SketchUp 2026: What’s New (and What It Means for Designers Like Us)
SketchUp 2026 is now officially released (ahead of its usual March/April schedule), and for those of us using SketchUp day in and day out in design work, the update feels like a careful polishing rather than a reinvention. As someone whose primary workflow revolves around modeling, rendering with V-Ray, documentation, and teaching, I’m pleased overall—but I also recognize that many of the changes won’t shift the needle too much in my particular world. Read the full SketchUp 2026 Release Notes here.
That said, there are quality-of-life wins, especially in performance, tool responsiveness, and LayOut improvements. Below is what stood out to me (good and less-good), how I see it applying to interior, kitchen, and landscape design, and what I’d still like to see.
Key Takeaways:
- Performance refinements take center stage — navigating heavier models feels smoother.
- Tool updates (Scale, Rotate, Scene undo) make everyday modeling more forgiving.
- LayOut enhancements improve consistency and add useful drafting features.
- Major new features (collaboration, Live Components evolution) feel more targeted at large teams than solo/small-shop workflows.
Table of Contents
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What’s New, Organized: SketchUp + LayOut Features in 2026
Below is a consolidated list of notable updates I’ve identified in this release (some from official release notes, some from my own testing), along with commentary on how each might (or might not) affect your design workflow.
SketchUp Desktop & Modeling Features in 2026
| Feature / Area | What’s New or Improved | My Take |
|---|---|---|
| Performance / Responsiveness | Faster orbiting, improved handling of large models, smoother navigation | This is the headline win for me. When a model gets heavy with furniture, site context, terrain, or landscape detail, I can feel lag. The improved performance is immediately perceptible. |
| Scale tool enhancements | More intuitive behavior and grip feedback | Since I use scaling all the time (resizing millwork, cabinetry, site objects), it feels snappier. |
| Rotate tool updates | More responsive grips, less “fiddly” rotations | Rotating furniture, planters, lighting fixtures, etc., now feels more predictable. |
| Scene “Undo” | When you accidentally overwrite a scene, you can undo the change | I rarely overwrite scenes by mistake, but it’s nice to have that safety net. I still would have preferred scene folders or grouping to manage a long list of scenes more cleanly. |
| Ambient Occlusion (AO) | Improved AO toggles and behavior in SketchUp styles | AO can enrich quick conceptual visualizations inside SketchUp. However, as my deliverables are photorealistic renders via V-Ray, I don’t use AO much in my final presentations. |
| Collaboration (in-model) | New built-in collaborative editing and shared access (inside SketchUp) | This is likely the biggest “headline” feature in 2026. But for a small operation like mine, collaboration usually happens via renders or shared output rather than live editing in SketchUp. So I don’t expect this to meaningfully affect my workflow. |
| Live Components / Parametric Objects | Continued refinements, better integration in content library | I still don’t lean on Live Components heavily—they often lack the level of detail I need and run into issues with materials when exported or rendered in V-Ray. |
| Other minor adjustments / fixes | Usability tweaks, internal optimizations, bug fixes | Some of the smaller fixes help maintain stability but don’t radically change modeling behavior. |
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LayOut & Documentation Features in 2026
| Feature / Area | What’s New or Improved | My Take |
|---|---|---|
| More consistent UI / tool behavior | LayOut tools act more similarly to SketchUp (better alignment in behavior) | This consistency helps reduce friction when switching between modeling and documentation. |
| New drafting tools | Four additional drafting tools (e.g. linework utilities) | These give more flexibility for custom annotation without switching back to SketchUp. |
| Scrapbook / Library upgrades | Built-in libraries for windows, doors, furniture, kitchen, bath | I like this a lot—faster documentation using preloaded elements (especially in interiors or kitchens) helps me avoid recreating generic objects inside LayOut. |
| Viewport improvements | Viewports in LayOut now better respect SketchUp visual settings, including environments and AO (depending on model) | This helps the visual consistency between model and documentation, though I still lean heavily on external render output for my presentations. |
| Page Export flexibility | More control when exporting pages or page ranges from LayOut | Useful when generating subsets of documentation for clients or consultants. |
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What I Liked (and What Didn’t Move Me)
My reaction to this new version is mixed. They gave us some a few new bits, but I’m still craving more.
Wins That Matter to My Workflow
- Performance is real and appreciated
When you’ve spent years teaching people workflows, your tolerance for lag diminishes. The speed and smoothness I experienced with denser models in 2026 is noticeable, and it helps in staying in the creative zone without friction.
- Better Scale and Rotate feel
Because I rely heavily on those tools (for cabinetry layouts, fixture placement, site elements, etc.), their slight responsiveness upgrades matter more than some of the flashier features.
- LayOut feels more polished
I routinely shift back and forth between SketchUp and LayOut. The more consistent tool behavior, improved scrapbooks, and added drafting tools streamline that transition. It’s not a revolution but a meaningful nudge in the right direction.
- No drastic UI overhaul
As a trainer, I always breathe a sigh of relief when Trimble doesn’t introduce major interface changes. It means I won’t need to re-record large swaths of lessons or bootcamps just to keep things visually aligned for students.
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What Didn’t Move Me (or Is Still Pending)
- Collaboration Tools
Feels like a feature for big firms, not solo/small-shop designers. I don’t foresee integrating live model sharing into my workflow any time soon.
- Live Components
Still don’t reach the level of detail, material fidelity, or transparency I require for high-end interior or kitchen work when exporting to V-Ray.
- Ambient Occlusion
AO is cool for sketch visuals, but rarely part of my final output pipeline.
- Scene Organization
lacks evolution – I still long for scene folders or grouping, which would help when managing 50+ scenes in interior render sets or site views.
- Scan Essentials
These updates don’t matter to me much, since point cloud / LiDAR work is not central to my offerings.
How This Affects Interior, Kitchen, and Landscape Design
Interiors / Kitchen Spaces
Cleaner performance, tool responsiveness, and LayOut scrapbooks deliver the most tangible benefits here. Faster navigation, more fluent modeling, and better documentation flow make a difference in day-to-day design. Since I already rely heavily on V-Ray materials, the internal SketchUp visualization updates (AO, environment tweaks) feel supplementary at best.
Landscape / Site Design
In models with terrain, site elements, foliage, and retaining walls, performance improvements are welcome. The refined tool behavior helps when rotating planters or shaping site elements. Collaboration tools and Live Components are less relevant unless working in a multi-person firm with shared models.
Documentation / Client Communication
LayOut improvements add up over many projects. More consistent tool behavior, preloaded libraries, and better viewport fidelity help polish documentation. Still, because my client-facing deliverables are rendered images and not SketchUp exports, these updates lean more “nice to have” than transformative.
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Final Thoughts & Recommendations
SketchUp 2026 takes a measured, thoughtful approach: no paradigm shifts, but a number of refinements that smooth bumps in daily work. For a solo or small-shop designer using SketchUp + V-Ray as a core part of your process, this is a reassuring release. Nothing breaks, nothing forces you to relearn, and the baseline improvements are meaningful without being disruptive.
If you’re a student or client of my FOCUSED SketchUp courses or Bootcamps, rest assured: the principles, workflows, and techniques I teach (recorded in 2024 and 2025) remain fully compatible with SketchUp 2026. You won’t have to redo lessons or relearn tools. The small upgrades simply make the experience more fluid.
PRO TIP: Wait for the first patch or maintenance release (often within a month) before fully migrating. That gives Trimble time to address early bugs and ironing-out issues.
I anticipate that some of the more exciting features I’ve been waiting for – scene folders, more advanced Live Component editing, perhaps AI-assisted modeling integration, or stronger material/renderer interoperability – might show up in a mid-cycle update or through SketchUp Labs initiatives. Those are the ones I’m keeping my eyes on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. My courses, Bootcamps, and workflows are built on foundational tools and modeling practices. The upgrades in 2026 don’t change the core principles or steps I teach, so everything remains applicable.
I recommend waiting until the first maintenance/patch release. That reduces the risk of encountering launch bugs or minor regressions. Once the patch is out and stable, migrating should be safer.
The collaboration/editing features get the most marketing attention, but for many solo designers, the real value lies in performance improvements and tool tweaks—things you feel more than see.
Not significantly. V-Ray workflows remain largely unchanged. The internal visualization tools (AO, environment handling) are nice for rough previews, but your V-Ray lessons and pipelines are still fully valid.
Top wishes include scene folders or scene grouping, richer Live Component detail/customization, deeper material fidelity between SketchUp and V-Ray, and more powerful parametric editing inside SketchUp itself.
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