Question

Explain how an STL file can be brought into SolidWorks and processed. This would be as taken from a 3D scanner.

Answer 1

You have to follow these steps to import STL file into solidworks,

1) Start SOLIDWORKS and click Open (Open a document),

2) Change the file type to STL (*.stl),

3) Notice that a new Options button is available now. Click on it, (Import options button)

4) Change import body to Solid Body or Surface Body and press OK, (Import body options)

5) Browse to the STL file you want to import and click Open,

6) If you look at the Feature Manager Design Tree you can now see that the part is imported as a solid body,

7) Now you can use the Feature Works > Recognize Features tool to convert the imported body into SOLIDWORKS features.