STL (file format)

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Filename extension.stl
Developed by3D Systems
Type of formatStereolithography
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Filename extension.stl
Developed by3D Systems
Type of formatStereolithography

STL (STereoLithography) is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. STL is also known as Standard Tessellation Language.[1] This file format is supported by many other software packages; it is widely used for rapid prototyping and computer-aided manufacturing. STL files describe only the surface geometry of a three dimensional object without any representation of color, texture or other common CAD model attributes. The STL format specifies both ASCII and binary representations. Binary files are more common, since they are more compact.[2]



An ASCII STL file begins with the line:

 solid name 

where name is an optional string (though if name is omitted there must still be a space after solid). The file continues with any number of triangles, each represented as follows:

 facet normal ni nj nk     outer loop         vertex v1x v1y v1z         vertex v2x v2y v2z         vertex v3x v3y v3z     endloop endfacet 

where each n or v is a floating point number in sign-mantissa 'e'-sign-exponent format, e.g., "-2.648000e-002" (noting that each "v" must be non-negative). The file concludes with:

 endsolid name 

The structure of the format suggests that other possibilities exist (e.g., facets with more than one 'loop', or loops with more than three vertices) but in practice, all facets are simple triangles.

White space (spaces, tabs, newlines) may be used anywhere in the file except within numbers or words. The spaces between 'facet' and 'normal' and between 'outer' and 'loop' are required.[2]

Binary STL[edit]

Because ASCII STL files can become very large, a binary version of STL exists. A binary STL file has an 80 character header (which is generally ignored – but which should never begin with 'solid' because that will lead most software to assume that this is an ASCII STL file). Following the header is a 4 byte unsigned integer indicating the number of triangular facets in the file. Following that is data describing each triangle in turn. The file simply ends after the last triangle.

Each triangle is described by twelve 32-bit-floating point numbers: three for the normal and then three for the X/Y/Z coordinate of each vertex – just as with the ASCII version of STL. After the twelve floats there is a two byte unsigned 'short' integer that is the 'attribute byte count' – in the standard format, this should be zero because most software does not understand anything else.[2]

Floating point numbers are represented as IEEE floating point numbers and are assumed to be little endian, although this is not stated in documentation.

 UINT8[80] – Header UINT32 – Number of triangles 
foreach triangle REAL32[3] – Normal vector REAL32[3] – Vertex 1 REAL32[3] – Vertex 2 REAL32[3] – Vertex 3 UINT16 – Attribute byte count end

Color in binary STL[edit]

There are at least two variations on the binary STL format for adding color information:

The red/green/blue ordering within those two bytes is reversed in these two approaches – so while these formats could easily have been compatible the reversal of the order of the colors means that they are not – and worse still, a generic STL file reader cannot automatically distinguish between them. There is also no way to have facets be selectively transparent because there is no per-facet alpha value – although in the context of current rapid prototyping machinery, this is not important.

The facet normal[edit]

In both ASCII and binary versions of STL, the facet normal should be a unit vector pointing outwards from the solid object. In most software this may be set to (0,0,0) and the software will automatically calculate a normal based on the order of the triangle vertices using the 'right-hand rule'. Some STL loaders (e.g. the STL plugin for Art of Illusion) check that the normal in the file agrees with the normal they calculate using the right-hand rule and warn you when it does not. Other software may ignore the facet normal entirely and use only the right-hand rule. Although it is rare to specify a normal that cannot be calculated using the right-hand rule, in order to be entirely portable, a file should both provide the facet normal and order the vertices appropriately. A notable exception is SolidWorks which uses the normal for shading effects.

History of use[edit]

Stereolithography machines are 3D printers that can build any volume shape as a series of slices. Ultimately these machines require a series of closed 2D contours that are filled in with solidified material as the layers are fused together. A natural file format for such a machine would be a series of closed polygons corresponding to different Z-values. However, since it's possible to vary the layer thicknesses for a faster though less precise build, it was easier to define the model to be built as a closed polyhedron that can be sliced at the necessary horizontal levels.

The STL file format appears capable of defining a polyhedron with any polygonal facet, but in practice it's only ever used for triangles, which means that much of the syntax of the ASCII protocol is superfluous.

To properly form a 3D volume, the surface represented by any STL files must be closed and connected, where every edge is part of exactly two triangles, and not self-intersecting. Since the STL syntax does not enforce this property, it can be ignored for applications where the closedness doesn't matter. The closedness only matters insofar as the software which slices the triangles requires it to ensure that the resulting 2D polygons are closed. Sometimes such software can be written to clean up small discrepancies by moving vertices that are close together so that they coincide. The results are not predictable, but it is often sufficient.

Use in other fields[edit]

STL file format is simple, so it is easy to output. Consequently, many computer-aided design systems can output the STL file format. Although the output is simple to produce, some connectivity information is discarded.

Many computer-aided manufacturing systems require triangulated models. STL format is not the most memory and computationally efficient method for transferring this data, but STL is often used to import the triangulated geometry into the CAM system. The format is commonly available, so the CAM system will use it. In order to use the data, the CAM system may have to reconstruct the connectivity.

STL can also be used for interchanging data between CAD/CAM systems and computational environments such as Mathematica.


In Windows, the extension .stl is used to mean Certificate Trust List, and a .stl file will be labeled as such, even though it will still be a stereolithography file.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ STL 2.0 May Replace Old, Limited File Format. (2009-10-30). Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  2. ^ a b c Burns, Marshall (1993). Automated Fabrication. Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-119462-5. 
  3. ^, The StL Format: Standard Data Format for Fabbers, reprinted from Marshall Burns, Automated Fabrication, stating, "The object represented must be located in the all-positive octant. In other words, all vertex coordinates must be positive-definite (nonnegative and nonzero) numbers. The StL file does not contain any scale information; the coordinates are in arbitrary units."

External links[edit]