If you’ve been using SketchUp for more than five minutes, you already know this problem.
You import a DWG, an STL, or some “perfectly clean” geometry from somewhere else… and SketchUp just refuses to create faces. Lines look connected. Everything seems closed. But nothing fills.
You zoom in. You redraw edges. You retrace lines. You swear a bit. And at some
point you realize: this is not something you should be doing manually.
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Imported Floorplan in Sketchup
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Closing faces is not an advanced feature
One of the weird things about the SketchUp ecosystem is that some absolutely basic operations are treated like premium features.
Closing co-planar edges into faces is one of them.
This is not a “power user” workflow. It’s not optional. It’s not a niche use case. It’s something every SketchUp user hits almost immediately:
- Imported CAD drawings
- STL, mesh cleanup or filling holes.
- Broken outlines
- Incomplete profiles
Yes, you can fix faces manually. You can trace edges, heal geometry,
and babysit SketchUp into behaving. But once you’ve done that more than a few
times, it becomes obvious: this needs to be automated.
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| MakeFaces close mesh holes |
Automation shouldn’t require a subscription
Over the years, I’ve watched more and more micro-utilities turn into paid tools, memberships, or “in-app purchases”.
Sometimes that makes sense. Complex tools take real time to build and maintain.
But sometimes… it doesn’t.
Automatically creating faces from closed edges is about as fundamental as it gets. It’s two lines of logic wrapped around SketchUp’s existing behavior. Useful, yes — but not something that should block beginners or casual users behind a paywall.
And yet, here we are.
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| MakeFaces right click menu |
So I released a free “Make Faces” extension
Not because it’s revolutionary.
Not because it does something magical.
But simply because the gap exists.
The extension does exactly what you expect: it scans selected co-planar edges and attempts to generate faces automatically. No settings. No panels. No nonsense.
It’s boring on purpose.
That’s also why it’s free and available on the SketchUp Extension Warehouse.
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| Sketchup MakeFaces extensions menu |
Why this extension exists now
I’ve been modeling in SketchUp for years, and tools like this have always existed in one form or another.
What changed is the ecosystem.
Subscriptions everywhere. Fragmented utilities. Beginners hitting friction way too early. Simple problems turning into paid decisions.
This extension isn’t a protest — it’s just a reset. One less thing you need to think about when cleaning geometry.
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| Sketchup MakeFaces tool palettes button |
A small tool, part of a bigger workflow
In my own work, closing faces is just a preparatory step. Most of the time, it happens before more complex operations: texturing, baking, exporting, or stylized rendering.
Releasing this extension was almost embarrassing in its simplicity — but it solves a real, recurring problem, and that’s enough.
If it saves you a few minutes of manual cleanup, it has already done its job.
Where to download the Make Faces extension
The Make Faces extension is available directly from the official SketchUp Extension Warehouse and it is compatible with SketchUp 2017 and later.
There’s no separate installer, no external download page, and no account required beyond your SketchUp login. Once installed, it behaves like any other native utility — install it once and forget about it.
I deliberately chose the Extension Warehouse route so users don’t have to chase ZIP files or wonder whether an extension is safe or maintained.
Final thoughts
If you’re new to SketchUp, this is one of those utilities you shouldn’t even notice — it should just quietly fix things and get out of the way.
If you’re experienced, you already know why tools like this matter.
Either way, “Make Faces” is one of those extensions that feels obvious only after you’ve needed it.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
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