3D Manufacturing Format

3D Manufacturing Format
Filename extensions
.3mf
Internet media typeapplication/vnd.ms-package.3dmanufacturing-3dmodel+xml, application/vnd.ms-printing.printticket+xml, model/3mf
Developed by3MF Consortium
Initial release29 April 2015 (2015-04-29)
Latest release
2.2.0
24 August 2021 (2021-08-24)
Container for3D printing data
Contained byOpen Packaging Conventions
Extended fromZIP, XML
Open format?Yes
Website3MF Specification

3D Manufacturing Format or 3MF is an open source file format standard developed and published by the 3MF Consortium.[1][2]

3MF is an XML-based data format designed specifically for additive manufacturing. It includes information about materials, colors, and other information that cannot be represented in the STL format.[3][4] 3MF is part of the Linux open standards project[5] and is not intended to compete in the traditional CAD space. It is designed to be much simpler to implement than the full CAD formats.[6]

Today, CAD software related companies such as Autodesk, Dassault Systèmes, PTC, and Netfabb are part of the 3MF Consortium. Other firms in the 3MF Consortium are Microsoft (for operating system and 3D modeling support), SLM and HP, whilst Shapeways are also included to give insight from a 3D printing background.[7] Other key players in the 3D printing and additive manufacturing business, such as Materialise, 3D Systems, Siemens Digital Industries Software and Stratasys have recently joined the consortium.[8] To facilitate the adoption, 3MF Consortium has brought on new associate members and Executive Director to increase awareness and adoption[9] while also published a C++ implementation of the 3MF file format.[10]

In 2025 the 3MF became ISO standard ISO/IEC 25422:2025.[11]

Features

Below are a list of some of the advantages of the 3MF format, supplied by the consortium.[12]

  • Full color and texture support in a single file
  • Support structures attached to part data
  • Full tray support for direct machine preparation
  • Thumbnails, viewing, and printing in Microsoft Windows
  • Multiple material support
  • Beam extension for complex lattice structures[13]
  • Slice extension for machine data
  • Secure end to end encryption[14]
  • Volumetric communication of data at voxel level[15]
  • Designed for industrial manufacturing
  • Native integration in Microsoft Office and Paint 3D

3MF consortium members

  • Autodesk
  • HP
  • 3D Systems
  • Dassault Systèmes
  • EOS
  • Hexagon
  • Materialise
  • Microsoft
  • nTopology
  • PTC
  • Siemens
  • Altair
  • SLM
  • Stratasys
  • Ultimaker
  • Viaccess.Orca
  • Prusa [16]

Source:[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "3MF Website". 3MF. Archived from the original on 6 September 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  2. ^ "3MF Consortium Releases New 3D Printing File Format". 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  3. ^ "What is 3MF?"
  4. ^ "Microsoft Spearheads 3D Printing File Format: Introducing the 3MF". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-07-26. Retrieved 2017-08-23.
  5. ^ "3D Printing Effort Becomes Linux Foundation Open Standards Project, Announces New Executive Director - Linux Foundation". www.linuxfoundation.org. Archived from the original on 2022-10-21. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  6. ^ "3MF About Us". 3MF. Archived from the original on 2019-10-10. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
  7. ^ "3MF Consortium Launches to Advance 3D Printing Technology". Business Wire. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  8. ^ ""As of September 2020, 3MF Consortium have signed new members such as 3D Systems, Materialise, Siemens PLM Software, Stratasys among 31 others"". Archived from the original on 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  9. ^ Wegner, Andre. "With A New Executive Director, 3MF Strengthens The Digital Thread For Additive Manufacturing". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  10. ^ "Lib3mf". GitHub. 13 March 2022. Archived from the original on 26 July 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  11. ^ "3MF file format officially becomes ISO Additive Manufacturing standard". METAL AM. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  12. ^ "3MF Core Specification" (PDF). 3MF Consortium. 2018.
  13. ^ 3MF Beam Lattice Extension, 3MF Consortium, 2022-05-26, archived from the original on 2022-10-21, retrieved 2022-10-21
  14. ^ 3D Manufacturing Format - Secure Content Extension, 3MF Consortium, 2021-04-15, archived from the original on 2022-10-21, retrieved 2022-10-21
  15. ^ Manufacturing Format - Volumetric Extension, 3MF Consortium, 2022-09-16, archived from the original on 2022-10-21, retrieved 2022-10-21
  16. ^ https://help.prusa3d.com/article/saving-projects-as-3mf_1773 Archived 2025-03-19 at the Wayback Machine lowest coont
  17. ^ "Members". 3MF Consortium. Archived from the original on 2022-12-02. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.