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Import

Bring parts from other programs in as bodies, and drawings in as sketches.

Bring a file in

  1. Choose File > Import Mesh…, or Import Mesh under Insert on the rail.
  2. Pick a file.

You can also drop files onto the window, several come in one after another. File > Open… takes the same formats.

An imported STEP assembly with one body per part

From Home, the file starts a new document named after it. If the document behind Home holds work, FundaCAD asks whether to add the file to it.

Formats

File type Comes in as Note
STEP (.step, .stp, .stpz, .step.gz) Solid One body per part, with its colours. Prefer it over a mesh when you have one.
IGES (.iges, .igs) Solid One body per named part, with its colours.
BREP (.brep), OCCT XBF (.xbf) Solid XBF is scaled to millimetres.
FreeCAD (.FCStd) Solid One body per object, named as in FreeCAD.
Rhino (.3dm) Solid Solids, surfaces and meshes, grouped by layer. SubD objects and curves are left out.
IFC (.ifc) Solid One body per building element. Unzip an .ifczip first.
STL, 3MF, OBJ, PLY, OFF, AMF Mesh An AMF file keeps each object's name and colour.
glTF (.glb, .gltf), VRML (.wrl, .wrz), X3D (.x3d, .x3dz) Mesh None of them say their unit, so FundaCAD asks.
FBX (.fbx), 3DS (.3ds) Mesh One body per mesh or object. A 3DS file is read as millimetres.
A mesh over 150,000 triangles Reference scan Read only, up to about 10 million triangles.
DXF (.dxf), SVG (.svg) Sketch One sketch per layer or top level group, in millimetres.

Loose STEP faces

Some programs write a STEP part as loose faces that only touch. FundaCAD joins them, and a part that closes becomes a solid you can cut and measure.

A part that stays open comes in as a surface. Its import step in the History notes how many edges are still open.

Reference scans

A reference scan is for looking and measuring. You can snap to it, but you cannot edit it or use it in a boolean.

To work on it as a solid, reduce the mesh below 150,000 triangles in a mesh program first.

DXF and SVG

  1. A DXF layer will not extrude while the ends of its lines do not meet. The import says how many ends are open.
  2. Text, dimensions and hatches in a DXF are left out, and so are the text, images and gradients of an SVG. The import counts what it skipped.