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Convert PLY to STL for 3D Printing

PLY is the usual output of 3D scanners, photogrammetry apps and tools like MeshLab and CloudCompare. Slicers need STL. If your PLY is a triangle mesh, this page turns it into a printable STL on your own device, with no upload and no size-based paywall.

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How to use it

  1. 1

    Add your .ply

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

  2. 2

    Check it is a mesh

    The preview shows the surface and whether it is closed. A point cloud without faces is detected and explained.

  3. 3

    Set size and axis

    Scanners often save in metres: pick metres to mm if the model looks tiny. Stand it upright for the slicer.

  4. 4

    Download the STL

    Binary STL by default. Open it in your slicer or a mesh editor for clean-up.

What to know before you convert

  • STL needs triangles. A PLY that is only a point cloud (vertices with no faces) cannot be converted directly; it first needs surface reconstruction in a tool such as MeshLab or CloudCompare.
  • Vertex colours and textures in the PLY are dropped, because STL has no place for them.
  • Polygons with more than three corners are split into triangles. The surface itself is not changed, smoothed or decimated.
  • Scans are rarely watertight. The info panel shows open edges; fill holes in your slicer or a mesh editor before printing.
  • Scan units vary between apps. Check the size readout and use the scale option so the model prints at the size you expect.

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

Many scanners and photogrammetry apps can save just the measured points. Those have no surface to print. Run a surface reconstruction step (for example Screened Poisson in MeshLab), export the result as a PLY or STL mesh, then convert.
STL stores only geometry, so the vertex colours of a coloured scan are dropped. If you need them, keep the PLY or convert to a format with colour, such as OBJ or GLB, in a mesh editor.
PLY has no unit field. Many scanner apps write metres, while slicers read STL numbers as millimetres, so a 20 cm object becomes 0.2 mm. Choose metres to mm (x1000), or the scale that matches your app.
Often not without a little clean-up. Raw scans tend to have holes, loose fragments and a cut-off base. Check the watertight readout, then fill holes and flatten the bottom in your slicer or a tool like Meshmixer or Blender.
No. Both are read, including big- and little-endian binary files. The STL you download is binary by default, which keeps the file size down.
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.