CAD file
guides.

What is going on with your file, and what to do about it.

See every conversion.

Guides8 written

  1. How to open a SLDPRT file without SOLIDWORKS

    Someone has sent you a .sldprt and nothing on your machine will open it.

    Six ways to open a .sldprt file with no SOLIDWORKS licence, what each one can and cannot do, and how to get the geometry into the CAD system or slicer you actually use.

    Read it

  2. How to open a newer SolidWorks file in an older version

    Your SolidWorks is older than the one that saved the part, and it will not open it.

    Why an older SolidWorks refuses a newer file, and four ways round it: Future Version, Save As previous version, a neutral file, or converting it yourself.

    Read it

  3. SLDPRT, STEP, Parasolid or STL: what to send, and to whom

    Someone has asked you for "the CAD file" and you need to know which one.

    Send STEP unless you know otherwise. When Parasolid, 3MF, STL, OBJ or the native file is the better choice for a machine shop, a printer, another CAD user or a client.

    Read it

  4. Why a SLDASM assembly opens empty, and what to ask for

    You were sent a .sldasm and it opens empty, fails, or converts to nothing.

    A SOLIDWORKS assembly references its parts rather than containing them. Here is why that makes a lone .sldasm useless, how to tell before you waste an afternoon, and what to request instead.

    Read it

  5. STL to STEP with true surfaces

    You have an STL and someone needs a STEP.

    How a triangle mesh becomes a STEP solid with real planes, cylinders, cones, spheres and smooth freeform surfaces, how each surface is checked against the mesh, and what a mesh can never give back.

    Read it

  6. Parasolid files: .x_t, .x_b, and what to do with one

    You have been sent an .x_t or .x_b and nothing you own will open it.

    .x_t is text and .x_b is binary: the same Parasolid solid at the same precision. How to open either without SOLIDWORKS, Solid Edge or NX, and when to send Parasolid instead of STEP.

    Read it

  7. STEP AP203, AP214 and AP242 in plain terms

    Your export dialog is asking for an application protocol and you want the right answer.

    All three carry the same exact geometry. AP214 for everyday exchange and colour, AP242 for tolerances and PMI, AP203 for old software, and .step vs .stp explained.

    Read it

  8. 3MF vs STL: which to use for 3D printing

    You are exporting a part to print and the dialog offers both.

    What 3MF records that STL cannot, when the difference actually matters, and why STL still refuses to die. With the scale trap that catches everyone at least once.

    Read it