JTools

SketchUp extension · Beta

Exploder

Exploded views without dragging every part by hand.

In SketchUp today, an exploded view means moving each component into place one at a time — slow enough that most people avoid it. Exploder explodes the whole assembly in a click, keeps your model intact, and saves the assembled and exploded versions as scenes you can switch between.

One-time purchase · instant download · macOS & Windows

  • Directional per-part control instead of center-point chaos
  • One-click restore instead of maintaining two copies of the model
  • Named views and scenes that fit real SketchUp documentation flow
Preview Active v1
Assembled
Exploded
01 Non-destructive state

Exploded transforms live with the model instead of forcing a duplicate-geometry workflow.

02 Intentional motion

Repeated parts can splay as a group and unique parts can move along a clean axis.

03 Launch-ready scope

V1 is deliberately narrow: reliable exploded views first, richer diagramming later.

Why it matters

Built for the gap between bad automation and painful manual work.

Typical center-point tools

Everything flies away from the middle, parts overlap, and the result looks technically exploded but visually wrong.

Manual duplicate workflow

You copy the assembly aside, move pieces by hand, then redo the whole thing whenever the source model changes.

Exploder

Explode with intent, override the few parts that need help, save named states, and restore the assembly cleanly.

Current scope

What is in V1, and what is intentionally not there yet.

Included in V1

  • Global expand / restore
  • Clear state
  • Preview pane
  • Per-entity axis, distance, and opacity control
  • Named views
  • Assembled / exploded scenes

Explicitly not in V1

  • Traces
  • Callouts or part numbering
  • Path editing
  • Breakpoints / presentation mode
  • Auto-sequencing
  • Scoped / deep explode

How it works

A tighter assembly-documentation loop inside SketchUp.

1

Open the panel

Start from the assembled model, preview the spread, and set the overall feel before touching individual parts.

2

Guide the exceptions

Keep the automatic behavior where it helps, then override the few parts that need a specific axis, distance, or opacity treatment.

3

Save useful states

Capture named views and assembled / exploded scenes so the result is reusable in documentation, review, and iteration.

Get Exploder for SketchUp.

A one-time purchase through Lemon Squeezy. You get an instant download of the .rbz extension for macOS and Windows, plus updates through the v1 series. New to it? The docs walk through install and your first exploded view in a few minutes.