3D has disruptively revolutionized the world, and more importantly the manufacturing sector. Even though 3D printing has been invented three decades ago, it has gained popularity and prominence in the last decade, thanks to the extensive exposure happened through the digital media, and especially the internet. 3D printing allows people to build custom products, devices, tools, and many more with utmost ease and comfort. But when it comes to 3D printing, most people wonder how to edit STL files. Usually, a free STL editor will do the job here, but it’s important to choose the best STL editing software to obtain optimum results.
Dec 25, 2020 Meshmixer is 3D printing software capable of editing, checking, and fixing STL files. Its features include mesh mixing, sculpting, creating patterns, hollowing, stamping, surface smoothing, and a lot more. It’s one of the most complete STL editing tools out there and you can use it for more than just editing. SketchUp is modeling software for 3D printing that's simple, fun, and predictable. Meshmixer is super-advanced (and free) 3D printing software for viewing, checking, editing, and repairing STL files. It’s especially good for spotting potential problems and automatically repairing them. For example, highlighting paper-thin walls that might cause problems when 3D printing. It’s part of the Autodesk 3D printing software family. New in Blender 2.90. Building on the success of the 2.8 series, Blender 2.90 continues to polish the user experience, introducing improvements to EEVEE, Cycles, sculpt, VR, animation, modeling, UV editing.
Why would someone need an STL editor?
The process of 3D printing starts with modeling a blueprint for the object that is supposed to be created and ends with printing out the object according to the blueprint. Basically, the development of a proper blueprint is very essential here. The most used format in the 3D printing spectrum is none other than the STL. Although there are ready-made STL files available, they really can’t be customized to a person’s liking and ironically 3D printing is all about customizations. So, an STL editor comes into the play here, as it can help by leaps and bounds in developing an STL file, which would the blueprint for an object that is intended to be printed. An STL allows all types of customization and editing of an STL file to eventually obtain the appropriate design.
With an STL editor, one could easily educate themselves about the ins and outs of the 3D printing process, along with learning how to utilize the STL files to print their design properly. Furthermore, by using an STL editor to craft a great design, people can find their sense of achievement, since this whole process involves creativity. Additionally, someone who knows how to use an STL editor properly to print out various designs can easily make some decent amounts of money by selling their custom designs and products through online stores. There are many a man who’s making a living by selling their STL designs online.
Here are the Top 3 free STL editor:
Since an STL editor plays a very important role in the process of 3D printing and design making, it’s essential that one should choose a free STL editor to edit STL files. Here’s a list of the 3 best STL editing software:
FreeCAD: This STL is both free and open source to all. This free STL editor comes with multiple features under different categories. To design perfect 3D printing models, FreeCAD provides some highly effective features under Drawing, Draft, and Design categories. This free STL editor can be downloaded here.
1. The first step in using FreeCAD to edit STL files begin with opening the software and creating a new document by selecting ‘File’ and then ‘New’.
2. Now, it’s time to click on File and then Import to choose the object that is supposed to be edited. FreeCAD not only supports STL format but also AST and OBJ as well.
3. The next step is to set the workbench option as ‘Part’.
4. In the ‘Model’ window, the imported object must be selected.
5. After the object is displayed, clicking on any face that is supposed to be modified.
6. Clicking on the Sketch option allows users to create a shape or edit the existing one.
Blender: This free STL editor is one of highly advanced and sophisticated out there, packed up with many effective and efficient features. It not only supports 3D printing models and editing, but also video clips, game designs, and much more. It also comprises of various advanced algorithms that allow users to smoother and perfect a model surface. For someone who focuses on minute details in editing STL files, Blender is the way to go.
1. Clicking on File ->Import->STL allows users to select and import the STL file that they want to edit or modify.
2. By changing the mode from Object to Edit, the user will be able to see all the components of their design.
3. Now, with the designing options of Blender, the user can simply edit, add or remove any component of their design to get the desired design they want.
4. Finally, after completing the editing part, the design can be exported by clicking, File, Export, and then selecting STL files.
MeshMixer: One of the best and most user-friendly STL editor software is none other than the MeshMixer. This free STL editor is very easy to user, which is why most beginners prefer using this software to edit STL files. MeshMixer also features a built-in slicer tool, which allows the user to export the modified/edited design directly to the 3D printer.
1. The import option in the File menu allows for the importing of an STL file.
2. The next step is to click on the Make Solid option in the Edit menu.
3. The select option in the main menu of this software lets users mark the objects in a design to delete or edit.
4. MeshMix option helps in opening new forms or shapes to be added to the design.
5. After the completion of the editing process, the design can be exported simply through the Export option in the File menu.
Anyone who’s into 3D printing, designing new models, or simply enthusiastic about this industry are more than welcome to network with us by sharing information or related websites. Additionally, any user who has their own designs or products are warmly welcomed to share their work, which can benefit them with their sales. Reviews are simply entertained as well as previous experiences.
If you're looking forward to buying an exceptional and effective 3D printer, which is also available at a very reasonable and affordable price, have a look at theDOBOT Mooz, which comes with the latest technology and features.
9 Free 3D Design Programs to Get You Started with 3D Printing
Finding the right 3D modeling software for 3D printing is tough. That’s why we want to give you a complete overview about the best and most popular free 3D modeling software in this blog post.
Classifying and benchmarking different 3D design program is a very complicated matter as everyone has different preferences and applications for 3D printing in mind. Play zuma revenge full version online. Our 3D modeling & 3D printing community here at i.materialise uses tons of different software to get the job done: from free online 3D design apps to high-end professional software.
There are several reasons why it’s so difficult to find ‘the best’ 3D modeling software:
There are tons of 3D modeling programs out there. It isn’t a case of one software dominating the market, which can make choosing the right one quite complicated and confusing.
3D modeling software works in very different ways. One software might be quite intuitive for some people, but really complicated for others. There is no one-sizes-fits-all-approach.
Users typically have very strong opinions that the software they are using is the best one. So everyone seems to have a different opinion on which software is the most suitable for creating a 3D file.
Professional 3D modeling software often comes at a high price. Many people don’t want to take the risk of purchasing high-end software without having tried free software first.
But we’re going to take it step by step here. I will briefly describe the most popular free programs out there. I will also try to point out how you can progress to more sophisticated programs later.
I have tried to put them into different categories based on the style of 3D modeling that is predominant for each software. While you have to sculpt in some, you merge geometric elements in others.
Solid Modeling/Box Modeling:
If you are just starting and have never created a 3D model before, TinkerCADis absolutely indispensable. It’s an easy beginner-friendly app with a LEGO-approach. Basically you will combine different geometrical shapes together, in order to create new objects. TinkerCAD is great if you like geometrical designs and a geometrical way of thinking. It’s very hard to create organic objects with the interface, however (like people, animals, etc.).
We have a tutorial about how to create your first 3D print in TinkerCad here. Take a look at it to get a better feel for this software.
This ‘saw wrench’ was designed by Pekka Salokannel in Tinkercad.
If you reach the limits of TinkerCAD and you like the logic behind this app, you can continue to more sophisticated software like Fusion 360. Fusion 360 was also developed by Autodesk, the company behind TinkerCAD. This powerful program is now available for free for students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and startups. It combines the professional capabilities of a high-end CAD program with an user-friendly interface and workflow. That’s why Fusion 360 is such a popular program among industrial designers.
Parametric Design/Procedural Modeling:
Parametric 3D modeling software allows you to easily navigate and modify your 3D model by browsing back into the model history and changing its individual elements. Typically this software is at its most powerful if you want to focus on precision. However, you won’t have much ‘free-style’ design freedom.
FreeCAD is a free software that allows you to create precise geometric designs, such as technical parts, replacement parts, gadgets, cases, scale models etc. You can learn the basics in our beginner-friendly FreeCAD tutorial.
Typical workflow in FreeCAD: From a rough sketch to a precise 3D model.
If you would rather like to code your 3D model, OpenSCAD might be for you. This software uses programming language to create 3D objects. If you want to learn how to code your design, take a look at our OpenSCAD tutorial.
A screenshot of free 3D modeling software, OpenSCAD.
If you enjoy FreeCAD you might want to switch to the professional 3D modeling programs Autodesk 3DS Max or Autodesk Maya in the future.
Digital Sculpting:
Digital sculpting is the way to go if you want to create organic designs: people, animals or creatures. This is where your mouse movements matter the most, and mechanical precision matters the least.
Meshmixeris a powerful, free software that lets you sculpt digitally and mash different 3D models together. Mold and refine surfaces in real-time like virtual clay! Once again, we have the right tutorial for you to get started.
The ‘Piguin’ by Bert De Niel was created in Meshmixer and 3D printed in our multicolor material.
Sculptris provides an excellent gateway into the exciting world of 3D sculpting. Its features are easy to learn, even for someone with no experience in digital art. Yet the 3D sculpting software is robust enough to create base models that can then be refined in other, more sophisticated applications later.
If this kind of modeling is your cup of tea, you will probably want to switch to the professional premium software ZBrush later on or you can also try one of these 3D scultping programs.
Goat Skull by Jody Garrett was created in ZBrush, the professional version of free sculpting software Sculptris
Best 3d Printing Softwares
Polygon Modeling/Contour Modeling:
In Polygon Modeling, your 3D object is basically a mesh based on vertices, edges, and faces. This allows for precisely editing parts of your object. By changing the coordinates of one or several vertices, you can change the shape of the model. That makes this way of modeling very powerful but also more difficult to start with.
The most popular free software in this section is called Blender. However, it’s also the most difficult program mentioned in this blog post. The power of design freedom comes with a steep learning curve. That’s why we published video tutorials on how to get started as well as on how to turn your Blender model into a 3D print.
A premium software that is somewhat similar to Blender is Modo, which also comes in a free 30-day trial version.
Curve & Line Modeling:
This is the process where models are based on drawing lines or curves in a 3D space. By joining these lines or curves together you will define the surface of your object. This manual way of designing allows designers to create precise objects.
SketchUpis a software that architects, interior designers, and scale modelers love. SketchUp is mainly based on lines – 3D models will be edgy as a result. The first steps are fairly easy, but making a printable model can be challenging sometimes. Take a look at our tutorials to learn how to create your first SketchUp 3D model and how to make it 3D printable.
Once you master this program, you might switch from SketchUp Make (free version) to the premium SketchUp Pro version.
Scale Modeler Guido Mandorf creates his tram models mostly in SketchUp.
For curve modeling Moment of Inspirationand Rhinoceros (Rhino 3D) are popular choices. Unlike SketchUp, you don’t focus on lines but rather on curves. This allows for great round shapes in product designs. You can check out our video tutorial to get a better understanding of Rhino. While Rhino doesn’t come for free, it offers a free 90-day trial. Enough time to test it.
Moment of Inspiration offers a 30-day trial. If you want to try a similar free software to start with, you might want to try free modeling program K-3D.
3d Printer Editing Software Free
The Love Lamps by Sandro Lominashvili were designed in Rhino.
Now it’s time for you to visit the websites of these 3D modeling programs, take a look around, and download the free or trial versions. If you’re new to the world of 3D modeling, this interview about how to get started with 3D designing is probably of interest to you as well. You should also make sure to avoid these 5 common mistakes when turning a 3D model into a 3D print.
Editing Software Free
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