GUIDES › STL FILE PREPARATION
FILE PREPARATION
STL FILE PREPARATION
File formats, mesh repair, and optimisation for successful 3D printing.
SUPPORTED FORMATS
FILE TYPES
STL
PREFERRED
Stereolithography
Standard 3D printing format. ASCII or binary. Up to 50MB.
3MF
SUPPORTED
3D Manufacturing Format
Modern format with color and material data. Microsoft standard.
OBJ
ACCEPTED
Wavefront Object
Common 3D format. May require conversion. Texture data ignored.
FILE REQUIREMENTS
QUALITY CHECKLIST
GEOMETRY REQUIREMENTS
✓ Watertight mesh (no holes)
✓ Manifold geometry
✓ Correct normals orientation
✓ No intersecting faces
✓ Proper scaling (real-world units)
COMMON ISSUES
✗ Non-manifold edges
✗ Flipped normals
✗ Holes in mesh
✗ Incorrect scale
✗ Overlapping geometry
REPAIR TOOLS
MESH REPAIR SOFTWARE
MESHMIXER
FREE
Autodesk tool. Automatic repair. Analysis tools. Good for beginners.
NETFABB
COMMERCIAL
Professional repair. Advanced analysis. Industry standard tool.
3D BUILDER
FREE
Windows built-in. Simple repair. Basic functionality.
MESHLAB
OPEN SOURCE
Advanced processing. Mesh cleaning. Research-grade tools.
OPTIMISATION TIPS
FILE OPTIMISATION
BEFORE EXPORT
• Check model scale and units
• Verify wall thickness (>1.2mm)
• Remove internal geometry
• Merge overlapping parts
• Optimise mesh resolution
AFTER EXPORT
• Run mesh analysis
• Repair any errors found
• Verify file size (<50MB)
• Test in slicer software
• Check print preview
READY TO UPLOAD?
Our system automatically checks your files and provides repair guidance if needed.
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