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3DAI

PLY Viewer

To open a PLY file online, drop it here. This free viewer reads ASCII and binary PLY meshes, point clouds and Gaussian splats in your browser, shows vertex colours, and lists vertices, faces, normals and the size in file units. Orbit and zoom, change the point size, then save a PNG or convert it.

Free · no signup · your files stay in your browser

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How to view a PLY file

  1. 1

    Drop the PLY

    Pick a .ply from a 3D scanner, photogrammetry app, MeshLab, CloudCompare, Blender or a splat trainer. It is read in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

  2. 2

    Look around

    Drag to orbit and scroll to zoom. Point clouds get a point-size slider; meshes get a wireframe view. Turn vertex colours on or off.

  3. 3

    Check and share

    Read the vertex and face counts, colours, normals and bounding box. Save a PNG screenshot, or convert the file to GLB, OBJ or STL.

More free 3D file tools

AI 3D Texturing Studio

Describe a look and AI paints a full colour texture onto your mesh.

PLY to GLB

Convert a PLY with its vertex colours to GLB for the web, AR and game engines.

PLY to OBJ

Turn a PLY mesh or point cloud into an OBJ file.

PLY to STL

Make a printable STL from a PLY mesh.

Frequently Asked Questions

PLY (Polygon File Format, also called the Stanford Triangle Format) stores 3D points and, optionally, faces that join them into a surface. Each vertex can carry extra values such as a colour, a normal or a texture coordinate. It comes as readable ASCII text or as compact binary, and 3D scanners and photogrammetry tools use it a lot.
Yes. A PLY with no faces is drawn as a point cloud, with its colours, and a slider sets the point size. A Gaussian splat PLY (from 3D Gaussian Splatting) is recognised by its f_dc and scale properties and drawn as one coloured point per splat, using its base colour. Splat shapes and transparency are not rendered, so it looks rougher than in a dedicated splat viewer.
A PLY only has colour if its vertices store red, green and blue values. Many scans keep colour in a separate image instead, and PLY cannot hold that image, so the viewer shows the shape in grey. If the file has vertex colours, the Show vertex colours box turns them on and off.
PLY files do not store a unit, so the bounding box is shown in the file's own numbers. Scanners and photogrammetry apps usually write metres, CAD and 3D printing tools usually millimetres, and splat scenes use an arbitrary scale. If the model lies on its side, tick Z is up.
No. The PLY is read and drawn by your own browser, so it works for private scans and needs no account. Files up to 500 MB open, though very large splat scenes are smoother on a desktop. If you choose Texture this model with AI, a mesh is handed to our AI 3D Texturing Studio in the same browser.