The viewer opens several STL files at once, shows the parts in the position they were exported in, mirrors parts to the opposite side of the cockpit, and stores sets of parts that you can reopen later. Everything runs inside the browser: no file is ever uploaded.
The interface is available in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French. Switch with the PT, EN, ES and FR buttons at the top of the viewer; this manual follows your choice.
Getting started
Use Chrome or Edge on a PC, on an https:// address. They are the ones that can read and write directly in your folders. Firefox and phone browsers open and display the parts normally, but everything they save goes to the Downloads folder.
The first time round, do these three things, in this order:
- Click Sets folder and choose where your sets should be kept.
- Click Add part folder and point to a folder that holds your STLs. Repeat for every folder you use.
- When the browser asks, choose Allow on every visit, so it stops asking each session.
These registrations live in the browser and belong to the site address. If you open the viewer from another address, or from another computer, register the folders again. Nothing is moved or copied in the process.
Opening parts
Two ways: the Open STL files button, which takes several files at once, or dragging the files onto the dark area of the viewer.
Parts exported together from the same project appear already positioned relative to each other, because the viewer respects the coordinates stored in the file. Each part gets its own colour and joins the list in the sidebar.
Binary and text STL files both work. If a file is corrupt or empty, a notice appears in the corner and the other parts keep loading.
Rotate, pan and zoom
| Action | On a PC | On a phone |
|---|---|---|
| Rotate | Drag with the left button | Drag with one finger |
| Pan | Right button, or Shift + drag | Drag with two fingers |
| Zoom | Mouse wheel | Pinch |
| Select | Click on the part | Tap the part |
Zoom moves towards the pointer rather than the centre of the screen, which helps when you are going into a specific detail. If it feels too fast or too slow for your mouse, adjust the Zoom control in the top bar; your setting is remembered.
The Fit view button brings the camera back to a position that shows everything visible. Use it whenever you get lost.
View modes
Assembly
Keeps the original coordinates from the files. This is the mode for checking fits, clearances and alignment between parts.
Centre each
Puts every part on the origin, resting on the grid plane. Good for examining one part closely without the others in the way.
Side by side
Lines the parts up with a gap between them, to compare sizes and see them all at once.
Besides the modes, the top bar has Wireframe, which shows the triangle mesh, and Grid, which turns the floor grid on and off. The grid scales itself to the parts, and the footer tells you how many files and how many triangles are in the scene.
The part list
Each part in the sidebar has the checkbox that shows or hides it, the colour it is drawn in, the file name, the dimensions in millimetres, and the × that removes it from the scene.
Clicking a part, in the list or on screen, highlights it in blue in both places, and the footer shows its name. That is the quick way to find out which file a part on screen belongs to.
The dimensions are the bounding box, in X, Y and Z. Handy for checking whether a part fits your printer bed before you slice it.
Mirroring and saving
Each part's Mirror button creates the version for the opposite side of the cockpit. A mirrored part shows its name in amber in the list, and the same button undoes it.
Mirroring happens on the X=0 plane of the file's coordinates, and the vertex order is flipped along with it, so the normals keep pointing outwards. The file comes out ready for the slicer.
With a part mirrored, Save mirrored writes the new file into the same folder as the original, with (espelhado) at the end of the name. That suffix stays the same whatever the interface language, so you never end up with two different names for the same part. If the original's folder is registered, it writes straight away with no dialog, and asks before replacing an existing file.
Save all mirrored, at the top of the sidebar, does this in one go for every mirrored part in the scene.
The folders
A browser never reveals a file's full path, something like C:\Dropbox\Cockpit\.... It only grants access to folders you authorise, one at a time. That is why the viewer works with two kinds of folder.
Sets folder
Where set files are written, and where they are looked for when you open one. Only one.
Part folders
The folders where your STLs actually live. As many as you like, in different places on the disk, and their subfolders count too, down to four levels. STLs are never copied anywhere: a set only records which registered folder each part sits in and its path inside that folder.
The × next to a name only takes the folder off the viewer's list. Nothing is deleted from the disk.
If you open a part that is outside the registered folders, an amber notice appears in the sidebar with an Add the folder of [part name] button. The picker opens right inside that part's folder, so you only confirm. Without that registration the part displays fine, but a set will not be able to reopen it later.
Sets
A set is a snapshot of what is assembled on screen. It does not contain the parts, only references to them, which is why the file is a few kilobytes. What it records:
- which parts are open, and which folder each one is in;
- which are mirrored and which are hidden;
- the view mode, the wireframe and the grid;
- the camera angle and distance.
Saving
Click Save set, check or change the suggested name, and confirm. The file is written to the sets folder as Name.conjunto.json. If a set with that name already exists, it asks before replacing, which is how you update a set after changing it.
If any part is outside the registered folders, the dialog tells you how many before you save.
Opening
Click Open set. The sets in the folder are listed, most recent first, each with its date. Pick one and the viewer rebuilds everything as it was.
If parts are open on screen, it asks before closing them. If a part cannot be found, it loads the others and names the missing ones, almost always because their folder is not registered yet.
Since the STLs and the sets live on your disk rather than on the server, changing hosting, clearing the browser or reinstalling Windows loses nothing. At worst you register the folders again, which takes seconds.
On a phone
On a phone the viewer opens and displays parts, with rotation, pinch zoom and selection by touch. What changes is disk access, which the system does not allow: mirrored files and sets go to the Downloads folder.
To open a set on a phone, choose the .conjunto.json file and then open the STLs it asks for, with Open STL files. The viewer applies the mirroring and the rest of the settings by itself, and keeps showing which parts are still missing.
To keep the viewer at hand, use your browser's add to home screen option.
If something goes wrong
The folder buttons are missing
The browser is not Chrome or Edge, or the page was opened over http://. Folder access only exists on https://.
The browser asks for permission every time
When authorising, choose Allow on every visit. If you clear the site data, the registrations are lost and have to be made again.
A set cannot find its parts
Register the folder they are in under Part folders and open the set again. If files were renamed or moved outside the registered folders, open the parts by hand and save the set over the old one, with the same name.
Parts appear scattered or very far away
They were probably exported from different projects, with different origins. Use Centre each or Side by side, then Fit view.
I changed something on the site and nothing changed
Reload with Ctrl+F5 so the browser fetches the new version.