User Interface

SketchUp toolbar

The Rayscaper toolbar in SketchUp gives you quick access to the render window and light creation tools.

Button	Description
Start Render	Opens the Rayscaper render window and starts rendering.
Add Point Light	Creates a point light in your scene.
Add Spotlight	Creates a spotlight in your scene.
Add Directional Light	Creates a directional light in your scene.
Add Area Light	Creates an area light in your scene.
Aim Light	Turns a spotlight, area light or directional light towards the point you click. See Aiming a Light.
Lock Camera	Stops camera sync with SketchUp. Use this to navigate your model while keeping the current render angle. Only available while rendering.
Match SketchUp Viewport	Syncs the Rayscaper camera with SketchUp’s viewport and matches the render resolution to the SketchUp aspect ratio. Only available while rendering.
Show License Dialog	Opens the license dialog. Only shown when SketchUcation Tools is installed.
Show Documentation	Opens this documentation website.

The Composition Guide and Render in Viewport aren’t on the toolbar; you’ll find them in the Extensions > Rayscaper menu.

I lost my toolbar

If the toolbar isn’t visible after installing Rayscaper, go to View > Toolbars… in SketchUp:

Tick Rayscaper in the list and click Close:

Composition Guide

While Rayscaper is running, an orange rectangle in the SketchUp viewport shows exactly what will be rendered. You can add guide lines on top to help frame your shot.

Pick a guide in Extensions > Rayscaper > Composition Guide. Your choice is saved with the model.

• Rule of Thirds: A 3×3 grid — place subjects along the lines or at intersections.
• Golden Ratio: Similar grid using the golden ratio (38.2% / 61.8%).
• Diagonals: Corner-to-corner lines for diagonal compositions.
• Center Cross: A crosshair through the center for symmetrical shots.
• Disabled: No guide lines, only the orange camera frame.

Rule of Thirds

Golden Ratio

Diagonals

Center Cross

The overlay also shows the camera type, resolution, and autofocus status below the frame. If SketchUp and Rayscaper use different projection types, a warning will appear.

Render in Viewport

With Extensions > Rayscaper > Render in Viewport you see the render in the SketchUp viewport itself, inside the orange camera frame. So you can model and watch the result in one place. The render window stays open, since it’s where the render happens. You can make it small or move it aside. The render updates as it gets more samples and after every change you make in SketchUp. It has the same post-processing (and watermark) as in the render window.

Click the menu item again to go back to SketchUp’s own view. Rayscaper remembers your choice until you close SketchUp. You can also turn it on or off as Rayscaper Viewport Render in SketchUp’s Overlays panel. The panoramic camera isn’t shown in the viewport, since its render doesn’t match the SketchUp view.

Render window

The Rayscaper render window is where you view your render and adjust settings.

#	Area	Description
1	Toolbar	Save the render, pause rendering, pick modes, zoom, and toggle denoising, auto exposure, light overlays and panels. See Toolbar.
2	Viewport	Shows your render in real-time as you make changes.
3	Status Bar	Displays render progress, sample count, render time, resolution, and scene statistics. While a render starts, it shows what Rayscaper is doing, such as loading textures or preparing the scene.
4	Asset Manager	Browse HDRIs and materials. Drag assets directly into the viewport or material editor. Filter by category or tag.
5	Scene Editor	Adjust scene and render settings. Click an icon in the rail on its left to open a section: Camera, Environment, Lights, Materials, Scatter, Render or Post Processing. The Lights section only appears once the scene has lights.

The Scene Editor remembers its last section across sessions and models. If that section is unavailable in the model you open, it shows Camera instead and keeps your saved preference.

Toolbar

The toolbar at the top of the render window, from left to right:

Button	Description
Save	Saves the render to disk. See Saving a render. Available once there’s a render result.
Pause / Resume	Pauses or resumes the current render.
Material pick	Click on the render to select and edit the material at that point. See Pick modes.
Focus pick	Click on the render to set the depth of field focus distance to that point.
Info pick	Click on the render to see information about that pixel (color, depth, material, …).
Zoom in / out	Zooms the render viewport in or out.
Zoom fit	Fits the whole render in the viewport. The render stays fitted when the window or a panel changes size, until you zoom or pan. The button is lit while it does.
Denoise	The button with the sparkle icon. Toggles AI denoising.
Auto exposure	Toggles automatic exposure based on scene brightness.
Light overlay	Shows or hides clickable light icons in the viewport.
Render history	Shows or hides the render history at the right edge of the viewport.
Scene	Shows or hides the Scene Editor.
Assets	Shows or hides the Asset Manager.
Help	Shows the keyboard shortcuts and a link to this documentation.

Menu bar

Menu	Items
File	Save… (saving a render), Render Scenes… (render several scenes), Render Animation… (animation guide), Settings… (settings), Reset Window Layout (shows both panels again and resets their sizes).
Tools	Zoom (In, Out, to Fit), Show Light Overlays, the pick modes, Connect AI Agent… (shows how to connect an AI assistant, such as Claude or Codex, to Rayscaper) and Reload All Materials from SketchUp.
Assets	Reload Assets, Missing Files… (missing files), Import Materials…, Export Selected Materials…, Favorite Selected Materials and Delete Selected Materials. See Assets.
Help	Open Documentation…, Get Help… and About Rayscaper… (shows the version).

Missing files

When a scene uses image files that Rayscaper can’t find, for example after you moved a texture folder, a message appears in the render window. Click Review files in that message, or choose Assets > Missing Files….

The Missing Files window lists every missing file, with its path and the materials or the environment that use it. Click Browse for replacement… next to a file and select it in its new location. Rayscaper updates every place in the scene that uses that file.

Pick modes

Pick modes let you click on the render to act on what’s under the cursor. Turn one on from the toolbar or the Tools menu; it stays on until you turn it off again.

• Material Pick (Ctrl+M): selects the material under the cursor and opens it in the Materials section of the Scene Editor.
• Camera Focus Pick (Ctrl+F): sets the depth-of-field focus distance to the point under the cursor.
• Info Pick (Ctrl+I): shows details about the pixel under the cursor.
• Near Clip Depth Pick (Ctrl+J): sets the camera’s near clip distance to the point under the cursor.

Reload All Materials from SketchUp

Tools > Reload All Materials from SketchUp rebuilds every Rayscaper material from its SketchUp material: color, opacity and, for SketchUp PBR materials, metallic, roughness and normal map.

Caution

This replaces the changes you made to materials in Rayscaper, and it asks no confirmation. To reload a single material, use the Reload button in the material editor instead.

Keyboard shortcuts

These are the default shortcuts. You can change the keyboard shortcuts in the settings, and the menus and the help button on the toolbar show the keys you set.

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl + S	Save the render.
Ctrl + ,	Open the settings dialog.
Ctrl + =	Zoom in.
Ctrl + -	Zoom out.
Ctrl + 0	Zoom to fit the render.
Ctrl + M	Toggle Material Pick.
Ctrl + F	Toggle Camera Focus Pick.
Ctrl + I	Toggle Info Pick.
Ctrl + J	Toggle Near Clip Depth Pick.
Esc	Show the live render again instead of a saved one.
Ctrl + drag	Pan the viewport.
Ctrl + scroll	Zoom the viewport.
Ctrl + click	Type an exact value into a slider.
Double-click a slider	Type its value.
Drag a label	Change the value of the setting next to it.
Right-click a setting	Choose Reset to Default to put back its default value.

Reset to Defaults at the bottom of a Scene Editor section resets the whole section.

Settings

Open the settings with File > Settings… (Ctrl+,). They have two tabs, General and Keyboard Shortcuts. Click Save changes to apply them.

The General tab:

Group	Setting	Description
Interface	Language	The language of the render window and of Rayscaper’s menus in SketchUp: Automatic follows SketchUp, or pick English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese or Simplified Chinese. SketchUp’s menus change the next time SketchUp starts.
Interface	Interface scale	Size of the interface, 100–250%.
Interface	Send Anonymous Usage Statistics	Helps us improve Rayscaper. On by default. Crash reports are always sent, whatever this setting is.
Asset Library	Asset author	Filled in as the author when you save a material.
Asset Library	Thumbnail size	Size of the thumbnails in the Asset Manager: Small, Medium or Large.
Asset Library	HDRI resolution / HDRI format	Resolution (1K–16K, default 2K) and file format (EXR or HDR) of downloaded HDRIs.
Asset Library	Texture resolution / Texture format	Resolution (1K–8K, default 1K) and file format (EXR, JPEG or PNG) of downloaded textures.
CPU Rendering	Render threads	Number of CPU threads used for rendering. The default leaves two cores free for SketchUp.
GPU Rendering	Use GPU Rendering	Renders on your NVIDIA GPU; on by default when Rayscaper finds a suitable one. Tick the GPUs to use below it. See GPU requirements.

Changing keyboard shortcuts

The Keyboard Shortcuts tab lists the shortcuts you can change. Click the keys of a shortcut, then press the new keys. For example, press M to turn Material Pick on and off with a single key. Click Save changes to use them.

• Hold Ctrl, Shift or Alt with a letter, digit, F1–F12 or punctuation key.
• Backspace removes the shortcut. Escape, or a click anywhere else, keeps the one it had.
• When another action had the keys already, it loses them: its row shows None in yellow, and the tab says which keys it had.
• The arrow next to a changed shortcut puts back its default, Reset All Shortcuts puts back every default.

A shortcut without Ctrl or Alt doesn’t work while you type in a field or while a menu or dialog is open, so typing an M in a material name doesn’t turn on Material Pick.

Saving a render

Save the current render with File > Save…, the Save toolbar button or Ctrl+S, and choose a file name:

• PNG (.png): the image exactly as you see it in the viewport, including denoising and all post processing. Use this for most renders.
• EXR (.exr, needs a license): an image that keeps the full brightness of the render, for further editing in other software. It contains the (denoised) render before post processing, so without tone mapping, exposure, bloom or glare. Without a license, Rayscaper saves a PNG instead.

Tip

Type the .png or .exr extension in the file name to pick the format; without an extension, Rayscaper saves a PNG.

Render history

The render history keeps renders, to compare them with later versions of the scene. Click the Render history button in the toolbar to show it at the right edge of the viewport.

• Save keeps the live render as it is now. Wait until the render is clean enough to compare.
• Click a saved render to show it in the viewport. The post processing applies to it as to the live render, so you can change its exposure, tone mapping, white balance, bloom or glare afterwards without rendering it again. The live render goes on meanwhile.
• Click Live render, Back to Live in the viewport, or press Esc to show the live render again.
• Right-click a saved render for these commands:
  • Apply Its Post-Processing sets the post processing back to what it was when you saved the render.
  • Save Image… saves it as an image.
  • Delete removes it from the history.

While you look at a saved render, the status bar shows its samples, render time and resolution. Saving a render saves what the viewport shows. For a saved render, that’s a PNG with the post processing as it is now, or, with a license, an EXR.

Note

The render history lasts until you close the render window. It keeps the full renders in memory, about 66 MB for a 4K render, and drops the oldest ones beyond 1 GB.

Extensions Menu

Beyond the toolbar, Rayscaper adds several utility commands to the Extensions > Rayscaper menu.

The full Rayscaper menu under Extensions, showing render, light, sync, and utility commands.

Three commands sync Rayscaper with SketchUp’s own sun and environment. Each is a toggle: a check mark shows that it’s on.

Command	What it does
Use SketchUp Sun for Directional Light	Creates a Rayscaper directional light and keeps it in sync with the SketchUp sun. See SketchUp Sun.
Use SketchUp Sun for Sky	Lets the SketchUp sun set the direction and height of the sun in a sky. See Syncing with SketchUp Sun.
Use SketchUp Environment for HDRI	Uses the HDRI and rotation of the SketchUp environment in Rayscaper. Needs SketchUp 2025 or newer. See SketchUp Environment for HDRI.

The Composition Guide and Render in Viewport are described above. The other commands that aren’t on the toolbar are described below.

Context menu

While Rayscaper renders, right-click a selection in SketchUp to find a Rayscaper submenu:

• For selected lights: Edit in Rayscaper, Turn Off in Rayscaper or Turn On in Rayscaper, Aim Light and Change Type. See The Context Menu in SketchUp.
• For selected groups and components: Scatter on Selection and Add to Scatter as Object. See Create a scatter.

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Create Archive

Packages your SketchUp model and all Rayscaper assets (HDRIs, textures) into a single .zip file. Use it to share a project with someone else, or to move it to another computer without losing any images it uses.

1. Go to Extensions > Rayscaper > Create Archive.

2. Choose a location and filename in the Save Rayscaper Archive dialog. The default name is based on your model file, for example studio-scene_rayscaper.zip.

3. Click Save. Rayscaper collects all the images the model uses and packages everything into a zip file. It changes the image locations in the copy, so they work on any computer.

Create Archive in the Extensions > Rayscaper menu.

The save dialog with a default filename based on the model name.

When the archive is complete, a confirmation dialog shows the file path.

The resulting .zip contains:

• A copy of the .skp model with relative image paths
• An images/ folder with all referenced textures and HDRIs

The archive must be smaller than 4 GB. For a larger project, copy the model and its image files together yourself.

Note

Create Archive is available while the render window is open, or when the model contains Rayscaper data from an earlier session. Save your model once before using it. With the render window open, the archive holds the scene as it is in the render window, also changes you haven’t saved yet. Your model stays where it is: the archive gets a copy.

Tip

If a texture file can’t be found on disk, Rayscaper attempts to extract it from SketchUp’s embedded textures. This means archives work even if the original image files have been moved or deleted.

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Clear Rayscaper Data

Removes all Rayscaper settings saved in the current model. This includes the settings of the Rayscaper menu, such as the sun and environment sync and the composition guide. The model is then as if Rayscaper had never been used with it.

To use it, go to Extensions > Rayscaper > Clear Rayscaper Data.

Caution

This action cannot be undone. All Rayscaper scene data — materials, lights, environment settings, and camera configuration — will be permanently removed from the model.

Close the render window first: while it’s open, saving the model stores its settings again.

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Export Logs for Support

Collects Rayscaper log files and diagnostic information into a .zip file that you can send to support when troubleshooting issues.

To use it, go to Extensions > Rayscaper > Export Logs for Support. Choose a save location, and Rayscaper will package:

• The main Rayscaper log (SUEX_Rayscaper.log) and rotated backups
• The Ruby extension log (SUEX_Ruby.log)
• The library loader log (SUEX_Rayscaper_LoadLibs.log)
• A diagnostic manifest with your Rayscaper version, OS, and SketchUp version

After saving, Rayscaper asks whether to open the folder with the file, so you can attach it to an email or support ticket.

If the Rayscaper menu is missing, for example because the extension failed to load, collect the logs by hand:

1. Open the Rayscaper folder:

   • On Windows, paste %APPDATA%\Rayscaper in the address bar of Windows Explorer and press Enter.
   • On a Mac, choose Go > Go to Folder… in Finder and enter ~/Library/Application Support/Rayscaper.

2. Select the files whose names start with SUEX_.

3. Compress them into a zip file and send it to support.