Section outline

  • To export a part in the STL format for 3D printing, make sure to custom the output settings as shown in the video "How to - Save as STL file". By setting the "Cord Height" to 0 and the "Angle Control" to 1, the cord height will automatically change from 0 to the lowest acceptable value. The lower the chord height, the finer the triangle will be; consequently, the larger the size of the output file.

    Note:

    • Chord Height is the maximum deviation between the designed part and the STL representation of the part. This deviation is measured in the native units of the part, so the maximum absolute deviation in the above file is about 0.0869mm. Since an STL file approximates your part’s surface geometry using tessellated triangles, there is a tradeoff between accurate representation of curves and the number of triangles used. The larger the number of triangles, the larger the file size.
    • Angle Control sets the amount tessellation that take place in curves of a small radii. The greater the tessellation, the greater the file accuracy which in turn increases file sizes. This value can be set between 1 (most accurate) and 0 (least). Change this if the default results are not satisfactory.
    • Step size controls the maximum triangle size in the part which has a similar implications to Angle Control and Cord height. The smaller this figure, the finer the tessellation will be.
    • If you are printing an Assembly en-bloc, please ensure your assembly is fully regenerated by clicking t Regenerate and that the configuration of your assembly is according to your design intent. Interfering components will be printed conjoined into one piece and moving components require the appropriate allowance with other.