Free converter

Convert PLY to STL and print your scan.

Drop a .ply below and download a binary STL your slicer accepts. The classic scan-to-print step — photogrammetry and scanner output in, printable file out — done locally in your browser with nothing uploaded.

Drop your PLY file here
or click to browse — converted in your browser, never uploaded
.ply

Converted locally · never uploaded · no signup

Why this tool

Free, private, in the browser.

Scan-to-print in one step

PLY is what scanners and photogrammetry tools export; STL is what Cura, PrusaSlicer and Bambu Studio expect. This bridges them.

Private by architecture

Scans of people, products and prototypes are sensitive. The conversion runs in browser memory — nothing is uploaded.

Compact binary STL

The output is binary STL — a fraction of the size of ASCII and accepted by every modern slicer.

How it works

Three steps, no setup.

01
Drop your PLY

Drag the .ply into the tool — the mesh renders as a live preview.

02
Convert to STL

The scan's triangles are re-encoded as binary STL, locally.

03
Slice and print

Open the downloaded .stl in your slicer and print the scan.

From 3D scan to 3D print

Most scan pipelines end in a PLY: photogrammetry apps, structured-light scanners and depth-camera tools all prefer it because it stores per-vertex color and scan metadata. Printers need none of that — slicers want plain watertight triangles, which is exactly what STL is. Converting PLY to STL extracts the mesh and drops the scan-specific extras printing can't use.

Make sure the scan is printable

The converter preserves the mesh as-is. Raw scans are rarely watertight — they have holes where the scanner couldn't see, and sometimes stray floating patches. If your slicer complains, close holes and clean the mesh first (MeshLab and CloudCompare are free and made for this), then convert. And note the PLY must contain a mesh, not a points-only cloud — reconstruct a surface first if needed.

Questions

Answered, plainly.

Is the PLY to STL converter free?+

Yes, completely — no signup, no limits, no watermark.

Does my scan get uploaded?+

No. The conversion runs client-side in your browser. Scans of faces, products or prototypes never leave your machine.

What happens to the vertex colors?+

STL can't store color — every STL is plain geometry by definition. The shape converts exactly; the color data is dropped because standard printing ignores it. Keep the PLY if you need the colored version.

My PLY is a point cloud. Will it convert?+

No — STL needs triangles. Run a surface reconstruction (for example Poisson reconstruction in MeshLab) to turn the points into a mesh, then convert the result here.

Is there a file size limit?+

Only your device's memory. Dense scans with millions of triangles work fine on a modern laptop since there's no upload to time out.

More free tools
PLY ViewerSTL to PLY ConverterOBJ to STL ConverterAll free tools →
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