I Built a Free 3D Model Viewer That Runs in Your Browser, and Need Help Testing It!

For the last few months I’ve been quietly building something, and it’s finally ready for people other than me to try it: StepFileViewer.com, a free 3D CAD file viewer that runs entirely in your web browser. You can check out the cool sharing feature with this little 3D Smiley Face. Or check out a full color DeWalt Drill.

One of the most important features I built in was the ability to freely upload a 3D model (STEP file, STL, IGS and more), and then email a link to someone so they can see your design in real unrestricted 3D! Yes, this was hard to build! But it works amazingly well. And I’ve built more features into it than you can shake a stick at.

What It Does

Head to stepfileviewer.com, drag any CAD file onto the page, and it renders right there in your browser:

• Formats: STEP, IGES, STL, OBJ, glTF, GLB, and DXF
• Measurement tools so you can check dimensions without opening a CAD program
• Sharing, so you can send a link to a model instead of attaching a 40 MB file and hoping
• Free. The core viewer costs nothing and always will

It works on desktop, tablets, and phones.

Killer Features

You can find a more complete list here. But the tool will do all of this:

• Full color model viewing
• Spin, rotate and manipulate in 3 dimensions
• Measure anything – and keep multiple measurements on screen at once!
• Drop shareable notes anywhere on a model
• Attach documents to a model – pdfs, images, txt
• Create Groups, and share models to them
• Organize your files into folders
• And much, much more…

Here’s Where You Come In

The tool works. I use it daily. Friends and colleagues have used it. But every one of those people is someone I know, and that’s exactly the problem: I need strangers.

Feel free to try out any 3D models! Ancient IGES exports from a machine that was decommissioned during the Clinton administration. STEP files from every CAD package under the sun. Massive assemblies. Corrupt files. Files with units nobody sane would use.

Go to stepfileviewer.com and throw a CAD file at it. If you don’t have one handy, grab any STL off a 3D printing site like Makerworld or Thingiverse.

1. Try to break it. Rotate, measure, share, load something huge.
2. Tell me what happened, good or bad. Especially bad. There’s a contact option on the site, or just leave a comment here.
3. If it works for you and you know someone who wrangles CAD files, send them the link.

Every file format has a thousand dialects, and the only way to harden a viewer is to feed it files I’ve never seen. Your ugliest file is my best test case.