Open an STL file to make changes to the part

How do I open a STL file so that I can make changes to the part? ie dimensions, hole locations ect. I have Alibre Design, Autodesk Inventor and Sketch up. None of them seem to Import STL file, they will export them.

You can import STL's into SketchUp. Just click on the dropbox link below to get the plugin- it will download immediately. Then browse to your Sketchup folder e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google SketchUp 8\Plugins and extract the files into "plugins". Then launch Sketchup and select "plugins" "Import STL files" from the menu bar. I think you need to triple click the model once loaded to play with it.


[dl.dropbox.com]

Thanks for your reply. I downloaded the plugin, but when I try to open a STL file I get a the following message.
Invalid file format:
No solid name found,
or not an ASCII STL file.

Any ideas?

There are two types of stl files - one contains ASCII data (its just clear text) and the other is binary. I'm guessing you have a binary file and the plugin only supports ASCII. Netfabb basic (the version you can download) allows you to save as either, so maybe you can load it with that, save it as ASCII, and see if the plug in then works.

Btw there are several programs that allow manipulation of stl files, but seeing as I've never done it, I don't know their full capabilities. You can check out netfabb mentioned above, but also there's mesh lab, and possibly free cad.

Hi there,
This plugin, by Jim Foltz, supports both ASCII and binary STLs. [sketchuptips.blogspot.ie]

It adds an Import... option under File. Be sure to choose the correct unit of measure when importing e.g. mm, or the imported object will be way off scale.

You may still want to retain the other pulg-in mentioned above as it has an Export option that you'll need to get the an STL back out of Sketchup.


STL's tend to come into Sketchup with a lot of extra redundant lines. There's another handy plugin called Cleanup ( [sketchucation.com] ) which removes a lot, but not all of the extra clutter from in imported STL.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
NumberSix

---

[numbersixreprap.blogspot.com]

yeah, sorry Joe, the one that Number Six suggested is the one I meant to point you to.

Thanks Guys all the suggestions worked great. Now if I can figure out how to get a part into Alibre Design.

Sycode sells a solution, although I was kinda shocked at how much they want for an import utility.:

[www.sycode.com]

He he he. Windows users.><

Blender (www.blender.org) can import STL. Is not a proper CAD program though, more geared to 3D animations.

Meshlab can do it. Great little program.

I use the Jim Fultz plugin all the time to import stl files into sketchup. I like sketchup for the most part but end up tweeking a few things and using a few plugins. Sketucation has a bunch of helpful plugins for finding the center points and importing and .... If the stl file is giving you issues, you may be able to go to cloud.netfab.com and have it fix the file and then try to import it.