STL, or StereoLithography, is one of the oldest and most used file formats in 3D printing. It is used to express the surface geometry of a 3D model in triangular facets.
All file typesSTL's simplicity and broad support makes it one of the most reliable 3D printing formats. It is supported by almost all 3D printers and 3D printing software.
While STL's simplicity is an advantage for 3D printing, it also limits the size's capabilities. It does not support color, texture, or other complex attributes, and geometric accuracy may be limited.
See which programs can work with this file type
See how files are formatted.
Check out the pros and cons of each file format.