Everything you need to install, configure, and use the ModelLink 3D plugin for SketchUp
Go to the Plugin Download page and click "Download Plugin" to get the .rbz file. You'll need to be logged into your ModelLink 3D account.
Launch SketchUp on your computer. You can install the plugin with any document open, or from the welcome screen.
Go to Window → Extension Manager (Windows) or SketchUp → Extension Manager (macOS).
Click the Install Extension button at the bottom of the Extension Manager window.
Navigate to your Downloads folder (or wherever you saved the file) and select modellink3d_exporter-v2.4.1.rbz.
Click "Yes" when SketchUp asks if you trust the extension author. The plugin will be installed.
Close and reopen SketchUp to complete the installation. The plugin will now appear in your Extensions menu.
After installation, you'll find the plugin under Extensions → ModelLink 3D Studio in the menu bar.
Make sure your model is complete and all textures are properly applied. Remove any hidden geometry you don't want to include.
Go to Extensions → ModelLink 3D Studio → Export .3df
A metadata dialog appears on every export. Fill in your Display Name (pre-filled from SketchUp model title), Category, Description, and optionally Project Reference and SKU. These details appear in your dashboard, gallery, viewer, and social sharing previews.
Click "Export" to generate the .3df file on your machine. The plugin automatically captures a 1200×630 thumbnail from your current SketchUp viewport and packages it with your model — so frame the view you want as your thumbnail before exporting. Then upload the 3DF™ package from your dashboard in your browser; your viewer link and QR code are available there once the upload completes. The plugin itself never connects to the internet — your model stays on your machine until you upload it.
Access settings via Extensions → ModelLink 3D → Settings. You can configure:
.3df files alongside your SketchUp projectYou print drawings to PDF. This prints the model to p3DF™ — one file, made on your machine, that you send as an attachment. Your client opens it in the free P3DF™ Viewer: in 3D on a computer, and in AR on a phone. No account, no upload.
It uses the same pipeline as .3df export — same geometry, same colour, same real-world scale. Only the packaging differs: a .p3df carries a viewer inside it, so the file is the whole experience rather than a pointer to one.
Same preparation as an export — real-world scale, model at or near the origin, textures applied. The plugin warns you before printing if the model sits far enough from the origin to make AR placement difficult.
Go to Extensions → ModelLink 3D Studio → Print to p3DF...
The same metadata dialog appears. Your Display Name and Description travel inside the file, so whoever opens it sees what it is — no covering email required.
Pick a location and filename, exactly as you would when printing a PDF. The file is written with a .p3df extension, and the closing summary tells you its size and what the recipient will be able to do with it.
Where it can, the plugin bundles a native iOS AR file alongside your model. AR works either way — with it, iPhone and iPad go straight into AR; without it, the viewer builds the AR view from the model itself, which simply takes a moment longer. The plugin tells you when it could not bundle one, and why: either your model uses TIFF textures (convert them to JPEG or PNG and print again), or you are running SketchUp older than 2025, which cannot produce that file.
.3df is the package you upload to modellink3d.com: it becomes a hosted viewer with a share link, a QR code, and a gallery entry you can update. .p3df is the file you hand to someone. A printed p3DF deliberately contains no links back to your gallery, so it keeps working on its own terms — whatever happens later to the hosted copy, the file in their hands still opens.
A p3DF bundles the viewer along with your model and its AR file. That is what makes it self-contained, and it is the reason the file is bigger than the equivalent .3df. It is a deliverable, not an upload — there is no size limit to stay under.
If you use Cabinet Vision, the plugin can import your CV DAE exports into SketchUp organized by part type — making SketchUp your design presentation home. If you don't use Cabinet Vision, you can skip this section entirely.
Use CV's standard DAE export for the job or room you want to present.
In SketchUp, go to Extensions → ModelLink 3D Studio → Import & Tag CV DAE... and choose your DAE file. The import runs immediately and organizes everything onto SketchUp tags.
Cabinet appearance and interior parts are tagged and visible; manufacturing detail (CNC, edge banding, hardware) is tagged and hidden — not deleted, so you can toggle any tag back on at any time. Only pure CV export artifacts (empty container blocks) are removed.
Your geometry is preserved — cleanup happens through tag visibility, not deletion. One SketchUp file serves every purpose: visible tags for AR and client presentation, hidden tags for fabrication reference.
If you pick a DAE that doesn't contain CV part names, the plugin tells you and asks before importing — for ordinary DAE files, SketchUp's standard File → Import is the right tool.
Generate a QR code that links straight to your hosted model — scan it with any phone to open the 3D viewer and step into AR. Put it on drawings, quotes, or LayOut sheets.
Go to Extensions → ModelLink 3D Studio → QR Code...
Your gallery's projects URL, e.g. https://modellink3d.com/g/your-name/projects/. The plugin remembers it for next time.
The QR preview updates live. Important: use the same string as the project name when you upload the model — that's what makes the QR resolve to your viewer.
Place in model adds the QR as a 12″ always-face-camera component at the origin — it shows in your SketchUp viewport and in LayOut viewports. Save as PNG… writes the QR to a file you can insert directly into LayOut sheets, quotes, or any document at exactly the print size you want.
A QR needs roughly 1 inch (25 mm) on the printed page to scan reliably. For placed-in-model QRs, remember LayOut viewport scaling shrinks it — a 12″ model QR at 1:12 prints at 1″. The Save-as-PNG path avoids this entirely: insert it in LayOut at print size.
If you export to .3df with the QR visible, it will appear in the 3D viewer and AR. That can be a fun touch — but if you don't want it, you control it with SketchUp's own tools: put the QR on its own tag or hide it, save a scene (e.g. "3DF export") with that state, and activate the scene before exporting. Your LayOut viewports that reference other scenes keep showing the QR.
After installing the .rbz file, the plugin may not appear immediately.
A placed QR component is regular geometry, so it exports with the model when visible.
The model is offset a long way from SketchUp's origin point.
Large or complex models may have issues exporting.
Some textures don't appear in the AR viewer.
Your model exceeds the upload size limit.
If you're still having issues after trying the troubleshooting steps above, we're here to help.
Email us at [email protected] with:
Download the plugin and start sharing your 3D models in AR today.
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