STL units

The STL file format is a widely used mesh format in 3D printing and rapid prototyping. An STL file icon-mesh-3d.pngonly contains the geometry as a polygonal mesh model, so it takes up little storage space. However, the geometry is transferred in a unitless format, making it necessary to define the expected unit when exporting and importing STL files. This characteristic of STL files can cause limitations when preparing models for 3D printing or transferring STL files to other software. 

For example, if a model is created in inches and the slicer uses millimeters by default, a possible workaround is to scale the model in the slicer or standardize the unit of measurement in the entire workflow. 

In Shapr3D, you can change the unit of measurement of your model to the unit of your slicer during the export process.

stlfiles.png

Read more

To learn more about exporting files, visit Export files.

Return to top
Was this article helpful?
43 out of 69 found this helpful

Topics