Free Online 3DS to STL Converter

You can use our 3DS to STL conversion tool to quickly and easily convert your 3D model files for free. You may upload up to 20 files at one time, and our batch 3DS to STL converter will process each 3D model and present you with a download link for each file once completed.

Select File(s)

Or drag and drop your files here to upload.
A maximum of 20 files can be uploaded at once.

Please note: Your 3DS file, once uploaded to our server, will be deleted 15 minutes after upload, so please download your converted 3DS file before this time.

Our 3D model 3DS to STL tool will load your 3DS file and, where supported, attempt to extract all the relevant 3D features, such as geometry, textures, and animations. To access the 3D conversion configuration options, click the button when you have selected your files. The current options support the ability to voxelize your 3D model and more.

How to Convert your 3DS to STL Online?

Here are two simple steps to convert your 3DS to STL using our fast and free 3DS converter tool.

Upload your 3DS file

Click the "Upload a 3DS File" button, then select a 3DS to upload. The maximum file size is 100MB.

Download your STL

Click the download link to receive your STL file.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I convert my 3DS file to STL?

First, click the "Upload..." button and select your 3DS file to upload. Your 3DS file will be uploaded to our servers. When the 3DS to STL conversion has completed, you can download your STL file right away.

How long does it take to convert my 3DS to STL?

We aim to process all 3DS to STL conversions as quickly as possible; this usually takes around 5 seconds; however, this can be longer for certain files, so please be patient.

How accurate is the 3DS to STL conversion?

We aim to provide the best conversion experience. Our tools are under constant review and development, with new features being added every week.

How does converting 3DS to STL work?

In order to successfully convert an 3DS formatted file to the STL format, our converter tools will perform several initial checks to ensure the file provided is indeed an 3DS file. There are many files out there where the file type extension does not match the data contained within the file. Along with these file type checks, our tools will do additional checks to ensure the file is correctly formatted to match the provided file type. There are many tools out there that do not always create 3DS files to the exact specification.

Take your 3DS file

An 3DS file is a binary data file containing 3D data that makes up the 3D model, including vertices, faces, texture coordinates, and more. To guarantee efficient conversions, our tool will check all data that is contained within the 3DS file and remove any information that is duplicated. This not only ensures the conversion completes more quickly, but also the generated STL file size is smaller.

Convert the data from 3DS to STL

Now that the data from the 3DS file has been processed, our tool can apply any conversion specified options, such as enabling Voxel mode, and with these applied, prepare the data to be converted to the final STL file format. Part of this process ensures checking the capabilities of the STL format and removing any data that cannot be represented.

Save to the STL format

At this point, the 3DS to STL conversion tool will have the 3D model in a state that is ready to be transferred to the STL format. Our tool creates the STL file, ensuring all the model data is present and is formatted to match the STL file specification to ensure the file opens in compatible STL file editors. To ensure a compact file size, our 3DS to STL converter will always save the STL file in a binary format.

File format information for 3DS and STL

Extension	3DS
Full Name	3D Studio Mesh
Type	3D Model
Mime Type	application/octet-stream
Format	Binary
Opens With	MeshLab

A 3DS file is a legacy 3D graphics format originally created for use with the 3D Studio software. Although widely supported at the time, 3DS files have fallen in popularity and have been replaced as the 3D format of choice by more capable formats.

There are considerable limitations when working with 3DS files. One major limitation is the format's use of 16-bit values, which limit the total number of vertices and faces to 65536. This number was plenty large enough when the format was created in the early 1990s but has since become a limiting factor with modern 3D models containing millions of vertices and polygons.

Despite its limitations, a significant number of 3DS models still exist, and there are many 3D modelling packages out there that offer support for importing these files.

3DS Converter Capabilities

Our 3DS 3D Model/Mesh tool does not support any colour material data contained within 3DS files, so the converted file will not contain any colour information.

Extension	STL
Full Name	Standard Triangle Language
Type	3D Model
Mime Type	application/vnd.ms-pki.stl
Format	Text
Opens With	Blender, MeshLab, CAD Assistant, DAZ Studio

The STL, or Standard Triangle Language, file format has been around since the '80s and is supported by most modern 3D modelling 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 flavours: 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

Our 3D conversion tool does not support colour or material information in STL files, so your file will not contain any colour information.

Information for converting from 3DS to STL

Your 3DS file will be converted to a STL file using our unified 3D model and mesh conversion tool. Our 3DS 3D tool performs accurate conversions of 3D elements such as vertices, faces, normals, and relevant material information. Our tool will not attempt to transfer any colour information if it is present in your 3DS file; your final 3D model will contain only geometry data.