About handling CAD files

Import and use parts whose shape are described parametrically rather than by a triangle mesh

Netfabb imports and handles CAD parts in a non-destructive fashion: The part's parametric information is kept and can be sampled freshly when needing to derive new information from the part's shape, such as when generating slice contours or determining support clusters.

Highlights

• Always choose the appropriate degree of tessellation for the task at hand.

  Generating support and slicing, for example, have very different requirements in triangle count. While support generation does not require a high-res mesh to generate structures, you cannot afford the same frugality when it comes to slicing and creating the toolpaths that will eventually make up your very product.

• Keep parametric data for geometric operations: Move, scale, rotate the part as needed.
• Avoid or diminish common issues requiring extensive repair including stitching, wrapping, and closing of holes, that may occur due to the import process.
• Save your project natively in Netfabb, including parametric parts.
• Keep file sizes lower by avoiding permanent conversion to mesh.
• Make adjustments to a part already processed in Netfabb without losing the work done there.
• Work on parametric and mesh parts in the same project.

The same parametric part, tessellated with two different presets

Restriction: These tasks may require that the CAD part be without flaws that prevents it from later steps in print preparation such as slicing. If a part requires repair, even if it is just for removing duplicate shells, the tessellation must be made permanent by converting the parametric part to a mesh one.

Apart from that, your workflows in Netfabb will remain largely unaffected as long as you do not change part shape by operations such as cutting or mirroring. When attempting to perform such actions, you will be warned with a dialog to tell you that this will drop the parametric dataset from the loaded part. Dropping the parametric dataset fixates the current tessellation permanently into the part's mesh. You may also force dropping the parametric dataset manually.

Note: While Netfabb supports CAD files and utilizes the parametric nature of models and parts included, it is not a CAD editor. While you can save (or export) CAD files again, you can only do so as long as they are still parametric, or are made parametric again.

Making meshes parametric

Netfabb cannot convert meshes into CAD formats. The Mesh-to-BREP function has been removed. We recommend you use Fusion 360's new and powerful mesh capabilities instead.