Binary files are more common since they are more compact.Īn STL file describes a raw, unstructured triangulated surface by the unit normal and vertices (ordered by the right-hand rule) of the triangles using a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system. The STL format specifies both ASCII and binary representations. STL files describe only the surface geometry of a three-dimensional object without representing color, texture, or other common CAD model attributes. It is widely used for rapid prototyping, 3D printing, and computer-aided manufacturing. Many other software packages support this file format. STL is a file format native to the stereolithography CAD software created by 3D Systems. Model/stl, model/x.stl-ascii, model/x.stl-binary
