3MF file format
The 3D Manufacturing Format: a ZIP package with units, colours and the plate layout, used by modern slicers for project files.
Tools for 3MF
Each one runs in your browser; your files are never sent anywhere.
What is 3MF?
3MF is published by the 3MF Consortium, founded in 2015. A .3mf file is a ZIP archive. Inside, an XML model lists each object’s corners once and its triangles by corner number, and a build section places the objects with transforms.
The model states its unit: micron, millimetre, centimetre, inch, foot or metre, with millimetre as the default. Colours and materials are part of the core specification, and extensions add textures, beam lattices and slices.
Slicers such as PrusaSlicer and Bambu Studio save whole projects as 3MF, with their print settings in extra files and the parts in separate model files (the production extension).
3MF at a glance
| Property | 3MF |
|---|---|
| Full name | 3D Manufacturing Format |
| Extension | .3mf |
| MIME type | model/3mf |
| Encoding | ZIP archive with XML |
| Surface | Triangles |
| Shared vertices | Yes |
| Colours and materials | Yes, colours and materials in the file |
| Units | Yes: micron, mm, cm, inch, foot or metre |
| Several objects | Yes, with their place on the build plate |
| Opened by | Slicers (PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, Cura) and Windows 3D Builder |