Many SketchUp users ask how to create 2D photo-realistic Face Me people for their visualizations. This is quite an easy process which we demonstrate in our SketchIp training courses.
Firstly open a photographic image of a person in an image editing program like Adobe Photoshop. It’s best to use images with clear silhouettes which display clean negative space. We then would adjust the tonal levels and the saturation of the colours via Adjustments in the top Image drop-down menu.
We then use a variety of selection tools to cut out the person from the image background, and save the resultant file as a PNG file with transparent background. This displays as a checkerboard pattern.
We then open up SketchUp and go to the Import menu to select the saved PNG file. In the options tick the check-box marked Use Image as Selected, and make sure that the image is perpendicular to the Green Axis. Some users recommend exploding the group at this point.
We would then resize the figure using the Tape Measure tool (T) so that it is 1.75m high, which is average human height. We then select the figure and right-click to Make Component. Tick the check-box marked Always face Camera – this is the crucial step for making the component always face the viewer. The same would apply for 2D trees, for example. And Turn off Shadows. We then roughly cut out the person, erase some edges and Hide others. Our new component can then be saved with our own collections for use in future models.
Many useful tips and techniques can be found at the SketchUp website. And see many examples of our own clients’ work on our Facebook page.
Other related SketchUp Blog Posts:

• SketchUp background
• SketchUp introduction
• SketchUp modeling
• SketchUp contours
• SketchUp workspace