Objet260 User Guide
Source Files
Objet260 printing systems produce 3D prints designed with most CAD tools
and some other 3D applications.
Objet Studio supports these file formats:
• STL
• SLC
• VRML
GrabCAD Print (for Connex3 printers) supports STL, VRML, OBJ and 3MF
files. In addition, GrabCAD Print supports native CAD formats from these
programs: Creo, SOLIDWORKS, NX, CATIA and Inventor. To see the
complete list of file formats supported by GrabCAD Print, go to:
help.grabcad.com/print/file-formats.
All Objet260 systems feature the capability of producing different types of f iles
simultaneously.
STL Files
STL is short for STereoLithography or Standard Triangulation Language. This
language views any object as a collection of surfaces, and describes each
surface of the object as a collection of triangles.
For example, a square can be described as two triangles; a cube (six squares)
as 12 triangles. Curved surfaces need more triangles to describe them. The
higher the tolerance (for smooth surfaces), the more triangles are needed.
Most CAD software can export STL files. Objet Studio/GrabCAD Print opens
these files for printing on the p rinter.
SLC Files
SLC is short for Stereo-Lithography Contour. SLC files describe 2D contours of
the 3D prints. These contour lines are polylines.
SLC files are ASCII (text) files that save 3D print as a series of slices. This
means that 3D prints based on SLC files cannot be orientated; only their scale
(size) and position on the build tray can be controlled. For this reason, the 3D
print's orientation must be suitable for production before it is saved as an SLC
file. Because of the nature of SLC files, the appearance of 3D prints in Objet
Studio may be different than the solid-object images displayed from STL files.
VRML Files
VRML i s a 3D file format which includes color information. VRML provides the
ability to apply different colors to a 3D print while designing in a CAD program.
VRML i s a 3D file format which includes color and texture information. VRML
provides the ability to apply different colors and textures to a 3D print while
designing in a CAD program.
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