In this article, I will show you how to enable STL thumbnails in Windows 10. This is especially helpful when browsing trough your STL files and easily find the one you are looking to print.
With the STL thumbnail viewer, a small image of your STL will show up in the Windows 10 explorer.
Jul 25, 2020 Papa’s Best STL Viewer. A simple application to view STL files – no bloat, blazingly fast, and highly compatible! Runs on Windows 7–10 and on Linux with Wine. Unlike most other viewers, it supports colors and multi-object files, browses folders full of STLs easily, and needs very little resources. STL Viewer is a professional Windows application for viewing CAD models created or exported in STL (STereoLithography) file format from 3D systems. The viewer boast a very user-friendly interface for non-technical users, while providing full range of tools for navigation and analyzing 3D objects. The Open Source STL viewer Viewstl is an open source way to view Stereo Lithography Files as shaded on-screen images. Ascii STL files and dynamic rotation, scaling, and panning are currently supported. Written in C using OpenGL, GLU and GLUT. Papa’s Best STL Viewer. A simple application to view STL files – no bloat, blazingly fast, and highly compatible! Runs on Windows 7–10 and on Linux with Wine. Unlike most other viewers, it supports colors and multi-object files, browses folders full of STLs easily, and needs very little resources.
Why use an STL Thumbnail Viewer?
As previously mentioned, the main reason why you would want to install an STL thumbnail viewer is to improve your experience when going trough multiple STLs on your computer.
It makes things a lot easier and if you enable STL thumbnails in Windows 10, you will add extra functionality to your computer. You can even manipulate the STL files right from your Windows explorer preview pane, without the need of opening it.
STL-Thumb uses the system color scheme but can also be changes using the command line option.
I like having the dark theme enabled in Windows.
How to Enable STL Thumbnails in Windows 10?
It’s really easy to enable STL thumbnails in Windows 10, so follow the steps below:
Download STL-Thumb from Github
The first step to install the STL thumbnail viewer is to download the latest release of STL-Thumb from Github. So follow this link and download the .exe file.
Please note that because the application is unsigned and does not have a publisher listed, it might be detected by your browser as an unwanted file (or malware). You can safely save the installer.
Run the STL-Thumb installer
After you download STL-Thumb, you can double click and start the installation.
As you can probably notice, there’s another prompt which tells you that it’s recommended you don’t install the app. Click on More Info and then Run Anyway
Agree to the license agreement and click on Install
Extra tweaks in Windows 10
With STL-Thumb installed, you can probably notice that STLs on your desktop already show up as thumbnails.
If you want the same thumbnails in your Windows Explorer windows head over to the View menu, then select one of the three options.
For more control over the dimensions of the STL thumbnails in Windows 10, you can hold CTRL and use the scroll wheel on your mouse to make the thumbnails smaller or larger.
If you have 3D Viewer installed, you can go a step further and also have the STL section in your Windows 10 preview pane where you can interact with the model.
For this to work, you will need to have STL viewer as the default app to open STL files.
This can be easily achieved by right clicking an STL -> Open with -> Choose another app and select 3D Viewer. Make sure you select the Always use this app to open STL files, then click OK.
Enjoy your STL Thumbnails in Windows 10
That’s it. That’s how you enable STL thumbnails in Windows 10. There are other STL thumbnail viewers available, but STL-Thumb worked best for me.
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STL is a file format that is used with stereolithography CAD software which is created by 3D systems. It has become a rapid prototyping industry’s defacto format which is required to interact with Quickparts. An STL viewer online can be used to view the files online and many STL viewers free download are also available. Based on the platform you can choose from many formats like STL viewer Linux, STL viewer android, etc. which will be easy to use.
Related:
Online STL Viewer
This is a free online STL viewer that can be used to view the 3D STL files directly in your browser. The files have to be uploaded to the server by either drag-and-drop or by browsing in the local files and it can be viewed.
Free STL Viewer
This is a free STL and DDD viewer that has tools to measure and analyze factors like distance, angle, cross sections, wall thickness etc. It is compatible with the Windows platform.
3D STL Viewer
Stl Viewer Windows
This is a premium 3D STL Viewer that can be used to import and read STL files. It can print the files and even converts them from STL to DWG formats. It will represent all the data perfectly without any distortions.
STL Viewer 3D for Mac
This is a premium Mac software that will be able to support many popular 3D formats like STL, Solidworks, STEP, etc. The files can be visualized, measured, analyzed and converted to a variety of 3D models.
STL File Viewer for Android
This free Android app and has a built-in browser that can be used to view binary and ASCII STL files that can be zoomed, panned and rotated. Model color can be selected and facets can be shown in any combination.
STL View for Windows
This is a free STL viewer that is compatible with the Windows platform. The file can be downloaded on a Windows 8 platform with a touch feature provided by Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.
Open Source STL viewer – Most Popular Software
This is an open source freeware that can be used to open Stereo Lithography Files that can appear as shaded on-screen images. ASCII STL files can be opened and they can be zoomed.
Free Stl Viewer
How to Install STL Viewer software?
There are many STL Viewer software available in the market that will be compatible with different formats. Based upon the operating system, the file can be downloaded and installed. It generally doesn’t require any administrative rights to run, the hardware requirements should be fulfilled. Some of the viewers need not be downloaded and can be used online. Such software just requires the browser to support it on which files it can be drag-and-drop to be viewed. You can also see Convert Vob to Mp4
STL file is widely used for rapid prototyping and computer-aided manufacturing which will contain 3D diagrams that have features like color, texture, width and other such dimensions. These can be calculated using the viewer and viewed in different angles. The files can be converted into other formats.