Tutorials ModelCraft help Walkthroughs
Get a model ready for 3D printing
Check that a model is closed and faces the right way, see its size, base and overhangs, fix what is wrong, and download it as STL or 3MF for your slicer.
Written for ModelCraft 0.5. The same help is inside the app: press F1.
A 3D printer's slicer needs a closed shape: no holes, every face pointing out, nothing passing through itself. Export › Check for 3D printing (STL or 3MF)… looks for exactly that before you download the file.
Check and download
- Select what you want to print: one or more groups or components, or some faces. With nothing selected, everything shown prints.
- Click Export in the File group, then Check for 3D printing (STL or 3MF)….
The dialog says "Ready to print" or "Not ready to print", lists what is wrong, and gives the size in millimeters, the volume and the number of triangles.
- Click Download 3MF or Download STL.
What prints is what you see: hidden faces, hidden groups and components, and anything on a hidden tag are left out. Sizes are always in millimeters, the unit slicers expect, whatever unit the model shows.
What the check looks for
These stop a print or spoil it, and make the dialog say "Not ready to print":
| Problem | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A face on one side only | A hole: an edge has a face on one side and nothing on the other | Draw the missing face (a line across the gap often closes it), or use Fix (below) |
| Shared by three or more faces | Faces meet in a fin or a wall inside a solid | Erase the inner face |
| Faces facing opposite ways | Some faces point in, some out | Select the faces that face in and click Reverse face in Entity info |
| Inside out | A whole closed part points inward | Select its faces and reverse them |
| Passes through itself | One part folds through itself | Edit › More › Intersect with model, then erase what is inside. See Intersect faces |
These are warnings: the model prints, but have a look first.
- Separate parts overlap, or meet face to face: slicers usually merge them into one. For a cleaner file, join them with Solids › Union. See Solid tools.
- Nothing lies flat at the bottom: turn the model so a face rests on the bed, or the slicer will add supports or a raft.
- Leans out more than 45° from upright: those faces need support. The dialog says how much of the surface does.
- Under 1 mm across: probably modeled in the wrong unit. Check the unit in the status bar.
A hollow part (a closed shell inside another) is fine: its faces point into the hollow, and its volume is taken away.
Find and fix problems in a group
For a group or component: select it, then in Entity info click Show problems to see the holes and stray edges, and Fix to close flat holes, remove stray edges and turn faces the right way. See Solid tools. Then run the check again.
Not checked
The check does not look at wall thickness, tiny details your nozzle cannot draw, or whether the model fits your printer's bed. Your slicer shows those.