CAD format compatibility matrix
The matrix lists 92+ supported file extensions across supported format groups. Use it to check what CADProps can currently view, measure and convert. Support depends on file version and actual geometry.
| Format | Extension | Browser inspection | Assembly handling | Properties | Conversion | Test file / key limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STEP | STEP, STP | Yes | Embedded readable assemblies | B-Rep dimensions, area; volume for valid solids | STEP → IGS, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | block.step · geometry must be readable |
| IGES | IGES, IGS | Yes | Self-contained geometry | Dimensions/area; volume only for valid closed solids | IGES → STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | box.iges · open surfaces may have no volume |
| SolidWorks | SLDPRT | Yes, saved display geometry | Part | Exact when the Parasolid body is read completely; otherwise approximate | Exact STEP when the body is complete; otherwise mesh STEP | Files without saved display show their thumbnail |
| SolidWorks | SLDASM | Yes, saved display geometry | Upload alone or as ZIP with referenced files | Approximate, loaded components only | Mesh STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | Missing references produce partial results |
| Siemens NX | PRT | Yes, saved display geometry | ZIP when references are required | Approximate | Mesh STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | PRT is also used by Creo; identify the source first |
| Creo file check | PRT, ASM, PRT.N, ASM.N | Recognition and saved thumbnail only | No 3D assembly reconstruction; ZIP picks highest numeric saves per model path | None | None | Export STEP from Creo for 3D viewing and measurement |
| Creo Neutral | NEU | Rebuilt plane, cylinder, cone and torus faces | Parts; reference-only assemblies are not read | Unavailable; units assumed millimetres | Mesh STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | Unread surface types are omitted and marked incomplete |
| DWF / DWFx | DWF, DWFX | Read-only supported XPS/W2D vectors, otherwise saved thumbnails | Published sections; W3D/HSF thumbnail only | None | SVG displayed-page export | Unsupported sections need a saved thumbnail; no measurement or editing |
| DWG / DXF | DWG, DXF, DWT | 2D model space and paper layouts with layer and entity filters; simplified for speed | External references are not loaded; skipped entities are named | Distance, angle, radius, diameter, polyline length and area in declared units or a user-set scale | Displayed layout → PDF, SVG or DXF, including edits; DWG is never written | Drawings with only 3D solids show an approximate mesh; limit 50 layouts / 150,000 entities |
| Autodesk Inventor | IPT | Yes, saved display geometry | Part | Exact when the B-Rep is read completely; otherwise approximate | Exact STEP when the B-Rep is complete; otherwise mesh STEP | Files without saved display show their thumbnail |
| Autodesk Inventor | IAM | Yes, saved display geometry | Upload alone or as ZIP with referenced files | Approximate, loaded components only | Mesh STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | Missing references produce partial results |
| CATIA V5 | CATPart | Yes, saved display geometry | Part | Exact when the B-Rep is complete and matches the saved display; otherwise approximate | Exact STEP when the B-Rep is complete; otherwise mesh STEP | Not every CATIA release is guaranteed |
| CATIA V5 | CATProduct | Saved thumbnail only | Not assembled in 3D | None | None | Export STEP from CATIA or upload the CATPart files |
| Parasolid | X_T, X_B | Yes | Readable bodies | B-Rep properties for reconstructed bodies | Exact STEP when every face is reconstructed; otherwise mesh STEP | Units are metres in the file |
| ACIS | SAT, SAB | Yes | Readable bodies | B-Rep properties; units marked assumed | Exact STEP when every face is reconstructed; otherwise mesh STEP | Standalone pattern records are not supported |
| JT | JT | Yes, triangle geometry | Readable components | Approximate | Mesh STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | Exact JT B-Rep is not read |
| Rhino | 3DM | Yes, saved or tessellated meshes | Embedded blocks | Approximate; exact properties unavailable | Mesh STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | Valid SubD is subdivided; curves show as lines |
| Autodesk Fusion | F3D | Yes, current bodies tessellated for display | Components placed by occurrence; linked documents not fetched | Area, volume and mass unavailable | Mesh STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | Undecoded placements or bodies are omitted and marked incomplete |
| Solid Edge | PAR, PSM | Recoverable Parasolid bodies or saved facets | Part | Exact only when the embedded B-Rep is recovered; otherwise approximate | Exact STEP when B-Rep is recovered; otherwise mesh STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB | Otherwise the saved thumbnail |
| Solid Edge | ASM | Supported saved assembly scenes | Saved placements; ZIP parts reuse them | Approximate | None | Otherwise the saved thumbnail |
| STL | STL | Yes | Mesh | Approximate mesh dimensions/area/closed volume | STL → OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB, mesh STEP | box.stl · no standard physical-unit declaration |
| OBJ | OBJ | Yes | Mesh | Approximate mesh properties | OBJ → STL, 3MF, glTF, GLB, mesh STEP | box.obj |
| 3MF | 3MF | Yes | Core geometry | Approximate mesh properties | No 3MF-input conversion | box.3mf |
| GLB / glTF | GLB, GLTF | Static models | Local resources must be embedded/packaged | Approximate mesh properties | No GLB/GLTF-input conversion | box.glb · animations/textures are not the engineering source |
Additional meshes and saved drawing previews
| Format | Extensions | Browser inspection | Properties and units | Conversion / key limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3DXML | 3DXML | XML and CATIA V5 binary (UVR) .3DRep triangle meshes and package-local placed components |
Approximate; physical units unverified, assumed millimetres | STL, OBJ, GLB, glTF, 3MF, mesh STEP; no other binary representations, textures or exact B-Rep |
| PLY | PLY | ASCII or binary triangle surfaces, optional colors | Approximate; units unverified, assumed millimetres | Same mesh outputs; no point clouds or textures |
| VRML97 | WRL, VRML, WRZ | Static supported meshes, primitives and instance transforms | Approximate; units unverified, assumed millimetres | Same mesh outputs; external Inline and unsupported geometry produce incomplete scenes; no scripts, animation or textures |
| X3D | X3D, X3DV | Static scenes: triangle sets, primitives, NURBS surfaces tessellated for preview, CAD part structure, instance transforms and colors | Approximate; units verified only from an explicit length UNIT statement, otherwise the X3D default of metres is assumed | Same mesh outputs; external Inline, prototypes, scripts, animation and textures omitted; trimmed NURBS edges simplified |
| UNV | UNV | I-DEAS Universal finite-element meshes: outer element faces, straight beams and named groups; I-DEAS CAD records only as a partial straight-line wireframe | Approximate; units verified from dataset 164, otherwise millimetres assumed | Same mesh outputs for meshes; results, loads and materials not shown; wireframe-only files cannot be exported |
| VDA-FS | VDA, VDAFS | Polynomial surfaces sampled into triangles, trimmed faces, curves, groups and placements | Approximate mesh in millimetres, the unit fixed by VDA-FS; volume only when the sampled mesh is closed | Same mesh outputs; trimmed edges simplified, unusable trims and tiny faces omitted; points and colors not read; no exact surfaces or STEP B-Rep |
| IFC | IFC, IFCZIP | BIM elements from extrusions, faceted B-Reps and face sets, mapped instances and placements, grouped by storey | Approximate; units verified from the project's length unit, otherwise millimetres assumed | Same mesh outputs; openings not cut, spaces and zones hidden, Boolean results and curved B-Reps omitted; no property sets |
| U3D | U3D | Standalone Universal 3D (ECMA-363) meshes with transforms and base colors; line and point sets as lines | Approximate; units unverified, assumed millimetres | Same mesh outputs; large meshes simplified for speed; textures, animation and proprietary compressed meshes not read; 3D PDFs not opened |
| PRC | PRC | Standalone PRC (ISO 14739-1) files: saved tessellation and supported B-Rep faces shown as a mesh with transforms and colors | Approximate; units verified from the model's unit declaration, otherwise assumed millimetres | Same mesh outputs; no exact STEP; PMI, textures, wires and unsupported compressed meshes not read; 3D PDFs not opened |
| AMF | AMF | Flat triangle volumes, constant colors and constellation placements | Approximate; declared units (default millimetres) normalized to millimetres | Same mesh outputs; no curved triangles, textures, formulas or print settings |
| SolidWorks drawing | SLDDRW | Saved preview image only | None; physical units unknown | None; drawing views, dimensions and title blocks are not read |
| Inventor drawing | IDW | Saved preview image only | None; physical units unknown | None; request PDF, DXF, DWG or the 3D model if no preview is saved |
| Solid Edge draft | DFT | Saved preview image only | None; physical units unknown | None; no 3D geometry, rotation or measurement |
| CATIA drawing | CATDrawing | Saved preview image only | None; physical units unknown | None; no exact properties or model conversion |
| Creo drawing | DRW, DRW.N | Saved preview image only | None; physical units unknown | None; keep numbered saves to identify the requested revision |
| PDF / SVG drawings | PDF, SVG | Vector page preview, or a first-page raster image when a PDF has no vector content; pages are not listed separately | None; physical units unknown | None; no CAD entity selection or measurement; scripts and external resources in SVG are rejected |
| CGM | CGM | Binary CGM vectors, text and embedded cell-array images; first picture only | None; physical units unknown | None; clear-text CGM is not read |
| EMF / WMF | EMF, WMF | Windows metafile rendered as a vector page | None; physical units unknown | None; fonts and fills may differ slightly from the source application |
| HPGL plot | PLT, HPGL, HPG, HGL | Pen lines, arcs, polygons and labels; PJL printer wrappers are skipped | None; physical units unknown | None; simplified preview, some plotter marks omitted |
| Images | PNG, JPG/JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF/TIF, WEBP, TGA, PCX, ICO | Upright raster preview; first frame or page only | None; pixels have no physical scale | None; shown at most 4,096 px on the long edge, up to 120 megapixels |
| G-code | GCODE, GCO, NC, NGC, TAP | 3D printing and CNC toolpaths drawn as lines in the browser, with layers, line types, extents and path lengths | Programmed coordinates; G20 inches converted, G21 millimetres, otherwise millimetres assumed; no area, volume or mass | None; not a machining simulation; macro variables, expressions and subprograms skipped with a warning; binary .bgcode unsupported |
Mesh results do not recover exact CAD surfaces. Whole-model physical properties are unavailable for incomplete scenes; volume and calculated mass require closed, consistent geometry. These mesh inputs use the workspace, without separate PLY, VRML, X3D, UNV, VDA-FS, IFC, U3D, PRC or AMF tool pages. CGM, EMF, WMF, HPGL and image files also open there as 2D previews simplified for fast viewing, with pan and zoom but no physical measurement, model properties or conversion.
STEP aliases .ste and .p21 use the STEP reader; .stpz is gzip-compressed STEP. Parasolid .xmt_txt and .xmt_bin use the text X_T and binary X_B readers respectively; .ige is an IGES alias. These extensions do not introduce new geometry capabilities.
Assembly packages
ZIP, RAR, 7Z or TAR.GZ (TGZ) packages can carry the intended assembly root and local references with relative folders preserved. 7Z and TAR.GZ packages are repacked as ZIP on upload and then follow the ZIP rules. RAR4, RAR5 and the other packages use the normal archive limits of 50 entries and 200 MiB expanded data. Encrypted or multi-volume archives are unsupported; extract the files locally and create one unencrypted package. Unsafe paths and links are rejected. A single gzip-compressed file such as part.step.gz opens as the file it contains, which must be a supported format within the upload size limit. Packaging files does not enable otherwise unsupported model geometry.
Native assemblies such as SLDASM and IAM can depend on external component files. Upload the assembly, or package the intended root and its local dependencies in a ZIP while preserving relative paths. CATProduct assemblies show only their saved thumbnail; export STEP from CATIA or upload the CATPart files.
If components are missing, CADProps keeps the result visibly incomplete. Dimensions, area, volume and density-based mass then describe loaded geometry only.
Conversion directions
Exact STEP keeps surfaces and edges for CAD and CAM. Mesh STEP stores the display triangles in a STEP file and suits review and overall size, not machining features. The Convert dialog offers exact STEP only when the uploaded file qualifies.
- SolidWorks SLDPRT, Inventor IPT, CATIA CATPart, Parasolid X_T/X_B, ACIS SAT/SAB → exact STEP when the B-Rep is read completely; otherwise mesh STEP
- SolidWorks SLDASM, Inventor IAM, Siemens NX PRT, JT, Rhino 3DM → mesh STEP; Solid Edge PAR/PSM → exact STEP when the embedded B-Rep qualifies, otherwise mesh STEP
- All of the above → STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF and GLB from the preview
- STEP / STP → IGS, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF and GLB
- IGES / IGS → STEP, STL, OBJ, 3MF, glTF and GLB
- STL → OBJ, 3MF, glTF, GLB and mesh STEP; OBJ → STL, 3MF, glTF, GLB and mesh STEP
- DWG / DXF → PDF, SVG or DXF of the displayed layout from the drawing viewer; this is a drawing export, not a 3D conversion, and DWG output is not available
3MF and glTF outputs are triangle meshes in millimetres without exact surfaces. A conversion-success state does not establish manufacturing acceptance. Reopen important outputs in the receiving workflow and verify units, scope and critical geometry.
Download known-good CAD samples
Use the CAD sample file library when you need a known input to test a viewer, unit conversion, solid-volume calculation or mesh workflow.
The library includes STEP solids, an assembly, an inch-unit STEP case, an open surface and small IGES/STL/OBJ/3MF/GLB models.
Formats not supported
CATIA CGR/CATShape and CATIA V4 MODEL/SESSION are not supported. Creo PRT/ASM recognition and saved thumbnails are available, but native Creo 3D geometry, measurement and STEP export remain unavailable. DWF/DWFx published pages are read-only vectors or saved thumbnails; W3D sections are thumbnail-only and SVG export contains the displayed page. CATIA CATProduct shows only its saved thumbnail; Solid Edge ASM files without a supported saved scene do too. DWG and DXF have a dedicated bounded 2D drawing workflow. Prusa binary G-code (.bgcode) and resin slices are not read; export plain G-code instead. Clear-text CGM is not read; save it as binary CGM or export PDF or SVG. See DWG and DXF, Rhino 3DM, Solid Edge and Creo.
If the source application can export a self-contained STEP file, that is often the most practical fallback for geometry exchange.
Resource limits and privacy
The workspace shows current upload, processing and retention limits. Guest files are processed temporarily on the server and remain scoped to the browser session. Signed-in files are saved in the account library. See security and privacy for file handling details and the specifications for size and assembly limits.
Preview versus solid conversion
Native files are read in-house. Most are first shown from the display triangles saved in the file, and the result states whether its geometry is an exact B-Rep or an approximate mesh. Approximate mesh properties are not evidence of an exact B-Rep or of an exact STEP export. Conversion requires sign-in and usable geometry; runtime failure and missing-component warnings remain authoritative.
Original article: CADProps · https://www.cadprops.com/supported-formats/