Can't export as STL

[jojomos7]

Hi,

whenever I want to export a body or component to STL, I mark the body and choose the point 3D Print from the MAKE dropdown menu to save it as an STL file. After clicking on the 3D print point simply nothing happens. 

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks

[paul.clauss]

Hi @jojomos7

Thanks for posting and welcome to the Fusion 360 community! It looks like you are experiencing some issues exporting an STL from Fusion.

One thing that can prevent Fusion from exporting an STL file is if Fusion is actively saving another file to the cloud at the same time. This usually results in an error message, but perhaps clearing your local cache will allow the 3D Print button to work for you.

Are you trying to send to a 3D Printing Utility? If so, which one? If you uncheck the "Send to 3D Print Utility" flag, does Windows Explorer or Mac Finder pop up? What about if you right click the body you want to print in the browser and select "Save as STL?"

Fusion did have an update this morning, so it may be worth checking if the update may have failed for you - this can cause some issues. The current version is 2.0.3800 - you can view your version number through the question mark icon in the upper right > About. If you are not on the current version, you could start by performing a clean uninstall and reinstalling Fusion - this will force the update to complete.

If this does not help, please gather your diagnostic log files and attach them to this thread - I am curious if we can learn anything about this behavior through the logs. 

[jojomos7]

I tried all of your suggestions but i still cant export a object in any way to stl.

When I choose "Send to 3D Print Utility" a window pops up where i can enter the data for ordering a object.

Uploading the object to the cloud and then downloading it as stl works, but i always gotta wait for the mail then.

I also tried downloaded the addon 3YOURMIND and when I try to export the file to stl via that addon a small window pops up saying:"Could not export file to stl"

Diagnostic Files are in the attachment

[paul.clauss]

Hi @jojomos7

Thanks for the response! I am sorry to hear that none of those suggestions worked. I'm glad to hear that uploading and downloading an STL is working, but understand that it is not an ideal solution.

Is the inability to export as an STL only occurring in one file, or across all your designs? If it is only occurring in one file, would you mind sharing that design with me using any of these techniques? 

Unfortunately the logs did not shed much light on this behavior. Please let me know if you are unable to export an STL of any Fusion design or if this issue is occurring only in certain files and we will continue troubleshooting - I apologize for any inconveniences this may cause.

[jojomos7]

Hi @paul.clauss

Thanks for the quick response,

here's the link to my object:

http://a360.co/2BzEHO4

I created a new project just for testing out if the export works there, but no luck.

The test project simply contained a cube.

Maybe I should also mention that these are my first tries with fusion 360 and there isnt much of an inconvenience 😄

Thanks for your time 

[TheCADWhisperer]

---

@jojomos7 wrote:
....Maybe I should also mention that these are my first tries with fusion 360... 

---

... I right click on the body and had no trouble saving as *.stl?

[paul.clauss]

Hi @jojomos7

Thanks for the response - I apologize for the inconvenience here.

When you performed the clean uninstall/reinstall, did you use the automatic clean uninstall tool linked in my previous post? Please use it if you did not - it seems like the inability to export an STL file could be due to a bad installation of Fusion. Even if you did use the uninstall tool last time, you may want to try another uninstall/reinstall.

I would also be curious to know if you have any peripheral drivers on your system - peripheral drivers for devices such as SpaceMouse have been known to interfere with Fusion. If you do have any external drivers present, please uninstall them and see if you are then able to export an STL file.

I was able to create an STL of the file you attached - I have attached my copy to this forum post. I have shown the workflows I used to create the STL files in the screencast below. Is it possible that you have the "Send to 3D Print Utility" box checked when using the 3D Print command? I would recommend working around this behavior by using the "Save as STL" option, if that is working for you. You can then open the STL file in whatever print utility you are using.

I would also be curious to check the permissions for the Fusion 360 executable in your Windows file explorer. Perhaps running Fusion as an administrator will allow the STL files to be exported? I have also shown this in the screencast below. You may also want to check the permissions of the Fusion360.exe file in the Webdeploy folder. I have shown how to access this folder in the video in my next post.

Hopefully this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions - I am happy to assist.

[jojomos7]

Hi @paul.clauss

I reinstalled Fusion 3 times via the clean uninstall tool.

I also uninstalled all unnecessary drivers from my system.

The problem about unchecking the "Send to 3D Print Utility" is that the "Save as STL" window doesn't even pop up.

The wierd thing is that when I choose the option to send the object to a printing facility e.g. FANTHOM the window for ordering pops up.

Granting Fusion all permissions doesnt solve the problem either.

Thanks for your efforts and the tutorial videos. 

[paul.clauss]

Hi @jojomos7

Thanks for the response, I'm sorry to hear things are still not working properly for you.

I've shown a few different ways to export an STL from Fusion in the screencast below - let me know if any of these options allow you to locally save an STL and then open it in whatever print utility you are using.

Can you clarify if you are trying to send an STL to a printer from Fusion, or do you just want to save an STL locally for later use? This may be an issue with Fusion communicating with your specific print utility, which may or may not be supported. As these issues are not showing up on my system, it appears that they are unique to your system, which can be very difficult to troubleshoot (perhaps some rogue process unique to your computer is interfering). Because of this difficulty and the ease of the workarounds shown below, I would recommend using one the alternative techniques shown below to work around this problem.

I am happy to log a bug if you are experiencing unexpected behavior, but I will need you to show your workflow in a screencast to do so, as I cannot recreate on my end.

[jojomos7]

Hi @paul.clauss

I just resetted Windows,

now everything works fine.

Thanks for your efforts and help

[atneal64]

i am having the same problem. file not being translated into stl file. i have tried saving the object as stl.. didnt work, tried the brep mesh as stl.. not working. it keeps giving me the same two errors, i have no way of attaching the file because i cannot save it

[TheCADWhisperer]

File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here.

[Anonymous]

              i have done a simple design but i couldn't convert to stl file i cannot select the option also 

[gbeniaris]

Hello,

I understand that this thread is showing its age, but I am having a similar issue with exporting, not just STL files, but other file formats as well.  Please see the attached files.  I tried to make heads or tails of it, but I wasn't really sure what I was looking for. 

[TheCADWhisperer]

@gbeniaris 

Can you File>Export your *.f3d file to your local drive and then Attach it here to a Reply?

It probably would have been best to start a new discussion thread with a link back to this ancient thread as reference.