STL exporting from SketchUp

SketchUp has a plugin available to export STL files.

Installing the plugin

Download the plugin from http://sourceforge.net/projects/stl4su/

On Mac OS, using the installer:

  1. Download STLforSU-1.1.dmg
  2. Open the installer package to install the plugin. This will install it in a location where SketchUp 7 can access it. However, this will not work with the latest version, version 8.
  3. Copy the installed file to a location where SketchUp 8 can access it. To do this:
    1. In Finder, in the Go menu, select “Go to folder…”
    2. Enter the path “/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 7/SketchUp/plugins” (without the quotation marks) and press the Go button.
    3. The plugins folder for SketchUp 7 will appear. There should be a file named stl4su.rb in this folder.
    4. Open another finder window. Go to the folder “/Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/plugins”. This is the SketchUp 8 plugins folder
    5. Copy stl4su.rb from the SketchUp 7 plugins folder to the SketchUp 8 plugins folder.

On Mac OS, manual installation:

Download stl4su.rb and move it to /Library/Application Support/Google SketchUp 8/SketchUp/plugins

On Windows:

Download stl4su.rb and move it to C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 7/Plugins (if you are using SketchUp 7).

If you are using SketchUp 8, instead move it to C:/Program Files/Google/Google SketchUp 8/Plugins.

Using the plugin to export files

Go to the tools menu and select “Export STL…”. Note that this is not in the File menu along with the other import/export options.

Screen Shot 2013-05-14 at 12.58.12

Ensure that millimeters is the selected unit for exporting.

Screen Shot 2013-05-14 at 12.58.27

Choose an export location and save the file.