Export Parts

You can save and export three-dimensional parts in several file formats. First, select all parts you want to export. Please note, that you can export more than one part at once only with netfabb Studio Professional. With netfabb Studio Basic, you can export only one part at a time. The option Export can be found in the Part menu or in the context menu after right-clicking on a part in the screen or in the tree. A submenu opens where you can choose a file format (although you will still be able to change it again later). After clicking on a format, a dialog box opens for altering your export options.

General Export Options

The dialog box for exporting parts as STL files

In the field Selected parts, if you have selected one part, its name is specified, and if you have selected more than one part, the number of selected parts is given.

Next, you can change the format of the target files in a dropdown menu. You will get different export options for the different file formats.

For the output type, you can choose if you want to save all selected parts in one file or save all parts in different files. For different files, choose if you want to give them a common file name with numbers, a common file name with part ID (the part number in the project), save them with their original part names in the project and a loading list, or create file names with a common file name and the original part name. With the option "Original file name with loading list", an additional XML File is saved which contains a list of all exported files. If you open that XML file with netfabb, all files in the list are opened at once.

The common name for all other options can be entered in the next text field. Click on the button "..." to edit the target folder. In the field Example, you can see a preview to how your files will be named.

The dropdown menu for the export format

The dropdown menu for the output type

At the bottom of the dialog, there is a tabsheet with the two registers File quality and Outbox.

In the register File quality, you can use the button Check to see if the files you are about to create may cause errors when they are opened again. You can tick a box at the bottom of the dialog to always check file quality when the export dialog is started.

After checking, the number of degenerated faces and manifold edges is specified in the text fields. Degenerated faces are very tiny or thin triangles and can result in little holes. Manifold edges are several triangle edges at the same coordinates and may be split open. The tolerance value you can enter below determines the precision with which errors are calculated. If the distance between two triangle corner points is below the entered value, they are interpreted as one point and will be reported.

If there are any problems, a red X is displayed on the right. If the files are error-free, a green tick is displayed. With the button Repair you can fix the errors automatically. The files are rechecked and should become good. Sometimes, you will have to repeat the repair.

In the register Outbox, the dimensions of all selected parts are given. First, you get the length of the outbox along all three axis, then the minimum and maximum values along the axes.

The file quality has not yet been checked.

The exported files have degenerated faces and manifold edges.

After clicking on "Repair", the files are error-free.

Export Options Depending On File Format

Other export options depend on the file format you have chosen. For short descriptions of all available file formats, click here.

STL

For STL files, there is a dropdown menu for the type of STL. You can choose between ASCII and binary STL. Binary STL files in general are smaller and save units.

Choose the type of STL file

AMF

The AMF format is a new file format created as a future standard for Additive Manufacturing technologies. When exporting AMF files you can choose to use file compression or not. If you do, the export time may be a bit longer, but the file will be much smaller without any loss of part quality.

X3D

For X3D files you can either create standard or binary files. The binary file is packed and therefore smaller. The export could take longer though.

Below, you can tick boxes to export textures, node colors, node normals and face colors. This information is not displayed in netfabb, but if it was included in your file before you worked on it with netfabb, it will still be in the exported file.

3DS

For 3DS files, choose if you want to export textures (see X3D).

VRML

As for X3D files (see above), you can tick boxes to export textures, node colors, node normals and face colors.

The options for AMF files

The options for X3D files