Import and export¶

Import STEP¶

Quality & Export > Import > STEP. Accepts .stp and .step.

The import dialog has one option, Scale, a uniform multiplier applied as the geometry comes in. The dialog itself notes the common cases: 0.001 converts millimetres to metres, 1.0 imports at native scale.

Each solid in the file becomes its own Feature Tree entry named STEP Part …. The first one imported into an empty part gets Base; the rest get Add (Fuse). Imported parts are ordinary tree entries — you can move them, change their Operation, and cut them with booleans like anything else.

The scale you chose is stored with the entry, so re-importing or reloading keeps it consistent.

Import SVG¶

Quality & Export > Import > SVG. Accepts .svg, and also takes a Scale multiplier.

This brings in 2D profiles, which can then be swept, lofted or revolved into solids.

SVG import depends on the bundled svgpathtools and svgwrite libraries. The packaging script checks that they are actually importable before building a release, because they were once silently lost during a directory copy and SVG import stayed broken across several versions without anyone noticing.

Export STEP¶

Quality & Export > Export > STEP. Writes .stp.

The output is a genuine B-Rep STEP file in AP214 IS. Exact surfaces are written, not a triangulated approximation, so the display quality settings have no effect on it.

Scale¶

One Blender unit is written as 1 mm by default. A 10-unit box opens as a 10 mm box in FreeCAD, Fusion or SolidWorks.

Set Scale (1 unit = N mm) in the export dialog if you work at another scale — 1000 if a unit is a metre, 10 if it is a centimetre. It is the same quantity as Import's Scale, so a file brought in at 10 goes back out unchanged at 10. Leaving it at 1.0 matches every earlier version.

Part names and assemblies¶

The Part's collection name is written as the product name. Open the file in FreeCAD, Fusion or SolidWorks and the part arrives called what you called it, rather than as an unnamed body.

Tick All Parts as Assembly to write every CAD Part in the scene into one file, related as a proper assembly:

Assembly
  ├─ Bracket
  └─ Housing

Set Assembly Name for the top-level name. Parts with no geometry yet are skipped rather than written as empty entries. Leave the option off — the default — and you export just the Part you are working on.

What is not in the file¶

No colours. The addon has no notion of colour to export: there is no colour to set on a Part or a face anywhere in the interface, so there is nothing to write into the file. Geometry, names and structure are all present.

"It opens in FreeCAD" is a weak test and worth distrusting. FreeCAD will open files that other CAD systems reject. If a specific target application matters to you, test against that application.

Export STL¶

Quality & Export > Export > STL. Writes .stl, binary by default.

This goes straight from the kernel to the file. You do not need to Bake first, and the result is better if you do not: the tessellation uses the quality settings in this panel, so turning on Use High Quality Bake produces a finer STL than the route through a Blender mesh.

Scale (1 unit = N mm) means the same thing as it does for STEP. ASCII writes a text STL instead — far larger, and only worth it if you want to read the file yourself.

If the part is empty, or tessellation produces nothing, no file is written and you get an error. An STL that opens and turns out to be empty is a worse outcome than a refusal.

Export IGES¶

Quality & Export > Export > IGES. Writes .igs.

Geometry only — no names, no assembly structure. IGES readers vary too much in how they handle names for it to be dependable. Prefer STEP. IGES is here for recipients whose software cannot read anything else.

Scale works as above. Turn off Solid (BRep) to write a collection of trimmed surfaces instead of solids; some older readers cope with that better.

Bake to Mesh¶

Quality & Export > Bake to Mesh. This is the other way out, and it stays inside Blender.

The CAD result is converted into an ordinary Blender mesh object named SeamlessBake, placed in a Result collection under Seamless_CAD. It is selected and made active when it is created.

Use it for rendering, sculpting, exporting through Blender's own exporters, or anything else that needs real Blender geometry.

Enable Use High Quality Bake first if the result is destined for a render. With it on, the kernel re-tessellates at the bake settings before the mesh is generated. See Quality and performance.

The bake is a snapshot. It does not stay linked to the Feature Tree. Change the model afterwards and you must bake again — the existing SeamlessBake object will not update.

Choosing between them¶

You want to	Use
Render, sculpt, or use Blender tools	Bake to Mesh
Open the part in other CAD software	Export STEP
Send exact geometry for manufacturing	Export STEP
Send several parts as one assembly	Export STEP, All Parts as Assembly
3D print, or send to a slicer	Export STL
The recipient can only read IGES	Export IGES
Export via Blender's glTF/FBX/OBJ exporters	Bake to Mesh first

Reach for Export STL rather than Bake to Mesh when the destination is a printer. Both produce triangles, but the direct export skips the round trip through Blender's mesh and keeps the kernel's tessellation.