SketchToon – Real Toon Shading for SketchUp (Finally)

SketchUp styles are powerful. Edges, profiles, shadows, fog, skies — you can push a model very far visually. But there has always been one missing piece: True Toon / Cel Shading.

Not fake shading. Not post-processing tricks. Real banded light, baked directly into textures and usable anywhere.

🎨 SketchToon is the first dedicated Toon-Shading & Baking Engine built specifically for SketchUp, It completes what SketchUp styles were always hinting at — edges, profiles, shadows, skies… but with real toon shading. The missing piece that finally completes SketchUp’s cartoon-style workflow.

SketchToon Toon-Shading & Baking Engine for SketchUp

What SketchToon Does

SketchToon takes your SketchUp model, generates real toon shading based on user input, and bakes it directly into textures in a single click.

Once baked, the result can be used directly inside SketchUp, enhanced with styles, or exported for multiple purposes:

• Usable in animation
• Compatible with game engines
• Perfect for asset libraries
• Ideal for low-poly workflows

SketchToon applied to a low-poly 3D tree

Why Toon Shading Matters

Toon shading is not just a “cartoon look”. It is widely used for:

• Stylized animation
• Educational visuals
• Technical illustrations
• Indie and mobile games
• Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR)

Until now, SketchUp had no native or dedicated way to produce this cleanly and reliably. That’s why SketchToon exists.

SketchToon on a component from the original library

SketchToon Core Features

True Toon Light Bands

Toon Settings

• Adjustable number of shading bands
• Hard or soft transitions
• Controlled contrast and saturation
• Predictable, clean results

Sun & Light Driven

SketchToon Light Settings

• Toon shading reacts to user input
• Directional light and ambient light become part of the style

Color adjustment

SketchToon Color Settings

• Contrast and saturation control

Automatic Texture Baking

• One-click texture baking
• High-quality texture size (2048 × 2048 pixels)
• Optimized UV output
• Designed for speed (≈ 5 seconds for a model with 23,373 vertices, 7,791 triangles, and 8 materials)

Reusable Everywhere

• Can be used inside SketchUp or exported to any other software
• Works for animation pipelines
• Great for stylized asset production

SketchToon Main Interface

Not All Models Are Equal (And That’s Intentional)

SketchToon is not a magic button. Best results are achieved with:

• Clean geometry (solids recommended)
• Reasonable topology
• Low- to mid-poly models
• Clear surface separation
• 3D models only (2D face-me components are not supported)
• Diffuse colors only (textured materials are not supported)

For this reason, SketchToon ships with 3 ready-made SketchUp reference styles and 1 color palette template file, designed specifically to inspire you create your own workflows :

• 3 Custom skies
• 3 Matched line styles
• 1 Color palettes tuned for best results
• Consistent visual language

These styles help you achieve strong results quickly and demonstrate the tool’s full potential.

SketchToon Scene with custom sytle

From SketchUp to Animation, Games, and Assets

With SketchToon, SketchUp becomes more than a modeling tool:

• A stylized asset generator
• A toon-ready content pipeline
• A fast NPR production tool

This opens new workflows for creators, educators, and developers working with stylized visuals.

SketchToon applied to a character

A Familiar Feeling, Revisited

If you have been using SketchUp for a long time, you probably remember the very first time you opened it.

It felt sketchy, light, and playful — almost like drawing in 3D. Models looked cartoony by nature, and that was part of the joy.

Many veterans will also remember (Play Grow) the colorful 3D playground scene used in SketchUp 7 — a simple, joyful model that perfectly represented the spirit of the software at the time.

Over the years, as workflows became more technical and results more polished, that feeling slowly faded.

While building SketchToon, something unexpected happened: my models started to feel more SketchUp again.

SketchToon Preview on Play Grow Component 

Applying toon shading to that classic playground scene brought back the same sensation — expressive shapes, bold edges, and stylized light working together instead of chasing realism.

Even as the creator of the tool, I found myself rediscovering that early joy — the feeling that first made SketchUp special.

SketchToon is not about changing SketchUp. It is about completing its visual language and reconnecting with what made it fun in the first place.

Built for Exploration

SketchToon is not about photorealism. It is about style, speed, and creative freedom. This page is the foundation of an ongoing series — examples, styles, tutorials, and workflows will follow.

SketchToon on a low poly vehicle

SketchToon applied to chair model

FAQ

Who made SketchToon?

SketchToon is created by The SketchUp Dude.

Does SketchToon create a single texture atlas?

No, SketchToon bakes textures by material, you will find one UV texture for each material to facilitate post processing and editing later.

Can I bake multiple components at the same time?

Yes, but it is highly recommended to work on one component at a time. In all cases, models must be solid and have clean geometry (no holes, no non-manifold geometry, correct face orientation).

Can I use SketchToon to bake textures only without toon shading?

SketchToon supports diffuse colors only. While its main purpose is toon-shader baking, you can bake flat colors by setting the Toon Smoothness value to maximum.

Why does my baked model look different from the original?

This is expected. SketchToon bakes lighting and shading, so the result will naturally differ from the original unbaked model.

What are the minimum requirements?

SketchToon works with SketchUp 2017 and newer. Minimum OS requirements: Windows 7 or macOS Mojave (10.14.6).

Why am I getting ugly results?

SketchToon requires clean geometry and consistent normals. Messy topology, flipped faces, non-manifold geometry, bad topology or overly complex curves can lead to undesirable results.

Post-processing inside SketchUp is also important — adjusting styles, shadows, backgrounds, and editing baked textures helps place models in the right visual context.

Availability

SketchToon is available as a SketchUp extension for macOS and Windows. Early supporter price: $29.99

Use the contact page to request access.

• Perpetual license (Mac or Windows)
• 3 accompanying reference SketchUp toon styles
• 1 Color palette template file.