software for editing STLs

[2ms1]

I wasn't quite sure what forum to ask this, but feel mcadcentral is generally the best place to ask...


Can anyone recommend a good simple STL editing software for basic things like rescaling? I don't need a lot of features, I mostly just want something that is free, easy to use, and that I can trust the accuracy of.

 

[Atropos89]

You could always go for Creo Direct. They have a free edition that doesn't seem to be commercial-restricted. The only licensing terms you have to agree to just talk about being a foreign national and U.S.import/export laws.

 

[2ms1]

Well I didn't even know Crea Direct existed and I've installed it and will have to look at it more.


But I suspect it's overkill for what I want to do. I guess in the very immediate I just want to be able to rescale STL parts accurately. When I type "rescale" into Creo Direct's help center, I get no results.


Do you know how to do this easily in Creo Direct?


I thought there might be some common freeware application that maybe rapid prototyping and other guys in fabrication etc might use on regular basis for this kind of thing. For example, when someone has sent them an STL in the wrong units and they just need to convert/rescale or something...

 

[srieger]

Usually rapid prototyping and fabrication software costs 2-3 time more than Pro.


You could download Rhino as a demo. You get something like 20 saves.

 

[acad]

You could try Meshlab. Is open source.

http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/

 

[2ms1]

I installed Meshlab but I was just wondering: Is there anything where I can just directly open an STL file and rescale it

I want something really simple and fast that doesn't require creating new "projects" or other files, importing things, etc.

 

[telecomguy]

http://www.netfabb.com/download.php


Just did the free download and tested. Pretty simple. If you don't register, you have to wait for the "Later" button to appear. Save the scaled STL under Part/Export Part.

 

[acad]

It's not so complicate:
Open Meshlab,
File>Import mesh
Select the stl file
OK
Filters > Normals, Curvature and Orientation >Tranform: Scale

Input the desired scale value
Apply

File> Export Mesh As ..