The STL, or Standard Triangle Language, file format has been around since the '80s and is supported by most modern 3D modeling applications. In particular, the STL format has become something of a standard format within the area of 3D printing, despite the rise of more modern formats such as 3MF.
STL files come in two flavors: binary or text format. The text format is human-readable, making it easy to perform manual edits, but can lead to very large file sizes. As you can imagine, the binary format is much more compact and represents the majority of the STL files you are likely to encounter.
The format itself is very simple; the 3D model is represented by a sequential list of triangles, with each triangle defined with 3 points consisting of their X, Y, and Z positions, along with an additional vector that contains the face normal (the direction the face is pointing). There is an additional attribute block for each triangle; however, this is largely unused and thus unsupported.
STL Converter Capabilities
When converting 3D model or mesh files using our STL converter, we will attempt to convert color materials into a suitable format for use in the converted file.
| Extension | AMF |
| Full Name | Additive Manufacturing File |
| Type | 3D Model |
| Mime Type | text/xml |
| Format | Text |
The AMF file format, which stands for Additive Manufacturing File, is a common 3D model format used for 3D printing. An AMF file can contain multiple 3D models, stored in a manner that is suitable for use with 3D printers.
Each model within the file is stored as a series of vertices, faces, and material information that is needed when 3D printing a 3D object. Data within the AMF file is stored in XML format, making the data human-readable and also structured.
Although there are other formats used within 3D printing circles, such as STL and 3MF, There is still support for AMF files within many 3D printing slicer applications, and our own AMF conversion tools allow converting to and from this useful format.
AMF Converter Capabilities
When converting your STL to AMF, our tool will attempt to accurately convert any color or material information.
