No, I stopped when it all go too much.
Basically you need to understand what units your slicer understands then you need to export your .stl to those units.
Have you noticed the options button on the export dialog, this lets you select the ‘units’ that it tells the slicer to use.
1 Like
SketchUp is used for much more than 3D printing and in those applications, units are important.
As Steve wrote yesterday, you have to set the correct units in the slicer software to make the numbers mean something.
I thought I already explained this is set to mm…which is the same that is indicated in the drawing. ??
That’s a question, based on my statement that I am on my phone so can’t test myself what the stl exporter does. I don’t know whether it respects the user set units or exports internal SketchUp values, which will be inches regardless. The thing you are failing to understand is that units are an interpretation put onto a number, not an inherent aspect of the number itself. A block 1 inch long can also be described as being 25.4mm long. So which number is its “size”? 1 or 25.4?
As already said, the problem here is that the designers of the stl file format (who have nothing to do with SketchUp) chose not to include any provision to tell what units the file creator associated with the raw numbers in the file. So the consumer of a stl file always has to add this interpretation.
Ok, SU web.
here it is in my slicer I imported your stl into SU at meters, then exported it at meters and opened it in my printer software. As my volume is about 130mm the model is the right scale.
By the way, the red face is the reversed face showing it will fail to print.
Lets change this with my particular values:
A block 4.5 inches long can also be described as being 114.3 mm long. So which number is its “size”? 4.5 or 114.3?
The drawing has the units set to mm. The consumer (slicer) is set to mm. So why doesn’t the slicer use the 114.3 as an actual measurement?
It actually printed that side. The size was the only problem.
Not understanding what you are saying. Where is this “export as”? I showed a screen shot and export only puts a file in my download folder with no other options. ???
There is a disconnect between Sketchup web stl export and your specific slicer software.
It is very difficult for us to guess what settings will work for your specific system.
Ok, thanks for all the help and attempts to explain.
However, it appears I will need to find some software better suited for 3D printing that exports size/units as represented in the drawing.
Yes. It looks like you need to find different slicer software since the slicer you are using doesn’t seem to be capable of letting you choose the size correctly. Clearly, as shown by Box, there’s nothing wrong with the SketchUp file or your STL. (other than the reversed face.)
I got back to my computer and opened your skp file in SketchUp Free (web), set display units to mm, then exported it as stl from there. I opened the stl using an stl viewer and the values are all correct for interpreting the model as mm. So, I agree with @DaveR that your issue is either a flaw in your printer’s slicer or user error when running that slicer, not a problem with SketchUp or its stl exporter.
Just to throw it in there.
I exported a cube 8’7 5/16" from the web version.
Then when imported into SU desktop If the import options are set to inches it comes in at the right size. Any other settings came in with strange sizes.
So, you need to find the import option of your slicer to get it to recognise the units correctly.
Ok thanks, I will investigate the slicer software.
Just one additional update.
Changing the sample model info length units to mm from inches did allow the slicer software to realize the correct size and it also did print the correct size.
After printing the length was 114.3 mm or 4.5".
So it seems this slicer needed mm and that only for measurement units.
I’m just glad a simple change to the drawing was all that was needed.