LayOut 2025: Smarter, sharper and more seamless 2D Documentation
- ops
- May 8
- 2 min read
LayOut 2025 delivers a major step forward in usability, editing power, and visual fidelity—bringing 2D documentation even closer to the SketchUp modeling experience. Whether you're preparing construction drawings, design presentations, or annotated visuals, this release supports a faster, more intuitive workflow.
Advanced Visualization
LayOut now renders Photoreal Materials and Environments directly within SketchUp viewports, transforming how design intent is communicated on the page. New Ambient Occlusion settings add nuanced shadowing and lighting effects, dramatically enhancing the perception of depth and realism in 2D outputs.
Key Highlights
SketchUp-like Editing Tools: Move, Rotate, and Scale now behave just like they do in SketchUp, enabling a seamless transition between 3D modeling and 2D documentation. These tools are now standalone, inference-capable, and context-aware.
Improved Shape Management: Refined Join and Split commands streamline the editing of vector geometry, making it easier to manage and manipulate complex drawings.
Enhanced Visualisation Capabilities: Access new features—Photoreal Materials, AI-generated Textures, Environment Settings, and new 3D Warehouse libraries—directly in LayOut. These visual upgrades bring more stylistic variety and realism to your pages.
Smarter Navigation & Viewing: Navigate documents more precisely with the Zoom Window (Z) and Zoom to Page (P) commands—new shortcuts designed for page-level clarity and efficiency.
Streamlined Printing & Export: Faster, cleaner, and higher-resolution print and export options let users deliver polished documentation with ease.
Live Model Linkage: Say goodbye to static exports. LayOut maintains live links to your SketchUp model, ensuring any changes in 3D instantly reflect across your documentation.
Vector Drawing & Annotation Tools: Add technical details, dimensions, callouts, and line weights directly on your pages using LayOut’s robust 2D vector tools.
Why It Matters
LayOut 2025 blurs the lines between 2D and 3D work by making drafting more dynamic and integrated. The improved interoperability across SketchUp, LayOut, 3D Warehouse, and the SketchUp API/SDK makes it easier than ever to produce compelling, high-fidelity presentations with technical accuracy.
Video Tutorial: Custom Scrapbooks in Layout
Learn how to explore existing options, import SketchUp elements, and design scaled drawings for efficient reuse.
Read more about how you can use Scan Essentials to reduce rework and cost overruns here. Learn more about Layout here.
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