Selecting a file format for additive manufacturing

3MF is an industry consortium working to define a 3D printing format that will allow design applications to send full-fidelity 3D models to a mix of other applications, platforms, services, and printers.

The 3MF file format provides important advantages for 3D printing:

• As a zipped XML package, 3MF is generally smaller (often significantly) than other comparable 3D formats.

• Transformations and object references are supported.

• Multiple objects are contained within a single file.

• Single objects can be referenced or moved without changing the mesh, and multiple identical objects can be placed referencing the same mesh.

• Color is supported in the 3D printed output.

In QY CAD, you can use the Export Options for 3MF dialog box to specify how you want to save QY CAD documents to 3MF format. The dialog box specifies what you want to export and tolerance options for the data being exported, along with header information, such as the author and file description.

The STL file format is also used in other modeling applications, such as when importing a file using the Reverse Engineering workflow and when producing a terrain model.

For use in additive manufacturing, the STL file format has the following limitations:

• It only contains information about facet bodies.

• It does not support multiple materials and colors.

• It does not store units of measurement.

• File size becomes very large for models with a lot of surface curvature.

You can use the Export Options for STL (.stl) dialog box to control how a QY CAD assembly, part, or sheet metal document is saved in .stl format.

For more information, see Working with .stl documents in QY CAD.