Convert PLY to STL

Runs on your device · Your file never leaves your device.

PLY is what 3D scanners produce — photogrammetry, structured-light scanners, LiDAR apps on a phone. It stores colour per point, which is lovely to look at and useless to a slicer. This converts the scan into an STL you can print.

A scan is usually dense, so expect a large file and give the tab a moment. The per-point colours do not come into the STL; the surface does, at the scale the scanner recorded it. If you want to keep the colour as well, convert to GLB instead and keep both files.

The conversion runs on your own machine, which for a 3D file is the whole point: a model is usually a client’s product, a scanned property or something not yet announced. Nothing is sent to a server, so there is nothing to delete afterwards and nothing to take anyone’s word for.

How to convert PLY to STL

  1. Drop the PLY file — and its companion files if it has any.
  2. Check that STL is selected.
  3. Press Convert.
  4. Download the STL file.

Supported formats and limits

Input
PLY
Output
STL
Companion files
MTL and texture images are used when you add them
Keeps animation
No — the format cannot store it
Where it runs
In your browser; the model is never uploaded

Not for: Cleaning up a scan — stray points, holes and noise come through exactly as the scanner left them.

Frequently asked questions

Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. This conversion runs entirely inside your browser using your own device’s processing power. The file never leaves your computer or phone, which is why it also works when your connection drops.
My scan is enormous. Will it work?
Tens of megabytes are fine on a laptop. If a scan is too dense for the browser to hold, you are told that plainly rather than left waiting — decimate it in your scanning software first, or convert it in pieces.
Where did the scan colours go?
STL cannot store colour. PLY keeps it per point; STL keeps triangles only. Convert to GLB if you want to keep the colour.

More in 3D models

Related tools

This page in other languages: العربية · Deutsch · Français · Español · Русский · Português · 中文 · हिन्दी · Türkçe · עברית · فارسی · اردو · Bahasa Indonesia · বাংলা