Printables: Generate STL files in 3D Warehouse

August 22, 2019

Stephen Grant

Sharing 3D-printable models designed in SketchUp just got a whole lot easier thanks to a collaboration between 3D Warehouse and Materialise. Today, when you share your SketchUp model on 3D Warehouse, you now have the option to tell 3D Warehouse to generate a print-ready STL file.

Why are we doing this?

The folks at Materialise are experts when it comes to prepping print-ready 3D models. When we started talking about our shared interest in supporting the STL file format on 3D Warehouse, it quickly became clear that Materialise shared a similar vision. They were just as excited about the possibility of giving users access to better tools for making their SketchUp models print-ready.

How exactly does the printables feature work?

Simply click the “I want this model to be Printable” checkbox when uploading your SketchUp model to the 3D Warehouse. Once your file has been uploaded, 3D Warehouse will hand off your model to Materialise where it will first be converted to an STL file. The freshly converted STL file will then be analyzed through a veritable gauntlet of tests, and many common issues will be automatically fixed to produce a watertight STL file. Finally, Materialise will pass it back to 3D Warehouse for you to download. Boom, done, easy as that.

Already have models on 3D Warehouse?

Don’t fret, it’s a cinch to make your existing models Printable. Just sign in to your 3D Warehouse account, navigate to the model details page for any models you want to make Printable, and click the Edit button. Then click the Printables box at the bottom of the page. Click Save and voila! An STL file should be available for you and others to download shortly.

How do you find Printable models?

To find printable models, type whatever it is you’re looking for in the 3D Warehouse search bar followed by is:printable. For example, if you want to find a bracelet to print, search bracelet is:printable. If you want to view all printable models search for just is:printable.

Since this feature is brand new, the volume of printable models may not be substantial by tomorrow. We anticipate the library of Printable files will grow over time, with your help of course!