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Applies to 2026.0 Update and later

 
 

Frequently asked questions

This section collates items that are asked rather frequently about using Autodesk® Netfabb®.

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Display

Topic Question Answer

Transparency

"Netfabb tells me, 'You do not use enhanced display functions.'!" "I have no transparency available in Netfabb!"

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

Solution:

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:
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Packing

Topic Question Answer

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 Monte Carlo and True Shape packing.

Solution:

  • Use the Monte Carlo or True Shape packing and parameters offered by these methods.

Part movement

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

Topic Question Answer

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.
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Repair

Topic Question Answer

Checking for mesh errors

"No warning sign is displayed but my part causes problems as if it was broken."

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.

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Gizmo

Topic Question Answer

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.

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