Cura file export.. why is .stl gone?!?

[yzorg 2]

I need some Help!

To my big surprise and very sadly, Cura is not able to save to .stl anymore.

Actually there should be multible options to choose from:

.obj, .stl, amf,

i accidentally overwrited a original .stl file with a .amf... now i cannot open the file again.. only in Cura witch doesnt help in this case.

I need a way to convert .amf files back to much more compatible stl...

none of my apps can read .amf files.

Meshlab crashed always when i try to open it...

changing the ending manually to .stl produces a unreadable file.

thx in advance.

 

[cez_etc 0]

What version of Cura are you using? Mac? Windows? I'm using Cura 14.03 on Windows and saving files as .stl works fine for me. Click save file... and then enter the file name INCLUDING the correct file ending (e.g. myfile.stl). If you just enter the file name without an ending specified, Cura will save it as .amf.

But if this doesn't solve your problem, maybe just use an older version of Cura? All the old versions are still available for download: http://software.ultimaker.com/?show=all

 

[Jasu 1]

On the latest Mac version of Cura (15.04 as of early 2016) there's no STL export. If you go to the Save Model the only option you have is .AMF.

Is there a way to export .STL from Cura on a Mac?

[nallath 530]

It works perfectly on linux, so I'm guessing osx messed something up again that broke this. Wouldn't be the first time.

[berndjm 13]

Just checked it out with Cura 15.04.4 on a MacBook:

if you overwrite the extension .amf with .stl ist saves a valid STL-File

[Jasu 1]

Just checked it out with Cura 15.04.4 on a MacBook:

if you overwrite the extension .amf with .stl ist saves a valid STL-File

 

Hi Berndjm,

Thanks for the tip. I just tested renaming a Cura-exported AMF to STL and importing it into Simplify3D to test compatibility. Simplify3D imports .stl and .obj files. Loading a renamed AMF file crashed the program and didn't open any model. I guess the difference between the formats is too big.

I see why Ultimaker may want to change away from STL to AMF. The Additive Manufacturing Files are not based on a single company (3D Systems) but instead determined by a group of makers. It is an open standard and has native support for colors and materials unlike STL. Several other technical reasons have been discussed on 3Daddfab.

Nevertheless, STL is much more established. Nearly every 3D modeling software can read the format. As tested here, this is not the case for AMF. I'd much prefer an STL export option on the already buggy Cura port for OS X (15.04.3).

[berndjm 13]

Renaming the file to .stl after you've exported it as .amf cannot work!

You should overwrite the given .amf extension in the save(as) dialog to save it as .stl

[Jasu 1]

Renaming the file to .stl after you've exported it as .amf cannot work!

You should overwrite the given .amf extension in the save(as) dialog to save it as .stl

 

My bad. This trick is so counterintuitive that I didn't get it at first. It's weird that you can actually change the file format just by changing the file name. Thanks for clearing that up. It worked now.[/media]