
learn best when actively 
trying to answer our own 
questions, so if you hit 
a road block do some 
research, I guarantee if 
you run into a problem then 
someone else has. It is likely 
that the answer is out there, 
and it is so enriching to 
teach yourself something. 
So please learn this guide 
from front to back, but then 
continue on and further your 
knowledge of SketchUp, it 
can be an enriching search. 
This program has brought so 
much fun and understanding 
of design to my life, and I 
know it can to you as well.
Thank you so much for 
reading, I hope you learned 
much.
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Start learning 
SketchUp 
yesterday! It is 
easy and fun
Start Yesterday!
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