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 | IDTF |
| Full Name | PDF With integrated 3D Models |
| Type | 3D Model |
| Mime Type | text/plain |
| Format | Text |
An IDTF file is a specialized format for storing 3D models with the intention of embedding them within an Adobe PDF file, thus enabling a PDF to contain and display complex 3D models.
The file format itself is a simple ASCII text file containing 3D model data in the form of vertices, faces, normals, and other relevant geometric data. The data is stored within a hierarchical structure, enabling easy improvements to the format in the future.
Currently, support for IDTF files is limited among 3D modeling applications, with the freely available IDTFConverter application capable of processing IDTF files for use within PDF documents.
