CSV guides
Reference articles on the CSV format and the problems people hit with it: what the rules actually are, how to open a file when you do not have Excel, why accented characters turn into garbage, and how spreadsheets alter data without asking. Each guide is written from the point of view of someone who has to get a file open and correct, not from a vendor's point of view. When a tool on this site helps, it is linked; when it does not, we say what does.
- The STL file format explained
What is inside an STL: the binary and ASCII layouts byte by byte, why the format has no units and no colour, why files are so large, and the export settings that produce bad ones.
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- How to check an STL file before printing
The six things that make a downloaded or exported STL fail on the printer, how to spot each one in a minute, what your slicer will silently do about it, and a checklist to run before every print.
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- 3D file formats for printing: STL, 3MF, OBJ, STEP and GLB compared
Five formats you will meet with a 3D printer, what each one can and cannot hold, when to use which, and a table of what is lost in every common conversion.
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- Why your STL is the wrong size, and how to fix it
STL files have no units. This guide explains the 25.4 and 1000 factors, which programs export in which unit, how to check a model in seconds, and the exact rescale steps in PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, Cura and the resin slicers.
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