I'm stuck and I haven't even begun - please help!

[Nicocat511 1]

I am brand new to Cura and to 3D printing so please excuse this very basic question, but I am trying to move my downloaded STL files into Cura by either dragging and dropping, or by pulling the file from my download folder, and neither works.   When I drag and drop the file over I see a blank square, but no image moves into the Ender box I see in the Cura.  When I try to search for a file Cura doesn't seem to see any STL files - only jpegs and pdfs from my download folder appear in the list.  

Can anyone please advise?  I have watched a bunch of Youtube videos and they aren't helping.

Thanks!

Nico

[GregValiant 1,044]

There are a couple of things that could be going on.

When you choose the "File | Open" command the dialog box should come up.  Just above the Open button is a drop down list.  It should be set to "All Supported File Types".  If it was changed to something else it does not self-reset.

 

Occasionally a model will come into Cura at some ridiculous location in space.  For example, a model file could have the location as X0 Y0 Z5000.  In that case there would be a shadow of the model on the Cura build plate but the model is nowhere to be seen.  By right-clicking on the build plate you could "Select All Models".  You would then choose the move button on the top of the left toolbar and set all the dimensions to zero.  That would bring a lost model into view.

 

If you are dragging an STL into the workspace then Cura should open it.  If it isn't then it's something beyond my limited understanding of what goes on under the hood.

 

[Nicocat511 1]

Thank you GregValiant for this thoughtful reply.  I read about the shadow in other threads and I'm not seeing anything like that when I try to drag and drop an STL file into the Cura space.  I also made sure that "All Supported File Types" was selected and "STL" is even listed there as an example, but none of the STL files show up.  In short, I'm still stumped by this problem!  But again, thank you so much for taking the time to respond and offer suggestions.  

[GregValiant 1,044]

I believe that Cura makes calls to the Operating System for things like file management.  I know my VB apps do.  So you might have something going on with your OpSys or the way Cura is talking to the OpSys.  I seem to recall there was a problem with Linux systems and Open and Save dialogs.

 

If you go to THIS PAGE on Github and scroll down to Cura 4.13.1 and click on the Assets button you will find the installation files.  When Cura 5.0 was released it was with a complete makeover of the dialogs and controls.  Maybe reverting to the earlier dialogs will make a difference.  It's quite odd that dragging and dropping isn't working though.

(I liked 4.13.1 a lot and that's why I picked that one out of the crowd.)

[Nicocat511 1]

GregValiant - problem solved!  Sort of - it seems that it is a disconnect between my computer/OS and Cura - I still can't drag and drop, but if I click on the file directly and tell my computer to open the file with Cura the image appears in the box and I am able to slice it.  Thank you again!

[GregValiant 1,044]

Congratulations, you've come up with your first workaround.

There will be more.  Trust me on that.

[ahoeben 1,806]

10 hours ago, Nicocat511 said:

I still can't drag and drop

The only known reason why this could happen is if you are running Cura "as Administrator". Windows will prohibit drag and drop between Explorer and an application that is run "as Administrator".