How to create wall elevations in SketchUp and export DXF

1. Define the elevation as an area and a depth

A useful wall elevation answers two spatial questions: which part of the wall belongs in the drawing, and how much depth around that wall should be included? Mash Elevations separates those decisions. A visual frame defines the exported area, while front and back cut planes define the captured depth.

This is different from treating a wall elevation as a generic camera view. The frame gives the drawing a deliberate boundary. The cut planes help exclude foreground or background geometry that does not belong in that elevation.

2. Draw the wall frame visually

Mash Elevations uses a visual selector: draw a frame over the wall and use point snapping to align its boundary. The rectangle is not only a temporary selection. It defines the area that will become the 2D DXF elevation.

Start with the drawing requirement. If the issue is one full room wall, frame the complete relevant width and height. If the issue is a focused built-in or wall zone, keep the frame specific. Include enough context for the drawing to remain understandable without capturing unrelated areas.

• The left and right limits match the intended wall segment.
• The upper and lower limits include required construction.
• The frame is aligned using meaningful model points.
• Objects outside the drawing purpose remain outside the frame.

3. Adjust the front and back cut planes

The front and rear planes are adjustable and have a visual preview. Use them to control what the elevation captures in depth. This is especially important when furniture, fixtures or other model geometry sits near the wall.

Front cut: control the foreground

Move the front plane when objects closer to the viewer should not appear in the wall drawing. The objective is not to remove all foreground information automatically; it is to set a deliberate limit for this elevation.

Back cut: control geometry beyond the wall zone

Adjust the back plane when the frame would otherwise include geometry farther behind the intended wall area. Use the preview to check that required recesses or wall-related elements remain inside the capture.

4. Build and manage the saved elevation set

Saved elevations can be edited, duplicated and deleted. This allows a project set to grow without recreating every frame from the beginning. Duplication is useful when adjacent or related elevations share a similar setup, but each duplicate should still be checked against its own wall.

Use clear saved-elevation names that remain recognizable when several walls are listed together. A name should help identify location or purpose without reopening every frame. Before an issue, select elevations individually or use the available mass-selection workflow to define the export batch.

The saved list is also a review surface. Remove obsolete definitions and edit boundaries that no longer match the current model rather than allowing nearly identical frames to accumulate.

5. Batch-export one DXF per elevation

Mash Elevations exports the selected saved definitions in a batch and creates one DXF file for each elevation. The export includes progress feedback and can be cancelled. This makes the saved set important: the output files reflect the definitions selected for that batch.

Before starting, decide where the files belong and which saved elevations are part of the current issue. After export, confirm that the number of DXF files matches the number of selected elevations and that filenames remain understandable in the project folder.

• Only current saved elevations are selected.
• Every selected frame has been previewed.
• Front and back planes match each wall condition.
• The destination folder identifies the drawing issue.
• One DXF exists for every selected elevation.

6. Choose the DXF layer structure and optional area CSV

The exported geometry can be separated into layers by group or gathered on layer 0. Choose the layer structure according to the next CAD step. Separation can help identify grouped elements; layer 0 provides a consolidated alternative.

Mash Elevations can also create an optional CSV of areas in square metres for objects identified with the 0_ or 00_ prefix. This is a specific optional takeoff output, not a replacement for reviewing the DXF geometry or a general quantity estimate.

If the CSV is required, verify the identifiers before export and compare the resulting rows with the objects expected inside the elevation frame. Keep the DXF drawing and its related CSV together so the takeoff remains traceable to the same capture.

7. Review the elevation issue

Open representative DXF files and compare them with the saved frames. The review should confirm the boundary, depth, layer choice and file set. A successful batch operation does not by itself prove that every frame describes the correct wall condition.

• The wall boundary matches the intended drawing area.
• Foreground objects are included or excluded deliberately.
• Rear geometry stops at the intended depth.
• Every required saved elevation appears in the issue.
• DXF layers follow the selected group or layer-0 strategy.
• Optional CSV rows match identified objects in the frame.
• File names remain clear outside SketchUp.
• Obsolete or duplicate frames are not part of the batch.

A controlled elevation workflow therefore has four linked definitions: frame, depth, saved identity and export selection. Review all four before treating the DXF set as complete.