Describe it. Model it. Render it.
Your AI modeling companion inside SketchUp. Tell Flora what to build or change, paste a screenshot to guide the next step, turn your scenes into AI architectural visualizations, and generate measured drawing PDFs through chat.
See how ordinary instructions, visual references, and scene prompts shape your SketchUp models and architectural visualizations.
“Create a 6 m × 4 m room with 3 m walls and a doorway.”
Direct SketchUp geometry creation with exact metric dimensions. Refine wall heights, add openings, or insert interior partitions through simple follow-up dialogue.
“Use this screenshot as inspiration for the facade; make the frontage 10 m wide.”
Pair reference imagery with explicit dimension constraints to guide massing and proportions. (Visual inspiration only; reference guidance does not promise exact reconstruction or accurate scale without dimensions).
“Render my Front scene with warm evening light, white plaster and a planted garden.”
Generate atmospheric architectural concept visuals from active SketchUp camera scenes when image generation is available. (Details may be reinterpreted; image-tool availability depends on your ChatGPT account).
“Generate an A3 measured drawing of my selected building mass with CAD monochrome linework, project title block, and editable DXF export.”
Create measured vector drawing PDFs, editable DXF files, and genuine DWG sheets directly through chat with custom paper sizes, layout, projected edge dimensions, and architect/firm attribution. (For review only; uncut world-axis projections, all depths visible).
Select any active viewport angle or saved scene tab in your SketchUp model.
Tell Flora how you want the scene visualized—warm evening light, white plaster, brick accents, or lush surrounding landscaping.
Flora produces a high-resolution concept visual inspired directly by your SketchUp scene and description.
Warm Dusk Concept
White Plaster & Glass
Courtyard & Garden
Direct SketchUp Geometry from Natural Language
Create and modify SketchUp geometry using ordinary instructions. Continue with follow-up requests to refine dimensions, placement, materials, and architectural details directly within your 3D viewport.
Visual Reference for Your Next Modeling Step
Paste or attach a reference image and explain what to create or change. A quick screenshot and brief prompt guide the next modeling step without tedious manual drafting (reference guidance does not promise exact reconstruction or accurate scale from images without dimensions).
Context-Aware Viewport & Selection Inspection
Flora operates natively inside Trimble SketchUp, interacting directly with your active model, camera scene, or selected components through supported modeling actions.
Atmospheric Visualizations from Any Camera Scene
Transform open SketchUp views and saved scenes into rich architectural visualizations when image generation is available. Specify materials, sun position, evening light, and surroundings to produce conceptual exterior and interior renders. Details may be reinterpreted by the AI model.
Instant Inspection, Latest & All Renders
Gallery keeps project renders and drawing documents together in Renders/Docs. Review, open and save existing outputs without requesting a new AI generation.
Model Selection, Reasoning Effort & Studio Rules
Select your preferred AI model, dial reasoning effort up or down, configure Dark/Light themes, and enforce custom modeling rules (such as Clean Groups automation). Keep design iteration and discussion together inside SketchUp.
User-Guided Vector Projections, DXF/DWG Sheets & PDF Export
Guide paper dimensions, layout, colourful or CAD monochrome linework, and title-block attribution directly through chat and Drawing Rules. Export vector PDFs, editable DXF sheets, and genuine AutoCAD DWG files (with installed licensed AutoCAD Core Console), or arrange drafting views with native dimensions directly in SketchUp.
Remembered QR Pairing, Screenshots, Chat & Marked References
Pair Flora Remote once, then ask for a view or scene, follow progress and reply from your phone while SketchUp stays running. View the whole screenshot, draw with one finger and zoom or pan with two, then attach the marked image or a PDF reference. Mobile access requires a licence that includes it; internet relay is subject to its allowance. Phone installation uses a separate APP INSTALL QR.
Built to keep architectural designers focused in the 3D viewport without unnecessary friction.
Modify native SketchUp geometry directly through natural conversation without manual tool-switching between commands.
Model, reference screenshots, iterate designs, and generate visualizations all within the SketchUp viewport.
Choose faster models for quick geometric steps or increase reasoning effort for complex architectural layouts.
Enforce firm guidelines, group hierarchies, and clean geometry practices across all your studio projects.
Inspect the latest render or browse your full render collection in the Gallery anytime without consuming extra generation requests.
Download and extract Flora-Sketch-Cat-Student-Kit-0.14.23.zip (or run standalone Flora-Sketch-Cat-Setup-0.14.23.exe). The installer automatically configures the background chat engine and detects Trimble SketchUp 2022–2027 installations (with a Browse for SketchUp fallback if installed in a custom location).
The Windows setup EXE is not Authenticode signed; Trimble signing applies to the Ruby extension. Download only from this official site and review the release checksum before running. Save and close SketchUp first.
Open Trimble SketchUp and launch the assistant panel from the top menu: Extensions > Flora Sketch Cat > Open chat panel.
FLORA-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) and click Activate Device.To Update: In Flora Sketch Cat, click About > Check for updates. The extension verifies the official HTTPS release feed at https://apps.florafaculty.com/updates/sketchcat.json and downloads the verified student kit locally. Save your open model and choose "Restart SketchUp to update". Flora automatically waits for other SketchUp windows to close, installs the verified update, and reopens your saved model. No Windows reboot is needed, and your license credentials, rules, and renders remain completely intact. (Users on versions 0.14.4 or later can update directly via restart; earlier versions install the setup package once to gain restart updates).
To Uninstall: Use Windows Settings > Installed Apps (Add or Remove Programs) or remove the extension via SketchUp Extension Manager.
Navigate to the top menu in Trimble SketchUp: Extensions > Flora Sketch Cat > Open chat panel.
Yes. Flora Sketch Cat is designed to work with your own eligible ChatGPT account/subscription. Available AI models, image rendering tools, and rate limits are governed by your ChatGPT account plan. Flora licensing authenticates your workstation seat separately and does not require third-party API keys.
You describe what geometry to build or modify in plain language (e.g., "Create a 6 m × 4 m room with 3 m walls and a doorway"). Flora uses supported SketchUp modeling tools to construct or update native geometry in your active viewport. You can follow up with refinements for dimensions, openings, materials, and positioning.
Yes. You can paste or attach screenshots and reference photographs directly into the chat and instruct Flora on what elements to borrow or recreate. Reference guidance serves as visual context for design steps; it does not guarantee exact reconstruction or automatic unmeasured scale without explicit dimensions.
Select an active camera scene or viewport angle in SketchUp, describe your desired atmosphere (such as dusk lighting, white plaster, brick textures, and surrounding landscaping), and request a render. When image generation is available on your ChatGPT account, Flora produces a conceptual architectural visualization. Because AI visualization reinterprets scene details, it is intended for conceptual design and client presentations.
Flora includes a built-in Gallery tab directly beside New chat. You can switch between Latest renders and All project renders, inspect full-resolution images, and save files locally. Browsing and opening previously generated renders requires no new AI generation requests.
Yes. In 0.14.7, you can send follow-up instructions during active modeling. Flora displays ordered startup and sign-in queues with real per-message accepted, queued, or failed status. Stopping work clears unsent instructions, unsent drafts survive late acknowledgements, and failed messages can return to the composer without automatic replay on uncertain delivery. (Note: an operation already actively running in SketchUp may finish before a new instruction applies; Real-provider steering remains unverified; protocol and compiled-worker fixtures passed).
Under Settings > Project files > Choose folder, Flora lets you pick a local folder per model on your computer. Newly generated architectural renders and drawing-preview PDFs automatically copy there with real-time success or error status. You can also click Open folder, or import existing images (1 to 100 PNG/JPG/WebP files) from a chosen folder with original files retained and duplicate-safe naming. Changing the folder affects future outputs, and unavailable folders produce an error while internal originals remain safe.
In 0.14.9, drawing preparation stays inside the chat without opening a blocking preview modal. An inline drawing card displays real-time progress, completion, and actionable fitting requirements. You can return to chat and continue working while preparation proceeds in the background, or cancel preparation explicitly to ignore late results. Completed drawings can be opened on demand using "Review drawing PDF", and background tasks cannot replace or close an active drawing review.
Flora performs preflight checks on measured paper, frame, and scale dimensions before starting preview or drafting. If an explicitly requested scale or paper size does not fit, Flora reports the required dimensions rather than silently shrinking, cropping, or distorting your model geometry. You can adjust the paper size, use automatic scaling, or modify your framing in chat.
You can request CAD exports in chat alongside or instead of drawing PDFs. Flora creates paper-layout CAD sheets and separate full-size projected-mm 1:1 view files with editable colours, line weights, text, and measured line/text annotations. You can save editable DXF files directly, or convert to genuine AutoCAD 2018 DWG format when a compatible licensed AutoCAD installation is present.
DWG conversion requires an installed licensed compatible AutoCAD Core Console on your computer (tested with AutoCAD 2026). If AutoCAD is not installed or conversion is unavailable, Flora retains all exported DXF files and explicitly reports that DWG conversion was not performed. CAD measurements are editable line/text annotations rather than associative DIMENSION entities, and Unicode glyph appearance depends on receiving CAD fonts.
When generating drawings, Flora asks in chat whether you prefer separate files or an in-SketchUp layout. Choosing SketchUp mode creates separate drafting groups beside your model with native dimensions and displays the drafting view with one-click previous-camera restore. Your original design is fully retained and no model auto-save is triggered. Note that drafting geometry is not a live two-way link, and future geometry changes invalidate the prior preview.
In the chat panel, simply describe the drawing you need (e.g., "Generate an A3 measured drawing of my selected building mass with CAD monochrome linework and project title block"). Flora lets you choose paper size, layout, scale, vector linework styles, and project attribution, performs preflight fitting checks, generates an inline drawing card with automatic preview, supports chat-based revisions, and exports a clean vector PDF. You can also configure reusable Drawing Rules in Settings.
Drawings generated in 0.14.9 are intended for review only, not as a complete construction-document system or for professional approval. The current geometry engine produces uncut world-axis wireframe projections with all depths visible (no cut floor plans, cut sections, hidden-line removal, curved/soft-edge segmentation, or material fills). Dimensions reflect projected 2D geometry rather than true sloping 3D lengths. Select an instance from the main model level. Non-ASCII/Unicode title text renders as vector outlines rather than searchable PDF text.
Flora captures project title, architect/designer name, and firm details with explicit blanks. You can edit attribution directly or through chat. Metadata stays on this computer per project path, so your firm details are remembered for future drawings of that project.
AI architectural rendering produces atmospheric visual concept images inspired by your camera scene and prompt using image-generation models. In contrast, drawing PDFs generate precise vector linework, title blocks, and projected dimensions directly from your SketchUp geometry without AI image hallucination.
Click About > Check for updates. Flora Sketch Cat securely checks the official release feed at https://apps.florafaculty.com/updates/sketchcat.json over HTTPS without requiring third-party credentials. When a new version is available, download the update, save your open model, and select "Restart SketchUp to update." Flora waits for other SketchUp windows to close, installs the verified update, and automatically reopens your saved model. Login, license credentials, rules, and renders remain completely intact without requiring a Windows reboot. (Note: users on versions 0.14.4 or later can update directly via restart; earlier versions install the setup package once to gain restart updates).
If you previously downloaded an earlier package, your workstation may hold a stale local copy that fails the new release checksum (website cache purges do not clear local client downloads). Clear that specific cached download and download again, or run the new Flora-Sketch-Cat-Setup-0.14.9.exe installer manually once. All settings, rules, licenses, and renders will be preserved.
Installer Revision 3 features improved detection for SketchUp 2022–2026, including custom locations and additional Windows registrations. If your version is not detected automatically, click "Browse for SketchUp" and select your installed SketchUp.exe. Setup validates the product and version, and remembers the location for later updates.
The SketchUp extension is officially signed by Trimble and encrypted using official Trimble BEST .rbe Ruby encryption. However, the outer Windows installer executable (Setup EXE) is currently not Windows Authenticode signed and may produce Windows SmartScreen or browser warnings. It is not antivirus certified or guaranteed warning-free.
No. The 72-hour offline lease applies strictly to software license verification so you can open your licensed workspace without constant internet access. Generating AI chat responses and image renders inherently requires an active internet connection to communicate with the AI model.
Yes. Each Flora student license allows activation on up to two registered computers across Flora products.