Free PLY to STL converter
Convert PLY scans to STL.
3D scanners and photogrammetry apps often export PLY. Drop a PLY mesh and get a binary STL your slicer or CAD tool can use.
Why convert PLY to STL?
PLY is popular for scan data because it can carry colour per vertex, but printing and most CAD tools expect STL.
How to convert PLY to STL
- Choose your PLY file above, or drag it onto the box.
- Check that STL is selected. You can switch to any other output.
- Select Convert. The file downloads straight away. Nothing is uploaded.
Good to know
- PLY files with only points (point clouds) have no surface to convert to STL. Save them as PLY or XYZ instead.
- Vertex colours are not carried into STL.
What converts, and what doesn't
- Every output is a triangle mesh. STEP and IFC solids are tessellated for display, so the result is not an editable solid or B-rep.
- When the source names its parts (STEP and IFC assemblies, for example), they become named groups in OBJ. STL, PLY and GLB hold a single combined mesh.
- Colours and materials are not carried over.
- Coordinates keep the source units, except GLB, which is scaled to metres when the source declares its units.
Frequently asked questions
Can I convert a point cloud to STL?
Not directly. A point cloud has to be meshed (surface reconstruction) first, for example in MeshLab or CloudCompare. Caddis converts point clouds to binary PLY or plain XYZ.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The file is read and converted by the Caddis engine running inside your browser tab. It is never sent to a server, so confidential drawings stay on your device.
Is it really free?
Yes. There's no account, watermark, page limit or daily quota. The converter runs on your own computer, so it costs us nothing per file.
Need to measure or mark up the drawing too?
The same engine powers the free Caddis viewer on the web and on iPhone. Open DWG, DXF, STEP and STL files, measure, and add markup, all on your device.
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