In 2D mode CutOptim opens a SketchUp .skp file itself: the components of your model become cut-list rows, and the same model feeds the Assembly view, the Model check and the Build Pack. Your file is read in the browser and never uploaded. It needs a signed-in account — a free one works — and it does not use a run.
Importing a file
- Click SketchUp in the header of the Parts (2D) section (the same import is also in the CSV menu).
- Choose a .skp file. Files up to 50 MB are read; a file that takes more than 20 seconds is stopped.
- Read the preview, then press Import — or Cancel, which changes nothing.
The preview shows the cut-list rows and the pieces, the stored size of the model, the notes, the components that are not sheet parts, and — when needed — a choice of the front of the furniture. The import adds the rows to the parts table (an untouched demo list is replaced) and binds the model to them; the current assembly drawing and its bound rows are replaced.
How a component becomes a part
Every component with flat faces of its own becomes a cut-list part. The thickness is the smallest of its three sizes; identical parts share a row, and the row is named by the part’s name, size and material. Parts get their numbers and place letters as for a template. The groups of your model — a Left Cabinet, say — become the groups of the Assembly view.
A SketchUp library texture such as Wood … or Color_… is a look, not a material: the material of the row comes from the board thickness, so you can match it to your stock afterwards.
What is not a sheet part
These components are left out of the cut list and listed with their reason; they stay in the drawing without a row:
- thicker than 50 mm;
- a material that is not board — glass, metal, fabric;
- a hardware name — hinge, knob, screw — in ten languages;
- a rod or stick, long with a small cross-section;
- a small solid piece.
Switch on Import these as parts too to turn them into rows. Parts rotated off the axes go into the cut list but not into the assembly drawing. Hidden items, loose faces, images and scale figures are skipped, and the preview counts them.
The front of the furniture
The labels’ left and right and the drawing’s orientation need to know the front. CutOptim finds it from a wall or plane named Front or Back (hidden ones too), or from the thin, large, upright back panels. If it cannot tell, the preview says so and offers Front of the furniture: Front view (SketchUp default), Right view, Back view or Left view. Read again with your choice.
Size and errors
A project holds about 500 KB, so the stored model is measured: from 400 KB the preview warns, and from 500 KB only the cut list is imported, without the assembly drawing; the same happens when the model has more placements than the drawing can hold. If a file cannot be read you get a sentence: not a SketchUp file; larger than 50 MB; damaged or unsafe; cannot be read (save it again from a recent SketchUp); too complex; too large (in SketchUp run Purge Unused in Model Info → Statistics, save and try again); reading took too long. After an import, run the optimizer as usual and open the Assembly view to check the model against your design.