Loads from YouTube (Google) when you press Play
Export writes the selected objects to files for other software: an STL for a 3D printer, a PLY or OBJ with colors, a point cloud as XYZ, a CT volume as DICOM, a polyline as DXF. To keep your whole work for MeshInspector instead, save the scene (see Export or save the scene).
Export an object
- In the Scene tree, select the objects to export. All of them must be of the same type, for example only meshes.
- Click Export on the Home tab or at the top left of the window.
- In the save dialog, choose the format in the list of file types and enter the file name.
- Click Save.
The first time, Export offers the first format of the list; for a mesh it is .mrmesh, the MeshInspector mesh format. Pick the format you need, for example STL. MeshInspector remembers the last format for each object type and offers it first next time.
If Export is greyed out, its tooltip says "Select objects of the same type (e.g. Meshes, Point Clouds or Volumes)". Select objects of one type. A group is not exported by itself: expand it and select the objects inside.
Formats for each object type
| Object type | Export formats |
|---|---|
| Mesh | .mrmesh, .stl (binary STL), .obj, .ply, .off, .3mf, .model, .ctm |
| Point cloud | .ply, .xyz, .xyzn, .asc, .ctm |
| Polyline | .mrlines, .pts, .ply, .dxf |
| Voxel volume | .vdb, .raw, .gav, .dcm |
| Distance map | .mrdistancemap, .raw, .tiff |
| G-code | None. Save it in a scene (.mru). |
MeshInspector writes STL only as binary STL, the compact form that slicers and CAD programs read. It does not write STEP, G-code or glTF with Export; glTF is a scene format of Save Scene As. All formats, including the ones that only open, are listed in Supported File Formats.
Choose a format
| Task | Format |
|---|---|
| 3D printing | .stl, or .3mf, which also stores the units and the colors |
| Keep the colors of a mesh | .ply, .obj, .ctm or .3mf |
| Keep a texture | .obj (the desktop app writes a .mtl file and a .png texture next to it) or .ply (with a .jpg texture) |
| Keep the colors and normals of a point cloud | .ply |
| Open the object in MeshInspector again | .mrmesh, .mrlines, .mrdistancemap or .vdb, or save the scene |
| CAD, laser and CNC software | .dxf for polylines |
| Medical and CT software | .dcm for volumes |
Export several objects
Select several objects of the same type and click Export once. MeshInspector writes one file per object into the folder you choose and names each file after its object:
- If you keep the file name that the dialog suggests (the name of the first object), the files are named
<object name>.<extension>. - If you type another name, it becomes a prefix:
<your name>_<object name>.<extension>. - Objects with the same name get a number at the end of the name.
To write several meshes into one file, use Home › Save Selected and choose .obj (see Saving Scenes). In the web app, Export saves one object at a time and downloads the file.
Position and units
Export writes a mesh, a point cloud or a polyline where it is in the scene, with the position, rotation and scale that you see. A volume or a distance map is written without the move, rotation or scale that you gave it in the scene.
The coordinates are written in the Model Units of Settings › Units. By default they are the same as the UI units, which are millimeters. STL, OBJ and PLY files store plain numbers without units, so the program that opens them has to assume the same units; most slicers expect millimeters. A 3MF file stores the name of the units. A DICOM file stores the voxel size in millimeters, and MeshInspector converts it when it writes the file.
Export or save the scene
Export writes separate files of the selected objects. Save Scene writes one MeshInspector scene (.mru) with all objects, their tree, positions, colors and display settings, so you can continue your work later. The differences and Save Selected are explained in Saving Scenes.
