Guides
Practical, no-nonsense guides on 3D file formats, conversion, mesh repair and printing.
3D File Formats Explained: Which One Should You Use?Every 3D file format was designed for a specific job, and choosing the right one comes down to what the file must carry: exact geometry, colour and texture, animation, or machine instructions.How to View 3D Models in AR on iPhone, iPad and AndroidBoth iOS and Android can place a 3D model in your room without any app, as long as the file is in the right format, at the right scale and small enough to load quickly.How to Find and Fix Non-Manifold STL FilesMost failed or strange-looking slices trace back to a mesh that is not a clean, closed solid, and most of those meshes can be fixed in minutes once you know what to look for.GLB vs glTF: What Is the Difference?GLB and glTF hold exactly the same 3D data; the difference is packaging, and that decides how easy the file is to edit, host and share.How to Open a STEP File Without CAD SoftwareYou do not need a paid CAD seat to open a STEP file: a browser viewer or one of several free desktop programs will show, measure and convert it in minutes.How to Price 3D Prints: A Practical Costing MethodA reliable 3D print price is built bottom-up from a handful of measurable costs, then adjusted for risk and margin, and this guide walks through every line.Intraoral Scan Files: STL, PLY and OBJ Exports for Dental LabsMost problems between clinics and dental labs come down to the wrong export format, an incomplete scan or a file sent the wrong way, and all three are easy to avoid.How to Make and Print a Great LithophaneA lithophane lives or dies on three things: the photo you feed it, the thickness range you choose, and how carefully the plastic is laid down.How to Reduce STL File SizeMost oversized STL files carry far more triangles than any printer or screen can show, and you can usually cut them by 70–95 % without a visible difference.Estimating Resin Usage and Cost for Dental PrintsThe resin in the model itself is only part of what a print consumes; supports, rinse losses and failed prints decide what a dental part really costs.How to Split a Large STL File for 3D PrintingWhen a model is bigger than the build volume, a few well-placed cuts with proper alignment features give you parts that print cleanly and assemble into one seamless piece.Converting STL meshes to STEP for CAD workTurning a mesh into STEP gets it into your CAD program as a solid, but it stays made of flat triangles, so the useful question is what you can do with it once it is there.Why your STL is tiny or huge in the slicer, and how to fix itWhen a model shows up as a speck or fills the whole build plate, the geometry is fine and the unit assumption is wrong, and the dimensions tell you which factor to apply.STL vs 3MF: what actually differs and which one to useSTL is the format every printer workflow understands, 3MF is the one that carries everything else, and knowing exactly what each stores tells you which to send.