Plane

A 3D plane defined by the equation ax + by + cz + d = 0.

Every face in SketchUp lies on a plane, and the Plane class gives you tools to work with that surface mathematically — computing distances from points, getting the normal direction, or transforming the plane along with geometry.

The constructor normalizes the coefficients so that (a, b, c) is always a unit vector (the plane’s normal). You can also create planes from a point and normal using Plane.fromPlaneLike(), or fit a plane through a set of vertices with Plane.fromVertices().

Example

let { Plane, Point3d } = SketchUpApi;

// A plane at z = 10 (normal pointing up)
let floor = new Plane(0, 0, 1, -10);
console.log(floor.normal.to_a);
// => [0, 0, 1]
console.log(floor.origin.toArray());
// => [0, 0, 10]

// Distance from a point to the plane
let pt = new Point3d(5, 5, 25);
console.log(floor.distance(pt));
// => 15

See

Since

SDK 2.16.0 Protocol 1.13.0

Constructor

new Plane(a?, b?, c?, d?): Plane

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default value
`a`	`number`	`0`
`b`	`number`	`0`
`c`	`number`	`0`
`d`	`number`	`0`

Returns

Plane

Properties

a

readonly a: number = 0

b

readonly b: number = 0

c

readonly c: number = 0

d

readonly d: number = 0

Accessors

normal

Get Signature

get normal(): Vector3d

A unit vector perpendicular to this plane, pointing in the “front” direction.

Since

SDK 2.17.0

Returns

Vector3d

origin

Get Signature

get origin(): Point3d

The point on the plane closest to the world origin — i.e. the perpendicular projection of [0, 0, 0] onto the plane.

Since

SDK 2.25.0

Returns

Point3d

reverse

Get Signature

get reverse(): Plane

A new plane with the normal flipped (same surface, opposite front/back orientation).

Since

SDK 2.25.0

Returns

Plane

Methods

applyTransform()

applyTransform(transform): Plane

Returns a new plane transformed by the given transformation (rotation, translation, or scale). The original plane is unchanged.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`transform`	`Transformation`	‐

Returns

Plane

distanceToPoint()

distanceToPoint(pointLike): number

The perpendicular distance from a point to this plane, in inches. Always returns a non-negative value.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`pointLike`	`Readonly`<`Point3Like`>	‐

Returns

number

Since

SDK 2.37.0

projectPoint()

projectPoint(pointLike): Point3d

Return closest point on this plane to the given point.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`pointLike`	`Readonly`<`Point3Like`>	‐

Returns

Point3d

Since

SDK 2.37.0

signedDistanceToPoint()

signedDistanceToPoint(pointLike): number

The perpendicular distance from a point to this plane, in inches.

Positive if the point is “above” the plane, negative otherwise.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`pointLike`	`Readonly`<`Point3Like`>	‐

Returns

number

Since

SDK 2.37.0

toArray()

toArray(): [number, number, number, number]

Returns the coefficients as an [a, b, c, d] tuple.

Returns

[number, number, number, number]

Since

SDK 2.35.0

toString()

toString(): string

Returns

string

create()

static create(input): Plane

Creates a Plane from any PlaneLike value — four coefficients [a, b, c, d], a [point, normal] pair, or an existing Plane instance.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`input`	`Readonly`<`PlaneLike`>	‐

Returns

Plane

Example

let { Plane } = SketchUpApi;
// Simple plane on z = 5
let plane = Plane.create([0, 0, 1, -5]);

// Plane(0,0,1,-5)
console.log(plane.toString());

Since

SDK 2.37.0

fromVertices()

static fromVertices(vertices): Plane | undefined

Fits a plane through three or more points using a least-squares algorithm. Returns undefined if the points are collinear or don’t all lie on the same plane within tolerance.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`vertices`	readonly `Point3Like`[]	at least 3 points

Returns

Plane | undefined

a plane or undefined (if there is no plane that fits the inputs)

Example

let { Plane } = SketchUpApi;
let plane = Plane.fromVertices(
 [
   [0, 100, 5],
   [100, 100, 5],
   [0, 50, 100]
 ]
);
// TODO
console.log(plane.toString());

Since

SDK 2.25.0

Show Deprecated

Deprecated

to_a

Get Signature

get to_a(): [number, number, number, number]

Returns

[number, number, number, number]

distance()

distance(pointLike): number

The perpendicular distance from a point to this plane, in inches. Always returns a non-negative value.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`pointLike`	`Readonly`<`Point3Like`>	‐

Returns

number

fromPlaneLike()

static fromPlaneLike(planeOrArray): Plane

Creates a Plane from any PlaneLike value — four coefficients [a, b, c, d], a [point, normal] pair, or an existing Plane instance.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
`planeOrArray`	`Readonly`<`PlaneLike`>	‐

Returns

Plane