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Upload CAD

Upload CAD files to Luminary to generate meshes.

Updated this week

To upload a CAD file:

  1. Click New Project.

  2. Use the dialog box to upload a file. You can upload multiple CAD files using control + select.

  3. (Optional) Adjust the Model Scaling factor. For example, a value of 1.0 will not change the scaling while a value of 2.0 will double the size of the mesh, and a value of 0.5 will halve its size.

These files can also be uploaded while still compressed as GZ, TAR GZ, and ZIP files.

Upon successful upload, you'll be taken to the Geometry tab where you can modify your geometry as needed. Surface and volume tags from the CAD file will appear within the Geometry panel. They will retain the same names as they had in the CAD file. Names can be changed by right clicking on the existing name.

Important:

  • CAD geometries should be clean and watertight in order to guarantee that we can import them. Review our CAD Model Best Practices.

  • CAD files created in non-commercially available versions of CAD applications (alpha, beta, or educational versions) may fail upon upload.

Note:

You can mix discrete/STL formats with continuous formats in the same project without any additional steps.

CAD File Formats

We currently support uploading the following CAD/geometry formats:

  • Continuous:

    • ACIS versions R1 to 2025 1.0 (.sat, .sab, .asat, .asab)

    • AutoCAD versions 2.5-2025 (.dwg, .dxf)

    • CATIA 4 versions 4.1.9-4.2.4 (.model)

    • CATIA versions V5R8 to V5–6R2024 (.CATPart)

    • Creo Elements/Pro versions 16 (Pro/E) to Creo R12.4 (.prt)*

    • Dassault XCGM versions R2012-2025 1.0 (.xcgm)

    • ESP/OpenCSM (.csm)

    • IGES/ICAM up to version 5.3 (.iges, .igs)

    • Inventor versions 6 to 2026 (.ipt)

    • NX versions 11 to 2506 (.prt)

    • Parasolid® software versions 9.0.x to 38.0.x (.x_t, .x_b, .xmt_txt, .xmt_bin)*

    • Rhino 3D versions 2-8 (.3dm)

    • Solid Edge V18-SE2025 (.par, .psm)

    • SOLIDWORKS 98 to 2025 (.sldprt)

    • STEP versions AP203, AP214, and AP242 (.step, .stp)

  • Discrete

    • Alembic (.abc)

    • Blender versions up to 4.5.1 (.blend)

    • COLLADA (.dae)

    • Filmbox (.fbx)

    • glTF 2.3 (.glb, .gltf)

    • Stanford PLY ASCII and binary (.ply)

    • STL ASCII and binary (.stl)

    • Universal Scene Description (.usa, .usda, .usdc, .usdz)

    • Wavefront OBJ (.obj)

* includes non-commercial formats

If you would like to use a format that is not listed here, please submit a request to our support team.

A list of relevant Siemens trademarks can be found here. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

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