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# How to draw a floor plan in SketchUp and turn it into a drawing
- URL: https://sketchupguide.net/sketchup-floor-plan/
- Published: 2026-11-01T14:05:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T22:14:53.000Z
- Description: Draw a measured floor plan from typed sizes or a calibrated image, keep the walls in a group and save a sectioned top view. Use LayOut for paper scale or Free for a PNG.
- Author: Oliver Grant
- Tags: Drawings, LayOut & export

Draw a SketchUp floor plan at real size: set the units, draw or trace the outside wall outline, use Offset for the wall thickness, then raise the walls and cut the openings with Push/Pull. For a plan of the 3D model, choose Top and Parallel Projection, add a horizontal section cut and save a Floor plan scene. Pro includes LayOut for a sheet at a chosen scale; SketchUp Free can download a PNG of a prepared view.

I'd use the 3D wall route if the plan will later become a room or house model, because the same walls can supply a plan and elevations. For a flat diagram, keep the walls as 2D strips and skip the extrusion and section cut. The numbered modeling steps below use desktop SketchUp; browser notes cover its documented tools, import and PNG options.

## Choose the output before drawing

Name the view you need: **Floor plan** for a view from above, and optionally **3D overview** for an orbit view. A section cut exposes door and window openings partway up the walls. A flat 2D drawing already lies in the plan plane and needs no section cut.

For a sheet with a specified paper size and drawing scale, [Pro includes desktop SketchUp and LayOut](https://help.sketchup.com/en/admin/sketchup-pro?ref=sketchupguide.net). Studio includes them too. [Go provides web and iPad modeling](https://help.sketchup.com/en/admin/sketchup-go?ref=sketchupguide.net), while [Free is the browser modeler for noncommercial use](https://help.sketchup.com/en/admin/sketchup-free?ref=sketchupguide.net). Neither supplies LayOut. Keep subscription prices in the [SketchUp cost guide](https://sketchupguide.net/sketchup-cost/).

Keep the trace image on a tag named `Trace`. Put the walls in a group before adding furniture, and make repeated doors and windows components. Those containers keep geometry apart; tags control visibility. Leave raw edges and faces Untagged, as the [tagging guidance](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/controlling-visibility-tags?ref=sketchupguide.net) recommends. Furniture can later sit in separate containers when you [furnish the rooms](https://sketchupguide.net/sketchup-interior-design/).

## Set the units and confirm one known length

1. In the desktop Welcome Window, choose a template in the unit used by your plan. **More templates** opens the full list of [model templates](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/setting-templates?ref=sketchupguide.net).
2. Open **Window > Model Info > Units**. Set the format and length unit, then choose display precision that can show your wall thickness. [Model Info controls units and displayed precision](https://help.sketchup.com/en/managing-units-measurement?ref=sketchupguide.net); changing a display unit alone does not resize geometry.
3. Use explicit units when typing a size. For example, `6m` means six meters even in a feet-and-inches template. The [Measurements box accepts a unit with the value](https://help.sketchup.com/en/using-measurements-box?ref=sketchupguide.net). Type while the tool is active and confirm with Enter on Windows or Return on Mac.

**Worked example:** the typed route below uses an outside rectangle of `6m,4m`, a `150mm` wall thickness and a `2.7m` wall height. These values explain the geometry; use your measured dimensions and specified wall build-up for the actual plan. An inward 150 mm offset leaves a clear rectangle of 5.7 m by 3.7 m. If your measurements describe the clear room, draw that inner outline and offset outward instead.

In the browser, choose the unit when creating the model. The [web model settings](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/creating-and-editing-models?ref=sketchupguide.net) include a Model Info panel for measurement units; its default template is under Main Menu > App Settings > General > Regional. Keep the template for future models separate from the settings of the model already open.

## Draw the outside outline or calibrate a trace

On desktop, first select **Camera > Standard Views > Top**, then **Camera > Parallel Projection**. A top view keeps the plan square to the screen. Parallel Projection removes perspective convergence, as the [camera-view instructions](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/viewing-model?ref=sketchupguide.net) explain.

### Type measured dimensions

1. Activate **Rectangle (R)**. Click the first corner on the ground plane, move diagonally in the intended direction, type `6m,4m` for the example and press Enter or Return. [Rectangle takes a length and width separated by a comma](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/drawing-basic-shapes?ref=sketchupguide.net). Retype immediately if needed, before starting another operation.
2. For an L-shaped outline, use **Line (L)**. Click a corner, move along the red or green axis inference, type that wall's length and confirm. Continue around the outside and finish on the first Endpoint. Hold Shift to keep an inference direction while drawing.
3. Check that the closed outline fills with a face. If it doesn't, check for an open endpoint or edges that have left the ground plane. [Connected coplanar edges form faces](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/introducing-drawing-basics-and-concepts?ref=sketchupguide.net); a line drawn across a face divides it.

Measure one outside edge with Tape Measure before continuing. For the example, the long edge must read 6 m. Correct the outline now, before the offset multiplies the error into more edges.

### Trace an image at a known size

Use a scan or an exported image of the plan with at least one reliable dimension. Prefer a long dimension. A photo taken at an angle can remain distorted after one length is corrected, so check a second known length in the other direction.

1. Choose **File > Import**, select the image and choose **Use As Image**. Click the first corner, move the cursor and click the opposite corner. The initial size can be approximate. These are the [image-entity import steps](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/importing-and-using-2d-images?ref=sketchupguide.net).
2. With Line, draw a temporary reference edge over the known dimension. Use **Tape Measure (T)** to click its two endpoints, type the real length with its unit and confirm. Answer **Yes** to resize the model. [Tape Measure resizes the whole model this way](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/scaling-your-model-or-parts-your-model?ref=sketchupguide.net), so do it before adding walls or other geometry.
3. Measure that edge again, then check the second known length. If the second is wrong, replace or correct the reference image instead of tracing its distortion into the walls. Erase the temporary reference edge.
4. Create the `Trace` tag in the Tags panel. Select the image and assign Trace in Entity Info, then return to Line or Rectangle to trace the wall outline. Leave Untagged active for the new edges.

[DaveR's explanation of an imported plan](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/creating-a-simple-floor-plan/185277/7?ref=sketchupguide.net) makes the visibility distinction concrete: give the image its own tag, then hide that tag when the trace is no longer needed. Hiding Untagged would hide the geometry you want to keep.

For web import, choose Main Menu > Import, select My Device or Trimble Connect and choose **As Image**. The [web modeling instructions list JPG, PNG and SKP without a subscription](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/creating-and-editing-models?ref=sketchupguide.net), but [the web feature table lists Free's Import Files as No](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/web-features?ref=sketchupguide.net). If the current account doesn't offer image import, use typed dimensions; the wall outline needs no imported image.

![Four panels showing a typed or traced outline, an inner offset, raised walls and Push/Pull through a door rectangle](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/a08-floor-plan-build-provenance-20261104T221449543091Z.webp)

Offset creates the wall strip. Push/Pull raises it; a second Push/Pull operation cuts a rectangle through the wall. [Open the wall sequence at full size](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/a08-floor-plan-build-provenance-20261104T221449543091Z.webp?ref=sketchupguide.net).

## Offset the wall thickness and draw partitions

1. Activate **Offset (F)** and click the outline face. Move inward for an outside outline, type `150mm` for the example and confirm. [Offset keeps the new edges equidistant from the originals](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/offsetting-line-existing-geometry?ref=sketchupguide.net). An inner loop should appear with a narrow wall face around it.
2. Measure across the wall strip with Tape Measure. The example must read 150 mm. Check at a straight part of the wall, away from the corner.
3. Place Tape Measure guides at the partition positions. [Guides don't divide faces or edges](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/measuring-angles-and-distances-model-precisely?ref=sketchupguide.net); draw actual Line edges or a Rectangle for each partition strip on the floor face.
4. Snap each end of a partition strip to the inside wall edge, keeping both sides of the strip on the floor plane. Check that the strip has its own face, bounded by its two sides and the wall edges at its ends.

For a flat 2D plan, leave these strips flat. To make a door gap, draw actual cross-wall edges at both jambs. Remove the face between them and the short wall-boundary segments across the gap, retaining the jamb edges. A guide crossing a wall line won't split that line; [DaveR describes that exact distinction](https://forums.sketchup.com/t/creating-a-simple-floor-plan/185277/4?ref=sketchupguide.net) for a reader drawing a flat plan. Skip to saving the view once its geometry is complete.

## Raise and group the walls

1. Activate **Push/Pull (P)**. Hover over the outside wall strip until its face highlights, click, move upward, type `2.7m` for the example and confirm. The room floor should stay at ground level.
2. Double-click each partition face immediately after the first extrusion to repeat its height. [Push/Pull repeats the extrusion on another face](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/pushing-and-pulling-shapes-3d?ref=sketchupguide.net). If you have performed another operation, set the height explicitly again.
3. Select the connected wall geometry and choose **Edit > Make Group**, or context-click and choose **Make Group**. Keep the trace image out of the selection. A floor face can stay in this group for the first plan, or become a separate floor group if you need independent visibility.
4. Click once to check that the wall set selects as one object. Double-click to open its editing context before cutting openings. [Grouped geometry stays separate from geometry outside the group](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/grouping-geometry?ref=sketchupguide.net).

I'd group the walls at this point because door rectangles then split faces inside the wall group, while furniture drawn outside it stays separate. Keep later floors and the roof in their own containers when you model the whole house.

## Push door and window openings through the wall

Open the wall group for editing. Mark the jamb positions from the plan; for a window, mark its sill height too. Use the measured opening dimensions rather than the dimensions of a decorative door or window component.

1. With **Rectangle (R)**, hover on the wall until the cursor reports **On Face**. Start a door rectangle on the bottom edge, or a window rectangle at its sill guide. Move across the wall face, type the opening's width and height and confirm.
2. Use **Push/Pull (P)** on that new face and push toward the opposite face until SketchUp reports that the offset is limited. Click to finish the through-cut. The [through-cut requires parallel front and back faces](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/pushing-and-pulling-shapes-3d?ref=sketchupguide.net); lines dividing the opposite face can prevent it.
3. Orbit to the other side and check that the opening has no face left across it. If the push stopped short, check the back face and the editing context before cutting again.

Make repeated door leaves and window frames components, then place them in the openings as separate objects. [Editing a component definition changes its other instances](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/creating-basic-component?ref=sketchupguide.net). The Cut Opening option cuts a face; it doesn't replace checking the hole through both sides of a thick wall.

## Cut the plan view and save its scene

![A horizontal section plane through walls, the resulting top view with a door gap, and that plan on a LayOut sheet](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/a08-plan-view-to-sheet-provenance-20261104T221449543091Z.webp)

The section plane chooses the cut height. Top and Parallel Projection set the view; the LayOut viewport sets its paper scale. [Open the plan-to-sheet sequence at full size](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/a08-plan-view-to-sheet-provenance-20261104T221449543091Z.webp?ref=sketchupguide.net).

1. Close the wall group and clear the selection. Choose **Tools > Section Plane**. Tap the Up arrow so the plane's normal follows Blue and the plane lies horizontally, then click the floor. Name it `Plan cut`. The [section-plane instructions](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/slicing-model-peer-inside?ref=sketchupguide.net) describe the axis locks, active cut and context rules.
2. Select the plane and use Move along the blue axis. Type the required cut height with its unit and confirm. [Trimble's plan example uses a cut 4 feet above the floor](https://sketchup.trimble.com/en/blog/article/creating-plan-your-sketchup-model-layout?ref=sketchupguide.net); choose a height that crosses the windows and doors your plan needs to show.
3. If the wrong half disappears, context-click the plane and choose **Reverse**. Use **Active Cut** if needed. Only one section cut can be active in each context.
4. Choose **Camera > Standard Views > Top** and **Camera > Parallel Projection**. In Styles, open Edit > Modeling Settings and enable Section Fill if you want filled wall cuts. An unfilled cut can indicate an open loop within the group's geometry.
5. Hide the plane frame with **View > Section Planes**, leaving the section cut visible. Hide the Trace tag. For a flat 2D drawing, use the same top camera and hide Trace, with no active cut.

Open **Scenes**, click **Add Scenes**, then **Show Details** and name the scene `Floor plan`. Keep Camera Location, Visible Tags, Active Section Planes and Style and Fog selected when they define this view. [Scenes preserve those selected view properties](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/creating-scenes?ref=sketchupguide.net). Orbit away and click the Floor plan tab to check that the flat view and intended visibility return.

Moving a wall changes the geometry seen by every scene. Use **Update Scene** after changing the saved camera, tag visibility, section-plane state or style; save the SKP after either geometry or scene changes. A scene is a view of the current model, not a backup of an earlier design.

On the web, the [Expanded Toolset includes Offset, Dimension, Text Label and Create Section](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/sketchup-web-expanded-toolbar?ref=sketchupguide.net), and the model has Scenes and Display panels. These are separate from the desktop Camera and Tools menus named above. A PNG can carry a prepared plan view, but its pixel dimensions don't establish a drawing scale on paper.

## Put the plan on a scaled LayOut sheet

1. Save the SKP and choose **File > Send to LayOut**, then pick a paper template. [Send to LayOut places the saved model in a viewport](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/sending-sketchup-model-layout?ref=sketchupguide.net).
2. Open **Window > Document Setup > Paper** and set the required sheet size and orientation. [Document Setup controls the paper](https://help.sketchup.com/en/layout/document-setup?ref=sketchupguide.net); its units setting is separate from dimension formatting.
3. Select the viewport and choose `Floor plan` in SketchUp Model > Viewport > Scene. Under Camera, enable **Ortho** and choose the required scale. [Ortho enables the scale control](https://help.sketchup.com/en/layout/perspective-and-scale?ref=sketchupguide.net). Enable **Preserve Scale** before resizing the viewport boundary.
4. With **Arrange > Object Snap On**, choose **Tools > Dimensions > Linear** and attach both endpoints to the model. Set the units and precision in Dimension Style. [Dimensions attached inside the viewport read model space](https://help.sketchup.com/en/layout/marking-dimensions?ref=sketchupguide.net); a dimension crossing into paper space reads paper distance. Check a known wall before adding the rest.
5. Export a PDF through File > Export. [LayOut also exports image pages and CAD files](https://help.sketchup.com/en/layout/exporting-or-printing-your-layout-document?ref=sketchupguide.net). Open the PDF and confirm its page size. For a scale print, choose actual size or 100% in the viewer and printer settings, then measure one known length.

For example, a projected 6 m wall at 1:50 should occupy `6000 mm ÷ 50 = 120 mm` on paper; its attached dimension should still read 6 m. A page fitted to printer margins can shrink that 120 mm even when the title block says 1:50.

![LayOut SketchUp Model controls with Plan selected, Ortho enabled, scale 1:50 and Preserve Scale checked](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/a08-layout-viewport-scale.webp)

Choose Floor plan in your file's Scene field. This panel uses Plan and 1:50 as examples; check Ortho and Preserve Scale before framing the viewport. [Open the viewport scale controls at full size](https://storage.ghost.io/c/91/44/91442afd-0c5c-4b43-a595-8db40125cd56/content/images/2026/11/a08-layout-viewport-scale.webp?ref=sketchupguide.net).

After changing the SKP, update its reference under **Window > Document Setup > References**. [Update reads the latest file; Relink finds a moved file](https://help.sketchup.com/en/layout/managing-model-references?ref=sketchupguide.net). Check every affected dimension after updating. The [SketchUp LayOut guide](https://sketchupguide.net/sketchup-layout/) covers the rest of the sheet and disconnected dimensions.

## Export an image from desktop or Free

On desktop, select the Floor plan scene and choose [File > Export > 2D Graphic](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/importing-and-exporting-image-files?ref=sketchupguide.net), then select PNG or JPEG and set the pixel size in Options. Add dimensions with Tools > Dimensions and room labels with Tools > Text if the image needs them. [SketchUp dimensions attach to model points and update with the geometry](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/adding-text-labels-and-dimensions-model?ref=sketchupguide.net); replacing their displayed value with custom text stops that automatic measurement update.

In Free, open the prepared view, add dimensions and labels if needed, then choose **Main Menu > Download > .png**. The [web download options include PNG, SKP and STL](https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup-web/saving-models?ref=sketchupguide.net). The feature table lists PNG and printing with a watermark for Free and without it for subscribers. Keep the PNG for discussing the arrangement and reading its dimension labels; use a scaled sheet for measuring the drawing on paper.

A floor plan alone doesn't establish structural adequacy, code compliance or approval. Keep those decisions with the qualified designer and authority responsible for the project. Before saving, return to Floor plan, confirm that Trace is hidden and one known wall reads correctly, then save the model and update its LayOut reference if the plan uses a sheet.