Frequently Asked Questions

Notification

"Netfabb tells me, 'You do not use enhanced display functions.'!"

"I have no transparency options available in Netfabb!"

Netfabb needs full OpenGL® 3.3 support. Implementations by Intel® or other manufacturers are reported to be incompatible or incomplete on occasion.

Solution:

• Make sure Netfabb is set to make full use of the graphics hardware by setting System > Settings > Display > Use enhanced display functions (OpenGL 3.3) to Yes.
• Make sure your system meets Netfabb's https://beehive.autodesk.com/community/service/rest/cloudhelp/resource/cloudhelpchannel/guidcrossbook/?v=2025&p=NETF&l=ENU&accessmode=live&guid=GUID-55A2DFEE-7BA6-43B3-9D26-5A1BA638B275.
• Try dedicated graphics hardware rather than embedded hardware.
• Ensure that your graphics driver recognizes Netfabb as a 3D application and uses dedicated graphics hardware to display it.

For more information, visit How to configure Autodesk software to use high performance graphics.

Display scaling

"My display text is too large!"

"Window elements are missing or obstructed by the task bar!"

You may have Netfabb configured to determine the font size automatically while you have Microsoft® Windows® configured to scale text beyond 100 % which can confuse Netfabb's font scaling.

Solution:

• Make sure your system meets Netfabb's https://beehive.autodesk.com/community/service/rest/cloudhelp/resource/cloudhelpchannel/guidcrossbook/?v=2025&p=NETF&l=ENU&accessmode=live&guid=GUID-55A2DFEE-7BA6-43B3-9D26-5A1BA638B275 in terms of screen resolution.
• Adjust Windows' scaling to a lower value:

  

• There is also a per-application setting:

  

Selective packing

"When packing, I want that some parts are left where they are. How do I 'lock' their positions?"

Selective position locking of parts during packing is only fully supported by the Monte Carlo packer.

Solution:

• Use the Monte Carlo Packer and its options.

Part movement

"I cannot move the part up and down anymore!"

There are two possible causes for this:

• The part has been set as a no-build zone for certain packers. This enforces the part to be set flush to the platform. To change the setting for this part, right-click it and choose Arrange > Packing settings > Set to part.
• You are in a machine workspace that has the option to enforce a distance from the platform, including zero. To change this, find the setting in the context view of the workspace.
  

  This option in a laserpath machine workspace enforces a part's distance from the platform.

Exporting parts with support

"When exporting a part with support to STL, the STL file does not contain support!"

Unless configured otherwise, Netfabb treats support meshes differently than normal part meshes. STL does not make this distinction. That is why any supports that are not regular meshes are dropped when exporting to STL.

Left: Dedicated support mesh ("support attachment") is displayed in light blue. Right: Regular-mesh supports show up in the part's (or assembly's) display color or its own actual color (not shown).

To export a part including its supports to STL, you must convert any support attachment mesh (blue) to regular part mesh, and then export all parts into the same STL.

• To convert existing support attachment mesh to a separate mesh, select the supported part, then choose Prepare > Manage supports > Split support to new part
• To always create supports as separate mesh immediately by default, switch System > Settings > Supports > Export as part attachment to No.
• To export multiple parts into one STL file, select both parts in the project tree, then choose File > Export part > as STL and make sure in the next dialog that Output type is set to All into one file.

Checking for mesh errors

Your part may contain self-intersections which are not immediately checked for due to the computational cost very large parts can incur. Before proceeding, examine your part closer to verify it really is suitable for the next steps you wish to perform.

Error message

"When trying to generate a blueprint, I am told,"Error occurred during initialization of VM" and "Could not reserve enough space for 2097152KB object heap". What does this mean?"

You must upgrade to a 64-bit Java Runtime. To obtain the 64-bit version, visit https://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp and select Windows Offline 64-bit.

Error message

"Trying to use Pentaho-type reports results in an error message!"

"Error: opening registry key 'Software\JavaSoft\Java Runtime Environment" is an invalid integer"

• Make sure your Java Runtime Environment is correctly installed.
• In Settings > Settings > Import and export > Java executable must either be empty or contain the full path and correct path in the file system that holds java.exe.

Info message

"Gizmo temporarily disabled."

The gizmo is for moving, scaling, and rotating only. If the gizmo is switched to be always on (using the new switch View > Show Gizmo), the gizmo appears even just from selecting a part, as opposed to selecting and also choosing one of the three commands Move, Scale, Rotate.

However, for free cutting, the gizmo would collide with the cutting controls. This is why Netfabb enforces the gizmo to be disabled temporarily when free cutting is active, and produces this message.

Error message

"FEA driver error. Error solving Nastran model."

FEA driver errors can occur from incorrect or impractical setup of forces and restraints.

• Check that your model has at least one restraint and one force or pressure defined.
• Check that none of those forces, restraints, and pressures are acting through only a single node.