Installing the Blender Addon

The addon bundles skppy; installing the standalone Python library is not required. For library-only use, see Installing skppy.

Requirements

  • Blender >= 4.2.0

  • Python >= 3.11 (for the build step only - Blender supplies its own Python)

Step 1 - Build the distribution ZIP

The build script packages the addon and its bundled skppy copy into a single ZIP file:

python build_blender_addon.py

Output: dist/blender_skp_io-<version>.zip

The script:

  • Derives the same public Python package version as skppy from Git tags.

  • Copies blender_skp_io/ (addon source) and skppy/ (library) into the ZIP.

  • Writes a Blender-compatible version into the packaged manifest and the derived Python package version into bundled skppy.

  • Excludes __pycache__, .git, test files, and build artifacts.

For development versions, bundled skppy keeps the PEP 440 version such as 0.8.1.dev12, while the Blender manifest uses SemVer prerelease form such as 0.8.1-dev.12.

Step 2 - Install in Blender

  1. Open Blender (>= 4.2.0).

  2. Go to Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons.

  3. Click Install… (top-right button).

  4. Navigate and select dist/blender_skp_io-<version>.zip.

  5. Enable the addon by checking the box next to Import-Export: SketchUp IO (.skp).

Tip: If you update the addon, disable and remove the old version first, then reinstall the new ZIP.

Step 3 - Verify

Open File -> Import -> SketchUp (.skp). The file browser should open with the import option panel on the right side.

Uninstalling

  1. Go to Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons.

  2. Search for “SketchUp”.

  3. Expand the addon entry and click Remove.

Development mode (manual install)

For development without rebuilding the ZIP on every change:

  1. Locate Blender’s addons directory:

    • Linux: ~/.config/blender/<version>/scripts/addons/

    • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Blender/<version>/scripts/addons/

    • Windows: %APPDATA%\Blender Foundation\Blender\<version>\scripts\addons\

  2. Create a symlink or copy the blender_skp_io/ folder there.

  3. Also copy (or symlink) skppy/ into the addon folder so import skppy resolves inside Blender.

  4. Enable the addon in Preferences.

Changes to Python files take effect after reloading scripts (Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons -> scroll to bottom -> “Reload Scripts” or press F3 and search for “Reload Scripts”).