To upload a CAD file:
Click New Project.
Use the dialog box to upload a file. You can upload multiple CAD files using control + select.
(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. When possible it is recommended to use a solid modeling platform, rather than a boundary representation platform (such as STL, OBJ, or IGES), to generate CAD files, and ensure those are exported in a solid model format. While solid models give exact information about the volumes within a model, boundary models do not, and require volumes to be reconstructed from surfaces.
We recommend exporting files in the native format of the CAD platform in which the geometry is created.
Please see our CAD best practices article for more information.
Native (recommended):
NX versions 11 to 2506 (.prt)
SOLIDWORKS 98 to 2026 (.sldprt)
Creo Elements/Pro versions 16 (Pro/E) to Creo R12.4 (.prt)*
CATIA 4 versions 4.1.9-4.2.4 (.model)
CATIA versions V5R8 to V5–6R2024 (.CATPart)
Autodesk Inventor versions 6 to 2026 (.ipt)
Solid Edge V18-SE2025 (.par, .psm)
Rhino 3D versions 2-8 (.3dm)
While we support the non-native file formats listed below, we strongly recommend using native CAD file formats for robustness and reliability.
Other Continuous:
ACIS versions R1 to 2026 1.0 (.sat, .sab, .asat, .asab)
Dassault XCGM versions R2012-2025 1.0 (.xcgm)
ESP/OpenCSM (.csm)
IGES/ICAM up to version 5.3 (.iges, .igs)
AutoCAD versions 2.5-2026 (.dwg, .dxf)
Parasolid® software versions 9.0.x to 38.0.x (.x_t, .x_b, .xmt_txt, .xmt_bin)*
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
Users of 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA should export their geometry as a CATIA V5 (.CATPart) file for maximum robustness.
If you would like to use a format that is not listed here, please submit a request to our support team.
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