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Help centre · Visuals

Styles and scenes

Change how the model looks, from Solid to Sketch, tune edges, fog and watermarks, and save views that remember the display.

Styles change how the model is drawn without changing the model itself. You can switch between looks in one click, fine-tune edges and fog, save your own styles, and keep a whole display with a saved view, as SketchUp does with scenes.

Pick a shading mode

Use the Shading chip in the viewport (on a narrow screen, it's under More):

  • Solid: materials and colours.
  • Monochrome: light grey faces, no materials.
  • Clay: every surface plain white in the light and shadow, glass kept clear, as a white card model. Realistic images have a Clay switch too (see Rendering).
  • Hidden line: white faces and edges, no shading.
  • Sketch: paper-white faces with edges, like SketchUp.
  • By tag: each object in its tag's colour. See Groups, components and tags.
  • Realistic: path traced, with real light. See Rendering.
  • Normals and Wireframe, for checking geometry.

Turn on edges, profiles, ambient occlusion and X-ray

The toggles beside the Shading chip add to the look:

  • Edges: crease and border lines over Solid or Monochrome. Hidden line and Sketch always have them.
  • Profiles: thicker outlines round each object's silhouette.
  • Ambient occlusion: soft shadows where surfaces meet, in corners and under furniture.
  • X-ray: faces drawn see-through, so you can see what's behind and inside. In X-ray, tools snap to corners and edges behind faces, and clicking again in the same place selects the next thing behind what you selected.

The Style panel's Ambient occlusion section sets how far the shadows reach from a corner, how dark they get (Strength), and their colour: turn off Black shadows to pick a warmer or cooler one. They're kept with the style and with saved views.

Fine-tune the style

Press the tune button beside the toggles, or on a narrow screen choose More → Shading → Style…. The Style panel works with Solid, Monochrome, Hidden line, Sketch and By tag.

Edges

  • Edge colour: One colour, By material or By axis (red, green and blue, as SketchUp draws them).
  • Depth cue: edges fade the farther they are.
  • Back edges: hidden edges, dashed.
  • Extension: edges run on past their ends, for a sketchy look.
  • Jitter: each edge drawn twice, a little off.
  • Strokes: hand-drawn lines, as Style Builder's: Pen (one line, running on, a little unsteady), Pencil (light, gone over a few times), Marker (broad and bold) or Charcoal (rough and broken). The built-in Charcoal and Felt-tip marker styles use them.
  • Profile width: how thick profiles are.

Turn on Edges or Profiles beside the Shading chip to see these settings take effect.

Sky and ground

Turn on Sky and ground for a sky colour above the horizon and a ground colour below it, as SketchUp's background has. The horizon stays level with your eye as you orbit. Pick the Sky colour and Ground colour; a sky from the Library shows instead while one is on.

Fog

Turn on Fog to fade the model into the background. Set where it Starts and where it's Full, and pick a Fog colour or use the background colour.

Watermark

Add Words or A picture in a corner or the Middle, with an Opacity and Size. The watermark shows over the viewport and goes on every fast image, sheet picture and video frame.

Save your own style

The panel lists five built-in styles: Pencil sketch, Architect's hidden line, Back edges, Edges by axis and Morning fog. Type a name under New style and press Save to keep the current shading and every setting. Your styles are saved with the project. You can apply, update or delete them later, and undo any change.

Save a view as a scene

  1. Set up the camera and the display you want.
  2. Open the Views chip and choose Save this view….
  3. Give it a Name and leave Remember the display on.

Besides the camera, a view saved this way remembers:

  • the shading, with Edges, Profiles, Ambient occlusion and X-ray;
  • the whole style, including edge colours, fog and the watermark;
  • the section cut, including a named section plane;
  • how other levels are shown, and the active level;
  • which tags are hidden, and what you've hidden;
  • the sun's date and time, and the sky.

Going to the view puts all of it back. A view on a sheet is drawn with its own sky, and a tour can switch to each view's scene as it reaches it (see Tours, VR and AR). The Views menu shows a thumbnail of each view and marks those that remember the display. Manage views… lets you rename, delete or update a view; Update to the current camera captures the display again. Page Up and Page Down step through your views.

Present the model

Views → Present shows the 3D view alone, full screen, as SketchUp for iPad's Present mode does, for talking a client through the design:

  • Your saved views are a strip of thumbnails along the bottom: tap one to go there, or use the arrow keys, Space and Page Down.
  • The laser pointer (or L): drag on the view to point, with a red line that fades as you go. With it off, dragging orbits as usual.
  • Hide the strip for a clear view, and press Esc or Stop presenting to finish.

Mark up a view

With a saved view showing, choose Mark up “…” (with the view's name) from the Views menu, or the pen button in Manage views…, to draw arrows, revision clouds, notes and freehand lines over it. The marks show whenever the camera arrives at that view, in the editor and on share links. See Sharing and review.

Saved views also go on sheets, keeping their style, and you can export images of them; see Rendering.

Still stuck? Contact us, or ask in the app: Help → Contact support.