Working with Components in SketchUp

In SketchUp, Groups and Components help organise geometry efficiently. While they may seem similar, they serve distinct purposes:

• Groups act as individual containers for geometry, keeping elements separate and easy to manage. They are ideal for unique parts of your model that won’t be repeated elsewhere.

• Components function similarly but with a key advantage—when you edit one instance of a component, all instances update simultaneously. This makes them perfect for repeated elements like windows, furniture, or structural components.

  • If you need a variation of an existing component, you have two options:

    • Right-click → “Make Unique” to create an independent copy that can be modified without affecting the original.

    • Explode the component and create a new one from the modified geometry.

    
    

SketchUp Skill Builder: Groups vs Components

Working with Components

When you transform geometry into a component, your 3D model has all the following behaviors and capabilities:

• Your component is reusable.

• The component geometry becomes separate from any geometry to which it's currently connected. (This is similar to groups.)

• Anytime you edit your component, you can edit the component instance or the definition.

• If you like, you can make your component stick to a specific plane (by setting its gluing plane) or cut a hole in a face (by setting its cutting plane).

• You can associate metadata, such as advanced attributes and IFC classification types, with the component. Classifying Objects introduces classification systems and how you can use them with SketchUp components. Keep in mind:

  If you are going to use something more than once in your model, make a Component of it. This applies to copying things. Make a Component of it first, then copy the Component.

  1. Draw everything on Layer0. (This is the default layer, so unless you actively change it, everything you draw will be on this layer.)

  2. Before you copy a Group, first consider making it into a Component.

  3. Context click > Make Unique if you need to change some components to be different than others of the same definition.

  4. When you explode all of a component, it (they) turns back into basic geometry and the definition can be purged from the model.

  

  
  

When you are modeling a Component in a working file with other Components: Right-click [context click] on the Component and select Save As. SketchUp will let you point to the folder in which you wish to store the component, and it will use the name of the Component as the default filename for the external file.

Component naming

• Creating Components during modeling is quite fluid in SketchUp.

• SketchUp provides auto naming of Components to speed up Component creation. The default name provided in the create Component dialog is the word ‘Component’ followed by a ‘#’ and an incremented number (for example Component#48).

• The numeric value keeps incrementing to assure that each new Component is named uniquely. But when a Component requires a specific product name, the Component name can be changed.

• Select the Component in the Component Browser and select the Edit Tab, or use the Entity Info dialog. The Definition name is the actual Component name. In the Component Browser, the definition name is the name shown in the top text field of the Components dialog, and the Definition in the Entity Info dialog.

See the article File management, uploading & branding for more discussion on naming components from product manufacturers.

In the Entity Info dialog box, the Name field is only a description for a particular instance of the Component in the model, it is not the actual name of the Component definition. That is stored in the Definition box.

Editing a component is like working on another SketchUp model within the main model. SketchUp uses in-place component editing. This allows you to see the rest of the model in context for reference while you make changes to the component.

When editing a component, the limit of the current context for the component being edited is shown by a gray bounding box. The axes directions and origin for the component are shown with a red, green, blue icon. When editing a component, the rest of the model is low lighted (dimmed). You cannot change any of the rest of the model outside of the current context, but you can infer to anything throughout the entire model.

Component nesting and context

Components can contain other Components and Groups in addition to faces and edges. This is called nesting. Each time a Component (or Group) is included within another Component or Group, it is nested one level within the outer context.

Context means the immediate container for entities (edges, faces, groups, components, dimensions, text, etc.). A model is the largest context that SketchUp can have; it is the uppermost level of organization. When entities are selected and included in a Component, the Component becomes the context for those entities. If a Component is made from three other Components, that Component becomes the context for those three sub-entities.

Fig. 1

In Fig. 1, the orange lines indicate the outer bounds of the main Component’s context. The blue lines indicate the first nesting level of sub-Components within the main Component. Each blue box represents the context for the items within the box. Finally the magenta lines indicate the second nesting level down of sub-Components within the first (blue) nesting level. Notice that the magenta objects are within context of each of the nested blue components.

Context editing components and nested components

Components and groups may be edited (modified) at any time by Right clicking [context clicking] on the object and selecting Edit from the context menu, or by double clicking the select tool on the object. To finish editing, right click [context click] in white space outside the bounding box and select Close Group or single click the select tool outside the bounding box.

Editing a component is like working on another SketchUp model within the main model. SketchUp uses in-place component editing. This allows you to see the rest of the model in context for reference while you make changes to the component. When editing a component, the limit of the current context for the component being edited is shown by a gray bounding box. The axes directions and origin for the component are shown with a red, green, blue icon. When editing a component, the rest of the model is low lighted (dimmed). You cannot change any of the rest of the model outside of the current context, but you can infer to anything throughout the entire model.

Adding your design to 3D Warehouse

It is helpful to develop a template file into which you import a component to get it ready for upload to 3D Warehouse. This template file does several things for you. It should have standard views to keep all your product lines consistent.

Component and file naming

Proper naming will allow your designs to be easily accessible At a minimum four things should be addressed:

1. Product number or SKU

2. Manufacturer name

3. Product line

4. Product name

In the SketchUp world, a component has a component name when inside a model, but might want to have a slightly different file name when saved outside of the model, and also be known by a different title in 3D Warehouse.

It is best to think from the inside outward, with the first consideration being the component name. Next, apply any metadata labels and information attached to the component. Then look at the filename as it is saved to your computer drive. And lastly, design a marketing piece on 3D Warehouse. The following illustration should help you envision this path.

SketchUp Studio and IFC Support

SketchUp Studio is the most advanced version of SketchUp, designed specifically for professionals working in BIM and construction.

By leveraging Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) components in SketchUp Studio, users can bridge the gap between conceptual 3D modeling and structured BIM processes, making it a valuable tool for architects, engineers, and construction professionals.

• SketchUp components can be classified using IFC properties, allowing them to be exported into BIM workflows while retaining metadata.

• When you assign an IFC classification (e.g., IfcWall, IfcDoor, IfcWindow) to a SketchUp component, it becomes recognizable in other BIM software that supports the IFC format.

• SketchUp Studio supports IFC import/export, allowing collaboration with BIM platforms like Revit, ArchiCAD, and Tekla.

Using IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) components in SketchUp is beneficial for BIM (Building Information Modeling) workflows because SketchUp models can stay lightweight while still integrating with structured BIM processes.

1. Reduced File Size & Improved Performance

• SketchUp models can become heavy when detailed geometry is used.

• IFC classification allows you to retain important BIM metadata without increasing file size unnecessarily.

• Instead of exporting high-polygon models, IFC ensures that only relevant structured data is included.

2. Seamless BIM Integration Without Overloading SketchUp

• SketchUp’s strength lies in its fast, intuitive 3D modeling, but it isn't a full BIM tool.

• IFC components allow SketchUp users to contribute to BIM workflows without needing to convert entire models into large, complex BIM files.

• IFC classification ensures compatibility with other BIM software SketchUp Components & AutoCAD BIM (Revit)

  • SketchUp models can be imported into Revit via DWG, IFC, or as Revit families (RFA files).

  • Using Trimble Connect, SketchUp components can be linked to BIM projects for coordination and clash detection.

  • Revit treats SketchUp components as massing elements or generic objects, but if properly classified using IFC, they integrate better into BIM models.