Exporting STL Files

This page covers how to export STL files from various CAD programs.

SolidWorks

SolidWorks generates STL files with numbers in scientific notation, which other programs don't always interpret properly. Procedure for generating corrected .stl files from Solidworks:

• File-> Save As STL
  • In the save menu, click "Options"
  • Set to output as ASCII, not binary, and with units as millimeters
  • Save the file
• Open the file in wordpad or notepad
  • Save it with the extension .csv instead of .stl
  • Use Cntrl+H to replace all spaces (" ") with a comma and a space (", ")
  • Save the file and exit
• Browse to the file and double click on it to open it in Excel
  • Use Cntrl+A to select the entire worksheet
  • Right click and select format cells
  • Select the Number tab and highlight the category Number
  • Change the Decimal places to 12
  • Click ok
  • Use Cntrl+C to copy the entire worksheet
• Open wordpad or notepad and use Cntrl+P to paste the entire worksheet into the file
  • Save the file with a slightly different name and with the extension of .stl

The STL file should now be properly formatted.