UMM Manual v1.6

What's New in 1.6

Material Workflow Overview

SketchUp allows materials to be applied in several ways. That flexibility is powerful, but it can create material structures that are difficult to manage in larger or more complex models.

Ultimate Material Manager introduces a clearer workflow designed to keep materials organized, predictable, and easier to manage across production models and rendering pipelines.

SketchUp Material Behavior

Face materials override container materials. Container materials only appear on faces that still use the Default material. This is the rule that drives the diagrams below.

UMM Material Workflow Principles

Ultimate Material Manager is designed to improve consistency in production models.

SketchUp allows materials to be applied to faces and to container objects such as groups and components.

That flexibility is useful, but it can also create surprises when models get shared, rendered, or edited by teams.

UMM is designed around a few practical principles that help keep material workflows predictable and stable.

Face-First Materials

Put final visual materials on faces whenever possible rather than on container wrappers.

This keeps material ownership clear and makes it easier to understand where materials actually come from inside the model.

Consistent Face Strategy

Use one clear face-painting approach across the model.

For example, many workflows treat front faces as the primary material surface and keep back faces using the Default material.

Using a consistent approach helps avoid unexpected visual results during rendering or export.

Reliable Geometry Behavior

Cleaner modeling structure produces more stable material results.

Keeping geometry well organized inside groups and components helps ensure materials behave consistently during edits, replacements, and exports.

UMM does not force these rules on SketchUp.

It helps you apply them more consistently across the model.

How UMM Decides What to Change

To protect your model, UMM tools follow safety rules during edits.

Selection stays in selection

When a tool is used in selection mode, it edits only content safely inside that selection.

Operations are designed so that changes remain limited to the intended scope of the edit.

Shared components are handled conservatively

Components are shared objects in SketchUp.

If changing a component's internal faces could affect other instances outside the current selection, UMM may skip that edit rather than modify the shared definition.

This helps prevent unexpected changes elsewhere in the model.

Groups behave locally when appropriate

Groups are typically used as local containers in a model.

UMM tools can treat group edits in a localized way so that material changes stay where they were intended.

Locked content is skipped

Locked objects, or objects inside locked parents, are not modified.

This protects protected geometry and avoids unintended edits.

Reliable undo and cancellation

Operations are designed to support clean undo behavior and predictable cancellation during normal use.

Why UMM Skips Edits on Shared Components

When multiple instances of the same component definition exist in a model, the component contents are shared between those instances.

If a tool operation would modify the internal faces of a component while other instances of that component exist outside the current selection, UMM may skip that edit.

This behavior protects shared component definitions from unintended changes elsewhere in the model.

Instance-level properties such as container materials can still be modified on selected objects, but shared component contents are only modified when it is safe to do so.

This helps ensure material operations remain predictable and limited to the intended scope.

What This Means for You

• Fewer unexpected "why did that change over there?" moments
• Lower-risk bulk operations on large, nested models
• More consistent results when exporting, rendering, or sharing files with others

Preparing Existing Models

If you are working with an existing SketchUp model, it is recommended to normalize the material structure before using Ultimate Material Manager tools extensively.

Many existing models contain a mix of face materials and container materials. While SketchUp allows this, it can make material behavior harder to understand in larger or more complex models.

Ultimate Material Manager works best when materials are primarily applied directly to faces.

Recommended workflow

1. Save a backup copy of your .skp file.
2. Select the entire model.
3. Open Material Diagnostics.
4. Run Apply to Faces (Preserve Look).

This operation transfers container materials to faces while preserving the visible appearance of the model.

After this step, materials will primarily exist on faces, creating a cleaner and more predictable structure for further editing.

Why this is recommended

• clearer material ownership
• more predictable results when assigning or replacing materials
• easier handling of nested groups and components
• more consistent downstream behavior for rendering, export, and collaboration

When this is most useful

• older SketchUp projects
• imported models
• downloaded assets
• large nested models
• files that have been edited by multiple people

1. Quick Start

Install, activate, sync your model, and start cleaning materials in minutes.

Compatibility — SketchUp 2024–2026 (macOS & Windows). Behavior may vary slightly depending on OS version and system configuration.

If you're new to UMM, the Material Workflow Overview and UMM Material Workflow Principles sections explain how SketchUp materials behave and how UMM keeps edits predictable.

2. Workspace Overview

UMM can run as a single-window drawer workspace (default) or as classic multi-window dialogs. The same core tools are available in both modes.

3. Main Window Toolkit

Move down the toolbar to scan the model, diagnose issues, and run cleanup actions. The controls below follow the dialog order.

• License Banner: Shows your license status. Click to open License Dialog.
• Top Bar Info: Shows the extension version, total materials, and live scan progress.
• Status Message Bar: Displays live status text for the current action, selection checks, and tool results.
• Model Info: Run a quick material health scan that reports usage, conflicts, and cleanup priorities quickly.
• Refresh: Manually resync the panel so SketchUp stays in step without freezing your workflow.
• Panel Launch Buttons: Open Material Library, Replace Materials, and Texture Transform directly from the main toolbar.
• Materializer · Structure → Materials: Generate and assign materials from groups, components, and tags.

Main Window Toolkit

• Check Faces: Flag reversed faces with green fronts and red backs so orientation mistakes surface immediately.

• Summary: A quick breakdown of face counts, missing front materials, Apply to Faces impact, back-face materials, and container material counts on groups/components.
• Front & Back: Lists the materials and IDs applied to each side.
• Assignments: Shows overrides stored on containers or component definitions.
• Potential Issues: Highlights different issues in your selection.
• Apply to Faces (Preserve Look): Bakes inherited materials onto face fronts and backs while preserving the model’s current appearance. Use this when you want clean face paints without changing how the model looks.
• Apply to Faces (Front Only): Applies container materials to front faces only, keeping the legacy behavior. Use this when you only need to push materials to fronts and leave back faces unchanged.
• Clear Back-Face Materials: Removes explicit back-face materials on the selected faces without modifying front faces. Use this to reset back faces before repainting or cleanup.

• New Material: Create a clean material with default values, then rename and edit as needed.
• Merge Duplicates: Combine matching materials to reduce duplicates, simplify schedules, and keep exports cleaner.
• Purge Unused: Remove unused materials in one click to keep models light, organized, and responsive daily.This reduces surprises during export or collaboration.
• Remove Material: Run cleanup in Selection Mode for focused edits or Full Model Mode for global removal.
• Settings: Open global UMM preferences for assignment behavior, interface layout, and startup options.
• Pick Material: Click any surface in SketchUp to identify its material and jump straight to editing.
• Scan Selection: List materials used by the active SketchUp selection and double-click a result to jump to it.
• Isolate: Filters the list to materials used by the active SketchUp selection.
• Highlight: Applies a temporary tint to selected materials and steps through them with the arrow keys while preserving PBR maps.
• Material List Filters: Use the sort and usage dropdowns to narrow materials before editing.
• Search Materials: Filters the list as you type. Searches are case-insensitive; clear the field to show everything.

Heads-up:
Highlight and Check Faces temporarily modify materials or render settings to display previews. These changes are meant to be temporary and usually clear automatically when you turn the tools off, refresh, close the window, or before saving.

However, it is strongly recommended to disable Highlight and Check Faces before saving your model. If SketchUp crashes or is force-closed while a preview is active, the preview state may be written into the saved file and overwrite the original material appearance.

If you notice thumbnails or faces showing a previewed look, simply toggle these tools off and save again to help keep the file clean.

Material List Functions

• Assign: Apply the active material directly to faces and clear container paints where applicable for consistency.
• Edit: Adjust color, texture, scale, and PBR maps from one panel without leaving SketchUp.
• Rename: Update material names quickly so schedules, exports, and library folders stay aligned.
• Usage: List every entity using the material, then click Select on any row to select that object in the model.
• Duplicate: Clone the active material with all parameters preserved for rapid iterations and alternates.
• Highlight: Highlight selected material in the viewport.

Edit Material Window

Click Edit to open the editor. SketchUp 2025+ uses the full panel shown below; SketchUp 2024 opens a simplified window that keeps the core controls.

• Name: Rename the material.
• Colour & Opacity: Adjust the swatch and 0–100% opacity slider.
• Dimensions: Width and Height in Ultimate Material Manager are entered in inches. SketchUp stores texture sizes internally in inches. SketchUp’s native Materials editor may display converted values based on model units, but the underlying size is the same.
• Texture Actions: Load, find, or remove the current bitmap.
• PBR Maps (2025+): Enable, load, or remove Metallic, Roughness, Normal, and Ambient Occlusion maps with strength sliders.
• Simplified view (2024): Classic controls only: name, colour, opacity, size, preview, and texture actions, without the PBR map panel.
• Footer Controls: Save applies changes; Cancel closes without updating the model.

4. Material Library

Stage, save, and reload reusable materials.

• Load Library: Load saved libraries into the model by choosing a directory entry and applying it.
• Save Library: Export selected materials with textures and a JSON reference so teams share consistent sets.
• Sort & Usage Filter: Organize the list by name or usage and filter to all, used, or unused materials.
• Search: Filter the list as you type and clear quickly to return to the full library.
• Selection: Drag-select multiple swatches to stage bulk actions without toggling each material manually.
• Select All: Grab the whole library in one gesture to streamline batch edits and exports.
• Deselect All: Clear the active selection quickly to reduce accidental bulk edits.
• Batch Rename: Apply prefixes, suffixes, and numbering in one pass for studio-grade naming discipline.
• Undo Batch Rename: Revert the most recent rename run quickly if results stray from standards.
• Batch Create: Generate up to 100 materials with structured names and automatic colors ready for review.
• Delete Progress & Cancel: Longer delete operations show progress and can be cancelled from the progress overlay.

5. Replace Materials

Replace workflows are split into two tabs: Simple and Batch.
Both workflows are designed to keep material changes explicit and consistent.

• Simple Mode: Choose one Current Material and one New Material, then apply a direct model-wide swap.
• Simple Pickers: Use the pick buttons to sample current/new materials from the model viewport.
• Batch Mode Scans: Run Scan Model or Scan Selection to build the Current Materials list.
• Batch Filters: Filter by mapping state (All/Unmapped/Mapped), then sort/filter by usage and search by name.
• Mapping Workspace: Assign selected current materials to a target material, review rows, and apply all mappings together.
• Eyedropper Choice Dialog: When one pick hits multiple materials, choose exactly one using Use Selected.

6. Texture Transform

Capture faces for UV edits with live previews.

• Selection Info: Shows selection status and warns when no textured faces are ready for a session.
• Start Session: Capture the current textured-face selection and begin transform editing.
• Apply Changes / Cancel: End a session by applying current edits or cancelling uncommitted changes.
• Quick Mapping: Run Box Map, Cylinder Map, Texture Map, or Quad Map, plus Invert U/V.
• Adjust Mapping: Fine-tune ΔU, ΔV, angle, and scale with linked sliders and numeric fields.
• Transform Settings: Open Settings for uniform scaling, snap controls, slider sensitivity, and range limits.

7. Materializer

Materializer is designed to create consistent, face-applied materials in one pass.

• What is Materializer? Opens the built-in guide.
• Scope: Choose Full Model to scan all geometry, or Selection Only to limit the run to selected groups/components.
• Materialize: Runs material creation and assignment for the selected scope.
• Advanced: Expands optional controls.
• Material Prefix: Adds a prefix to generated material names.
• Materialize from Tags: Uses tags to generate materials for ungrouped geometry (recommended for CAD imports).
• Exit: Closes the Materializer panel.

8. Settings Main Menu

Settings sit in the toolbar across every window. Set them once and the preference carries with you.

Workflow Notes — Predictable Materials

In practice, consistent material workflows tend to follow a simple pattern:

• Geometry is prepared cleanly, with solids where possible.
• Materials are applied directly to faces early in the process.
• Consistency is maintained throughout the model.
• Cleanup tools are used before export or collaboration.

Ultimate Material Manager is designed to support this flow without changing SketchUp's native behavior.

9. Licensing FAQ

This FAQ explains how licensing and activation work in Ultimate Material Manager. Use it as a reference for installation, activation, device usage, and general license questions.

11. Privacy & GDPR

12. EULA