Free OBJ to SKP converter
Convert OBJ files to SketchUp
Drop in an .obj with its .mtl and textures and get a .skp with clean faces instead of a mesh of triangles. No SketchUp extension, no sign-up, and the files stay on your device.
Experimental: results may vary. if you have problems.
How to convert OBJ to SKP
- Pick the file's units and up axis below the box. If you're not sure, leave them: you can change them after.
- Click Choose .obj files and select the .obj, its .mtl and the texture images together, or drop the .zip they came in.
- Check the model size under the result. Wrong by a factor of 1000? Change the units.
- Click Download .skp and open it in SketchUp with File › Open.
Clean faces, not a pile of triangles
OBJ files store every surface as triangles. Imported as they are, a simple wall arrives in SketchUp crossed with diagonal lines, and a box has twelve faces instead of six. Before writing the .skp, this converter tidies the mesh the way you would by hand:
- Flat areas become one face. Neighbouring triangles on the same plane, with the same material and the same texture placement, are merged, holes included.
- Straight edges stay straight. The extra points a triangulation leaves along an edge are removed.
- Curves look smooth. Edges inside curved surfaces are softened and smoothed, using the OBJ's own normals where it has them, so a cylinder reads as one surface.
- Objects stay apart. Each object in the OBJ becomes its own SketchUp group, so parts don't stick together.
What carries over
- Kept: geometry, materials with their colors and transparency, texture images and their placement, and object names as group names.
- Back sides: a face exported twice, back to back with a different material, becomes one SketchUp face with that material on its back.
- Not kept: loose lines and points, and curved surfaces stored as formulas (rare in OBJ files). The result lists anything left out.
How we checked it
We exported a SketchUp 2026 house model to OBJ (325,669 triangles, 119 materials, 63 textured materials) and converted it back. It came out with 190,317 SketchUp faces, every material and texture, and the same model size to the millimetre. Simple shapes come back exactly: a cube made of 12 triangles becomes 6 faces, and a 24-sided cylinder becomes 26 faces with soft edges around its side.
Other ways to get an OBJ into SketchUp
- SketchUp itself can't. It exports OBJ but has no built-in OBJ import, on desktop or on the web.
- Extensions such as SimLab's OBJ importer or Universal Importer add one. They install into desktop SketchUp, and some are paid.
Related tools
Going the other way? The SKP to OBJ converter turns a .skp into an OBJ with textures. For STL and COLLADA files, use the STL to SKP and DAE to SKP converters. And if a .skp won't open because it was saved in a newer SketchUp, convert it to your version (first file free).
OBJ to SKP questions
Is this OBJ to SKP converter free?
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Yes. There's no sign-up, no watermark and no daily limit. The conversion runs on your own device, so there's nothing for us to charge for.
Is my file uploaded?
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No. Your browser reads the OBJ and writes the SketchUp file itself. We never receive the model.
Why does my OBJ need the .mtl and image files?
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An OBJ holds shapes only. Its colors live in a separate .mtl file, which in turn points to texture images. Choose all of them together, or drop the .zip they came in. If an image is missing, the result says which one, and you can add it without starting over.
Which units should I pick?
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OBJ files don't record their units. Files from Blender and most game tools are in metres; files from CAD and 3D printing tools are usually in millimetres. After converting, check the model size shown under the result: if it's 1000 times too big or small, change the units and it converts again.
Which up axis should I pick?
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Y up for files from Blender, Maya, 3ds Max exports and most game tools; that's what OBJ files usually use. Z up for files from CAD tools and 3D scanners. If the model lies on its side in SketchUp, switch it.
Which SketchUp versions can open the result?
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SketchUp 2017 and every version since, including the current one. Pick SketchUp 2016 under "Save for" if that's what you have. SketchUp 2015 and older aren't supported.
Does every triangle become a face?
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No, and that's the point. Neighbouring triangles that are flat, share a material and line up their texture are merged back into one SketchUp face, holes included. Curved surfaces keep their facets, with the edges between them softened so they look smooth and select as one surface.
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