SketchUp to cutlist: from SketchUp Free, Pro or OpenCutList

Getting a cut list out of SketchUp Free

SketchUp Free runs in the browser and cannot install extensions, so the cut-list plugins that desktop SketchUp users rely on are not available to it. What it can do is download the model as an STL file. That is enough: AnyCutlist splits the STL into its separate pieces, measures each one and turns the flat ones into parts.

STL keeps shapes but drops names and materials, so identical panels are still grouped by size, but you name the parts in AnyCutlist and they share one board choice. If you have SketchUp Pro or Go, export COLLADA instead, which keeps your component names and painted materials.

• Make every panel its own group or component, so it comes out as a separate piece.
• Hide anything you don't cut: hinges, handles, appliances, worktops, room walls.
• Download as STL, then add the file on AnyCutlist's Design tab and choose 3D model.
• Check the model unit in step 1; STL files don't always say whether they are in millimetres or inches.

Model the job so it reads as a cut list

A cut list is made of separate, solid, flat pieces. The closer your model is to that, the less there is to check.

• One panel, one group or component. Panels drawn as a single lump of geometry come out as one piece.
• Draw panels at their real thickness, matching the boards you stock, such as 18 mm or 16 mm.
• Paint or name each board material: White melamine, Oak veneer, 3 mm hardboard. Each material becomes one board choice.
• Name components the way the saw should see them: Side, Shelf, Door.
• Close every panel. A panel with a missing face is still read, but flagged for checking.
• Leave hardware and glass in if you like: items named as hinges, handles, runners or screws, and glass, mirror and acrylic parts, are listed but left unticked, because they are not cut from board.

What to export from each design app

AnyCutlist reads GLB, glTF, DAE, STL, OBJ or 3MF files of up to 50 MB. These are the same steps the Design tab shows under How to export from your design app.

What AnyCutlist does with the model

The model is read on your device, in the browser, so reading it uses no AI credits and big models only take a few seconds. Each piece is measured along its own faces, so a panel that is rotated in the model is measured at its true size rather than as the larger box around it.

Pieces are then sorted. Flat pieces become panels and are ticked to add; everything else is listed but left unticked. Identical panels are grouped into one row with a quantity, and left- and right-hand copies can be merged into one row with the Merge left and right hand copies switch. You pick a board from your catalog for each material in the model, and untick anything you don't want on the cut list before adding the parts.

• Sizes measured from clean geometry are trusted, so a clean panel passes review untouched.
• A thickness that is not one of your stock thicknesses, or that disagrees with the board you picked, is flagged.
• Gaps in a panel's mesh, shaped parts squared off and merged mirror copies are flagged too.

Import an OpenCutList CSV instead

OpenCutList is a free extension for desktop SketchUp that lists a model's parts. If your designers already use it, export its Parts List as CSV or XLSX and drop the file on the Photo / File tab, like any spreadsheet. AnyCutlist recognises OpenCutList's columns, in English or French, so the parts map without setting up columns by hand.

• Designation becomes the part name, with Quantity, Length, Width, Thickness and Material name in their own fields.
• Finished sizes are used; the raw sizes are used only when the finished ones are missing.
• SketchUp-style lengths are read as written: 720mm, 72cm, 0.72m or 28 3/8".
• Edge columns become edge banding, with the tape name and thickness when OpenCutList gives them.
• Description goes to the part's notes and Path keeps the group, so you can tell which cabinet a part belongs to.
• Edge banding, veneer and hardware rows are left out, because they are not parts cut from board.

After the import: review, quote, optimize, export

The parts land in Incoming Parts with their source recorded, and anything flagged waits in review like any other import. From there the job is the same as one typed in or read from a photo: price the boards, edging and cutting, run the optimizer, and export to MaxCut, CutList Plus, Cut Rite or the other formats.

The model file is saved with the cutlist, within your plan's storage, so review can show the parts in 3D. Save a model-based cutlist as a catalog item and the item keeps its own copy of the model and a cover picture, for the next time a customer orders the same unit.

No model to hand? The Design tab also builds cabinets from a photo of a drawing or from typed box sizes, using your workshop's construction rules.

Files it cannot read yet

Some design files have to be exported first. When you drop one of these, the Design tab says which format to export instead.

SketchUp and 3D model questions

Short answers to what designers and workshops ask about cut lists from models.

Can I get a cut list from SketchUp Free?

Yes. SketchUp Free can't run cut-list extensions, but it can download an STL. Make each panel its own group or component, download the STL and add it on AnyCutlist's Design tab.

Can AnyCutlist open a SketchUp .skp file?

Not directly. Export COLLADA (.dae) from SketchUp Pro or Go, which keeps component names and materials, or download an STL from SketchUp Free.

Does it work with OpenCutList?

Yes. Export OpenCutList's Parts List as CSV or XLSX and drop it on the Photo / File tab. AnyCutlist recognises its English and French columns, SketchUp-style lengths and edge columns.

Can I make a cut list from a Fusion or Onshape model?

Yes. Export OBJ or 3MF from Fusion, or glTF or OBJ from Onshape, and add the file on the Design tab.

Is my model uploaded?

It is read in your browser, and it is saved with the cutlist when you add the parts, within your plan's storage, so review can show it in 3D and catalog items can reuse it.

What about curved or shaped parts?

A shaped part comes in as the rectangle it is cut from. If your workshop uses CNC operations, the outline goes with it as a shape operation, flagged for someone to check before cutting.