Documentation
Importing files
Click Import in the toolbar to bring in STEP files, .sldprt parts and .sldasm assemblies, and Parasolid files as solid components you can keep modeling on. Drawings go into sketches with Insert DXF and Insert SVG, meshes come in as reference bodies with Insert mesh, and pictures with Insert canvas.
Which files can I bring in?
| File | Command | Becomes |
|---|---|---|
| STEP (.step, .stp) | Import | A component holding the solids; an assembly keeps its tree: a component for every subassembly and part instance, each in its place |
| Part file (.sldprt) | Import | A component, with the part’s material and density |
| Assembly file (.sldasm) | Import, with its part files | A component for every part instance, each in its place |
| Parasolid binary (.x_b) | Import | A component holding the solids |
| ProtoJoint design (.protojoint.json) | Insert part | A component with all its features, components and joints |
| DXF (ASCII) | Insert DXF | Sketch geometry |
| SVG | Insert SVG | Sketch geometry |
| STL, OBJ, 3MF | Insert mesh | A reference mesh body |
| PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, BMP | Insert canvas | A picture on a plane, to trace |
You can select several files at once in the Import dialog; each becomes its own component.
How do I bring in an assembly from another CAD program?
Export it as STEP and click Import. The assembly keeps its tree: every subassembly becomes a component, with a component inside it for every part instance, named as in the file (such as Servo v2:3) and placed where it stands. A part used several times is read once and shared by its instances. Add joints where parts should move, and a part without a joint of its own moves with the component it sits in.
A large assembly takes a while to come in. The status above the view says what is happening - reading the file, converting the parts (several at a time on a computer with several cores), building the tree - with a bar, the share done and the time so far. A 14 MB assembly of 24 parts takes about 40 seconds on a four-core computer. A document with an imported assembly reads it again the same way when it is opened.
How do I open a .sldasm assembly?
Click Import and select the .sldasm file together with every part file it uses. Each part instance becomes a component in its place, named after the part and its instance, such as Leg Support<2>/Lower Pipe<1>. Subassemblies are expanded and suppressed instances are left out. If a part file is missing from your selection, ProtoJoint lists it. Files saved by 2015 and later versions can be read, and the program that wrote them need not be installed or licensed.
What comes across?
The solid geometry comes across exactly: planes, cylinders, cones, spheres and tori stay what they are, and freeform surfaces and fillets come in exactly. A .sldprt part also brings its material and density, and mass properties overridden in the part are used in place of the computed ones: its mass, and its centre of mass when that was overridden too.
An imported part is one step on the timeline: add sketches and features on top of it, and change it with the tools that work on any solid. An assembly keeps every part where it stands; add joints where parts should move.
Can I change an imported part?
Yes. It is a solid like any other: cut it, add features to it, fillet its edges, or start a sketch on one of its faces. Press Pull, Offset Face and Delete Face change its faces directly, which is often the quickest way to resize a hole or remove a fillet on a part that has no history.
How do I bring in a DXF drawing?
In a sketch, choose Insert DXF from the Insert menu; outside a sketch you pick a plane first. Lines, circles, arcs, points, polylines with their arc segments, splines, ellipses, text and blocks are read. The units come from the file and can be changed; you can offset the drawing, choose which layers to read, and make one sketch or one per layer. End points that touch are joined with coincident constraints. Only ASCII DXF is read: save a binary DXF as ASCII first.
How do I bring in an SVG?
Choose Insert SVG from the same menu. Paths (with their straight lines, Bézier curves and arcs), rectangles with rounded corners, circles, ellipses, lines, polylines and polygons are read, with every transform applied. Units come from the drawing’s size and viewBox, in millimetres. The drawing is centred on the sketch origin, and you can scale, rotate, flip and offset it before you place it.
What happens to an STL, OBJ or 3MF file?
Insert mesh places it as a reference mesh body: you can see it, measure against it and model around it, as the mesh it is. Set its units and position, and turn a Y-up file to Z-up, when you insert it; meshes have their own folder in the browser.
How do I trace over a picture?
Insert canvas puts an image on a plane or a flat face. Move, rotate, scale and flip it, set its opacity, and calibrate it by clicking two points and typing the real distance between them. Then sketch over it.