Rendering in SketchUp

Fig. 7.10: 
CG Textures.com indicates if 
a texture is seamless.

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Part 2: Textures
Saving a Texture Library
You will want to create an organized and easy-to-access library for your texture images (Fig. 7.12).
Save your materials and textures in a single folder location. Create any additional folder 
subcategories organized by material type—for example, folders for concrete, fabrics, carpets, 
wood, ceramic, etc. (Fig. 7.13). Of the many steps in the rendering process, this might be one of 
the most important. Having an organized and plentiful Texture Library makes the rendering 
process considerably easier.
Fig. 7.12: 
A flowchart indicating the main folder and subfolders of a Texture Library

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Chapter 7: The Texture Library 
Fig. 7.13: 
An expanded flowchart showing brick texture images located in the Brick subfolder located in the Texture 
Library
Save the Material Library in an easily accessible location. You will be linking the Material 
Library to SketchUp’s Paint Bucket tool; see below.
One of the most effective ways to build a Texture Library is on a project-by-project basis. 
Different models and projects will require different materials. The average model uses between 
10 and 20 textures. After three or four renderings, your library could exceed 100 images. Before 
long, you will be reusing textures from the library, knowing which ones work best for a given 
model. 
The bottom line is, download often and keep it organized!
Searching CG Textures
Searching for a texture is relatively simple. You can enter a search term in the search bar or 
search the database list below it (Fig. 7.14). Using the Search menu can be quicker and more 
accurate. A list of possible matches will be displaced as images. In many cases, there will be 
multiple options from which to choose. 

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