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Export

FluidCAD writes STEP, STL and PNG files. Export from the top bar, from a shape's row in the Shapes panel, or from the command line.

From the top bar​

  1. Click Export (the download icon at the right end of the top bar). The menu lists every solid in the scene with a thumbnail. In an assembly it leads with Whole assembly.

    Export menu in a part

  2. Choose a solid. The export dialog opens: pick STEP, STL or PNG, keep or drop colors, set the STL resolution or the PNG view, and click Export. The file downloads through the browser.

The exported file includes geometry and color information and opens in any standard CAD tool (Fusion 360, SolidWorks, FreeCAD, etc.).

From the Shapes panel​

Open the Shapes panel, hover the solid's row, and choose Export from its menu. It opens the same dialog with that solid preselected.

Assemblies​

In an assembly the Export menu leads with Whole assembly, followed by each inserted part:

Export menu in an assembly

Choosing a part writes that part on its own, in its own frame. Choosing the whole assembly writes every inserted part where it sits, at the positions the joints solved to, exactly as the viewport shows them:

  • STEP keeps the structure: one product per part (repeated inserts share it), one component per instance, sub-assemblies nested under their own product, and the assembly, parts and instances carry their FluidCAD names. It opens as an assembly tree in other CAD tools.
  • STL flattens every placed part into one mesh, with the same resolution and unit options as a part export.

An assembly with configurations adds a Configuration select at the top of the whole-assembly dialog, set to the one on screen. It also offers All configurations (.zip), which exports every configuration as its own file in one zip. A configuration other than the one on screen is exported with its parts where the source places them, since the joints are solved for the configuration on screen. PNG always captures the configuration on screen.

Configurations​

A part with configurations gets the same Configuration select in its export dialog, set to the row on screen, with All configurations (.zip) after the rows. The files are named after the part's file: bracket.step, bracket-M8.step, bracket-configurations.zip.

  • File ▸ Export… in the desktop app exports every solid the chosen configuration builds, so a row that adds or leaves out a body exports exactly its own bodies.
  • A solid picked from the top bar's Export menu or the Shapes panel is found in the chosen configuration by its history. If that configuration does not build it, the export is refused with a message naming the solid, rather than exporting a different body.
  • All configurations is all or nothing: if any row fails, no zip is delivered.

Units​

STEP files carry their unit, so a STEP export is physically correct whatever the document's unit: a 2 in boss opens as 2 in elsewhere. STL is unitless and slicers assume millimetres, so STL exports are scaled to mm by default; an export option keeps document units instead when the consumer expects them. BRep is written as-is.

From the command line​

The same exports run from a terminal, which is what you want for build scripts and CI:

npx fluidcad export step                     # every solid → <entry>.step
npx fluidcad export stl --resolution fine -o parts/bracket.stl
npx fluidcad export png --view front --open

If a FluidCAD server is already running for the project, the CLI exports the scene it is showing; otherwise it starts one, renders your model, exports, and shuts down again. An assembly file exports as a whole by default. Joints are solved in the viewer, so a CLI export places parts where the source puts them and says so; export from the viewer for the mated layout. See the CLI Reference for shape selection, mesh resolution, and screenshot options.