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Importing and Exporting CAD Files

Last updated: Oct 21, 2026•8 min read.

The most common CAD formats are DWG and DXF. These formats are proprietary and most often associated with Autodesk and AutoCAD along with other programs. SketchUp subscribers can import CAD files into their models, and export their models as CAD files for use with other software.

Importing CAD Files

When you import a CAD file, SketchUp attempts to translate the entities in that file to SketchUp entities. SketchUp supports the following imported CAD entities:

  • Arcs

  • Circles

  • Faces

  • 3D Faces

  • Layers/Tags

  • Lines and Line Styles

  • Materials

  • Polyline-based Solids

  • Nested Blocks

  • AutoCAD regions

  • Point

  • Ellipse

  • Spline

  • Raster Images

  • Solid Hatches

Preparing Your File

Before you import your CAD file, you can do a few things to make sure all the data you need imports into SketchUp and streamline the import process:

  • Create a Copy – To avoid losing any details or data in the original file, create a copy of the original file and use that copy as the one you want to import. 

  • Change unsupported elements – If you need to import unsupported CAD elements into SketchUp, try exploding those elements in CAD and transforming them to elements that SketchUp does support.

  • Delete unnecessary layers – SketchUp discards any entities that have no 3D relevance. The layers those entities were on will remain, creating empty tags in SketchUp. To avoid this, purge these unused layers before importing.

  • Move geometry close to the origin – Geometry that's too far away from the axis origin can cause performance issues. Check the placement of geometry in your CAD file before you import the CAD file into SketchUp.

  • Reduce the file size as needed – The smaller your CAD file size, the quicker and easier the import. Files larger than 15MB may cause performance issues. To reduce the file size, only import geometry you need or consider breaking your CAD file up into multiple files.

  • Save your CAD file in a SketchUp-compatible format – When SketchUp imports a CAD file, SketchUp strips the information to its basic geometric components. Older CAD formats may not work well with SketchUp. To make sure your file imports without issue, save CAD files created in older versions to a more recent one.

Importing a CAD File

After preparing your file, follow these steps to import a CAD file:

  • Select File > Import.

  • Locate the CAD file you want to import.

  • Select AutoCAD Files as your file type.

  • Click Options and adjust the settings as needed. See below for a detailed explanation of these settings. 

  • Click OK.

  • Click Import.

CAD Import Options

The Options dialog contains the following settings options:

  • Under Position, select Preserve Drawing Origin to place the imported geometry at the origin defined in the .dwg or .dxf file. Leave this blank to place the imported geometry near the SketchUp origin.

  • Under Preferences, each option has a different outcome when selected:

  • Import Layers as Groups – Generates groups that reflect the layer arrangement of the CAD file. These imported layers maintain their respective tags alongside matching grouped geometry.

  • Import Linework Flattened – Assigns a Z-value of 0 to all incoming geometry, resolving vertical alignment variances.

  • Merge Coplanar Faces – Directs SketchUp to clean up triangulated interior lines across flat surfaces.

  • Orient Faces Consistently – Evaluates the orientation of imported faces to ensure alignment remains uniform.

  • Import Materials – Brings material definitions into your model. Deselect this setting to exclude source materials.

  • Import Metadata – Structures entity attributes so imported elements align with relevant IFC classification standards.

  • Under Tessellation Quality, adjust the following options:

  • Angular Deviation (°) – Determines how smooth curved geometry appears. Smaller angles generate smoother curves by increasing triangle counts whereas larger values produce simpler, coarser shapes.

  • Chordal Tolerance – Controls the highest permitted space between imported mesh faces and original CAD surfaces. Setting a lower threshold increases surface precision, while a higher threshold lowers processing times with a coarser mesh.

  • Max Edge Length – Establishes a maximum length for individual polygon edges. Smaller limits generate dense detail over broad surfaces, while larger limits keep entity counts low.

  • Under Annotation, choose how each annotation acts with the following options:

  • Text – For Text, you can choose from Contours Only, Filled Meshes, Native SketchUp Text, or None. 

  • Dimensions – For Dimensions, you can choose from Contours Only or Native SketchUp Dimensions.

  • Hatch – For Hatch, you can choose from Linework or None.

  • Under Scale, choose a scale option the imported file will use. Your options are Model Units, Inches, Feet, Yards, Miles, Millimeters, Centimeters, Meters and Kilometers.

After Importing

After importing your CAD file, there are some known issues you may come across:

  • The size or scale may be inconsistent with the original file. If you weren't sure what unit of measurement was used to create the CAD file, or if you didn’t adjust the Scale section of Options, you may need to perform additional scaling in Sketchup after the import completes. 

  • Lines may not connect to form faces. Hunting down all the little gaps can be difficult. 

Before you start using your imported file, follow these steps to make sure the imported file is ready for modeling:

  • Check the size of the imported CAD geometry and scale any incorrect measurements as necessary.

  • Make sure the CAD geometry is a single group. If you already have grouped geometry in your model, SketchUp will automatically group the imported CAD geometry.

  • Line up the floor plan with SketchUp's drawing axes.

  • Delete any extra tags and give the CAD group its own tag.

  • Adjust the edge styles as necessary.

Exporting to a CAD Format

Before exporting, make sure your model is in a Standard Camera view with Parallel projection enabled. This can help make sure the scale of your model is preserved. For more information, see Viewing a Model.

Exporting to a 2D CAD Format

When you export a SketchUp model to a CAD format, SketchUp translates data in the following ways:

  • SketchUp faces are exported as a triangulated polyface mesh with interior hidden lines to better simulate SketchUp geometry.

  • SketchUp uses the current unit of measurement as a reference for translation to a .dwg or .dxf file.

  • Duplicate line entities aren't created on top of a p-line entity.

To export a model as a 2D CAD file:

  1. Before you begin the export process, make sure your model is in a Standard Camera View with Parallel projection enabled in Camera > Standard Views.

  2. Select File > Export > 2D Graphic.

  3. Choose a location to export to.

  4. Select either the AutoCAD DWG or AutoCAD DXF format.

  5. Click Options. Adjust the following as necessary:

    • AutoCAD Version – Choose the version of AutoCad you wish to export to.

    • Drawing Scale & Size – Use Full Scale or type in a custom value to scale your drawing.

    • Profile Lines – Customize how profile lines appear in your exported file.

      • Select None to export profile lines at the standard width.

      • Select Polylines with Width to export profile lines as AutoCAD polylines.

      • Select Wide Line Entities to export profile lines as AutoCAD wide line entities.

      • Separate on a Layer is selected by default and creates a layer for profile edges.

    • Section Lines – These options are available when exporting section lines or a section slice. See Creating and Using Section Planes for details on how these options work.

    • Extension Lines – Some CAD applications might have problems recognizing line endpoints and intersections when your model uses SketchUp line extensions. Deselect Show Extensions to toggle extensions off in your exported file. If you leave Show Extensions selected and deselect Automatic, you can enter an exact length for line extensions in the Length box.

  6. Click OK to return to the export dialog.

  7. Click Export.

Exporting a SketchUp Model as a 3D CAD file

When you export a SketchUp model as a 3D CAD file, you can export the entire model, or just a selection of entity types, by following these steps:

  1. Select File > Export > 3D Model .

  2. Navigate to the location where you want to save your exported file.

  3. Select either .dwg or .dxf as the file format for your exported file.

  4. Click Options.

  5. Select the AutoCAD Version you'd like to export your file to.

  6. Under Geometry, choose from the following mesh types:

    • Smooth (SubD) – Subdivision surface meshes work best when modeling organic forms or using subdivision-compatible rendering engines. Note that this feature requires AutoCAD versions newer than 2010.

    • Flat-faceted (Polyface) – Standard faceted meshes work well for direct polygonal editing. 

  7. Select each type of entity you want to include from the following options:

    • Faces

    • Edges

    • Construction Geometry

    • Dimensions

    • Text

    • Materials

  8. Click OK.

  9. Click Export.