SketchUp Render Plugin Installation: Your First Render With Render Fun, Step by Step

Ufuk ŞEN

October 17, 2026Updated: November 9, 20266 min read1

SketchUp render eklentisi kurulumu sonrası Render Fun ile alınmış oda render'ı

The moment you take your first render is the moment you fall in love with your model all over again; do not let an installation error get in the way. This post is a step-by-step guide to SketchUp render plugin installation and your first image: we cover downloading Render Fun, installing it in the right folder, pressing the RENDER button for the first time and saving the result. It will take you a few minutes in total.

In this article:

Before you start: system check
SketchUp render plugin installation: step by step
Your first render: three choices, one button
Saving and finding the result
Common problems on the first render
The first ten minutes after installation
Next steps

Before you start: system check

Before moving on to installation, check three things:

SketchUp version: it should be between 2021 and 2026. The best results come with 2023 and later; 2020 and earlier are not supported.
Operating system: Windows. macOS has not been tested yet.
Graphics card: a card with WebGL2 support. Render Fun adjusts the quality to the card by itself; a compatibility mode helps cards that cannot run the full render.

You do not need an internet connection after installation; the HDRIs, textures and denoiser are inside the extension. For general information on choosing hardware, see our render computer post.

SketchUp render plugin installation: step by step

The installation we recommend for Render Fun differs from the usual Extension Manager route: you open the .rbz file and extract its contents into the Plugins folder by hand. Because the package also includes textures, HDRIs and the denoiser, the file is large; wait for the download to finish.

Download. Download the .rbz file with the “Free download” button at renderfun.com.
Close SketchUp. Important: SketchUp must be closed during installation.
Open the archive. The .rbz file is a zip archive; open it with WinRAR or WinZip.
Extract to the folder. Extract all the files inside to this folder: C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\SketchUp\SketchUp <your version>\SketchUp\Plugins
Open SketchUp. Render Fun appears in the Extensions menu and on its own toolbar.

If you cannot see the AppData folder

AppData is a hidden folder by default. If you type %APPDATA%\SketchUp into the File Explorer address bar and press Enter, you go straight there. Then open the folder for the SketchUp version you use and go down to the SketchUp\Plugins folder. For the installation paths of other extensions, take a look at our SketchUp plugin installation post.

The first render screen with Render Fun after SketchUp render plugin installation

Your first render: three choices, one button

Open your model and click the Render Fun button on the toolbar. When the window opens, you see two groups of choices at the bottom of the screen:

Weather: sunny, cloudy, sunset, night or HDRI.
Quality: Low, Medium, High or Until Clean.

Pick the weather and quality and press the RENDER button at the bottom right. The first image arrives right away; with each pass the picture gets a little sharper. If you chose “Until Clean”, the render stops by itself once the image is clean.

Faster with a preset scene

If you do not want to think about which setting is right, use a one-click preset scene: interior day or night, exterior day or sunset. Light, color and detail are ready with a single press. Then suggestions for your scene appear; you apply each one with its own button.

Saving and finding the result

Every finished render collects in the Render Buffer; the newest is in front. Files are numbered RenderFun001, RenderFun002 and so on, and no file is ever overwritten. The last 60 renders are remembered even after SketchUp closes. That way you do not lose the image you took yesterday.

Common problems on the first render

Check that the files were extracted to the right version folder. For example, if you use SketchUp 2025, it should be the SketchUp 2025 folder. Also make sure SketchUp was closed during installation.

The image is too dark or too bright

Try a preset scene first. In interiors, check that the windows have the Glass material. Color management and the preset looks work instantly on the finished image; you can also adjust the exposure in the Render Buffer.

The model opens slowly

Run Smart Check. Cleaning up lights left over from other engines, empty groups and oversized textures speeds up opening. For general speed tips, see our post on speeding up SketchUp.

The first ten minutes after installation

Once SketchUp render plugin installation is done, try these small steps to improve your first render:

Touch the materials. In the material panel, click a surface and choose matte, glossy, metal or glass. Glass and metal surfaces in particular change the image right away.
Fix the framing. The rule-of-thirds grid and horizon line in the camera panel help you build the composition; vertical line correction keeps walls straight in architectural images.
Try the light. Render the same scene again with the sunset weather and compare the two results in the Render Buffer.
Change the color look. Pick one of the preset looks; it works instantly on the finished image.
Save the settings. Save the settings you like under a name with “My Render Settings”; you can apply them in other projects with one click.

Each of these five steps takes a minute or two. In the end you get not only a render but also your own starting settings.

Keeping up with updates

Render Fun is updated regularly, and each release is listed in one line on the updates page. When a new version comes out, you follow the same installation steps and extract the files into the Plugins folder again.

Next steps

After your first render, you can improve the image with materials, lamps and camera settings. The 10-lesson series on renderfun.com, starting with Lesson 1: Installation and first render, explains each step with screenshots.

Summary

In short, SketchUp render plugin installation with Render Fun takes five steps: download, close SketchUp, open the archive, extract to the Plugins folder, open SketchUp. The first render is just a matter of picking the weather and quality and pressing RENDER.

Frequently asked questions

Can SketchUp render plugin installation be done with Extension Manager?

The route we recommend for Render Fun is to open the .rbz with WinRAR or WinZip and extract it to the Plugins folder; SketchUp must be closed during installation.