STL
Over the years SOLIDWORKS has made improvements with how it reads STL files and how useful that data is after it is loaded. An STL file is made up entirely of triangular shapes and the bits and bytes don’t form an actual solid with volume…
STLs, OBJs, CMBs, Oh My! With so much file extension alphabet soup going on, it is hard to know what-is-what and when-to-use-which when it comes to 3D file formats. Compound that with a myriad of different 3D printing technologies and it is easy to get overwhelmed and fall back…
Optimizing part designs for 3D printing production relies heavily on using the right tools. SOLIDWORKS has taken the initiative to create a 3D design software environment that is intuitive and aids manufacturers in designing 3D printed parts. You can avoid additive manufacturing problems by leveraging…
As 3D printing becomes more common in the workplace, users are turning to SOLIDWORKS to better understand their designs in the context of 3D printing. SOLIDWORKS offers several 3D print visualization and analysis tools and all of them can be accessed through the Print3D tool (File > Print3D). Let’s take…
When you first put an STL file next to an SLDPRT file in GrabCAD Print, you might have noticed it can be difficult to tell them apart. However, looks can be deceiving, and the native SOLIDWORKS SLDPRT file format packs a surprising amount of functionality…
New in the 2020 release of SOLIDWORKS comes even more capability to work with imported mesh files! As is often the case with scanned geometry, the number of graphics triangles (facets) can be overwhelming for many SOLIDWORKS users’ hardware. It usually is also excessive for…
How CAD files are exported to STL is an important process for accurate building of parts. The step by step process for converting CAD to STL was taken straight from the mentioned companies websites. STL Definition STL is the standard file type used by most…
Stratasys 3D Printer Slicer Tools: GrabCAD Print vs. Insight GrabCAD Print and Insight are both specifically tailored for Stratasys 3D printers. The main difference here is that GrabCAD Print was built for Stratasys’ Idea Series and Design Series printers and Insight was built by Stratasys for their…
Anyone who has needed to work with mesh data knows how much of a pain it is to get anything from it inside of SOLIDWORKS. SOLIDWORKS 2018 introduces new ways you can utilize mesh data offering many more possibilities than ever before. This works for…