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3DAI
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Convert PLY to OBJ

PLY files from scanners and photogrammetry often store a colour for every vertex. Most converters drop those colours, because the original OBJ format has no field for them. A widely used extension writes the colour after each vertex, and MeshLab, CloudCompare and Blender read it. This page writes that OBJ on your device.

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How to use it

  1. 1

    Add the .ply

    Drop it onto the box or click to choose it. ASCII and binary PLY both work, up to 100 MB.

  2. 2

    Check the preview

    The info panel shows the triangle or point count, the size and whether the file has vertex colours.

  3. 3

    Set scale and axis

    Keep the numbers, or rescale. Rotate Z up to Y up if the scan lies on its back in Blender.

  4. 4

    Download the OBJ

    Vertices keep their order, so the OBJ lines up one to one with the PLY.

What to know before you convert

  • Vertex colours are written as extra numbers on each "v" line. Apps that do not support this extension simply ignore them and load the shape in grey.
  • Texture images referenced by a PLY are not read, and no .mtl file is written.
  • Point clouds are written as vertex lines only. They have no faces, so some apps import them as loose points or show nothing.
  • Gaussian splat PLYs are written as points with each splat's base colour; splat shapes and transparency are dropped.
  • Faces with more than four corners are skipped. Normals are kept if the PLY has them.

Don't have a model?

Create one with AI from a photo, a sentence or a sketch. The generators use credits; this converter is free and stays in your browser.

Image to 3D →Turn one photo into a textured 3D model.Text to 3D →Describe an object and get a GLB.Sketch to STL →Draw it, get a printable model.

Frequently Asked Questions

The original OBJ format does not, but writing r g b after the x y z of each vertex is a common extension. MeshLab, CloudCompare and Blender (3.x and later importer) read it as vertex colours. Other programs ignore the extra numbers.
Import the OBJ, then in the material or viewport shading choose the Color Attribute as the colour source. The colours come in as a vertex colour attribute.
Yes. Each point becomes a vertex line, with its colour if the PLY has one. To get a surface, mesh the points in MeshLab or CloudCompare first and convert that PLY.
No. Every vertex and triangle is kept in the same order. Quads are split into two triangles.
No. Turning vertex colours into a texture image needs UV unwrapping and baking, for example in Blender or MeshLab. For web and AR, our PLY to GLB converter keeps the vertex colours directly.
No. The page reads the file and converts it inside your browser with the open-source three.js library. Nothing is sent to our servers, there is no account, and no credits are used. Closing the tab discards everything.