# Is there any way to save a repaired .stl from preform?

**URL:** <https://forum.formlabs.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-save-a-repaired-stl-from-preform/23031>\
**Category:** General Discussion\
**Created:** [April 12, 2019, 7:07am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-save-a-repaired-stl-from-preform/23031 "2019-04-12T07:07:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![neuronelektrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f1d935/32.png) [@neuronelektrod](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/neuronelektrod)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 7:07am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-save-a-repaired-stl-from-preform/23031/1 "2019-04-12T07:07:42Z")

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Hi, I need to save a repaired stl file from preform. Somebody has any idea about how I can do this?

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**Author:** ![JohnHue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@JohnHue](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/JohnHue)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 7:44am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-save-a-repaired-stl-from-preform/23031/2 "2019-04-12T07:44:06Z")

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Asked a bunch of time, not possible. While unfortunate, it’s understandable since Preform is a free software if you could just use it’s capabilities (support generation being the elephant in the room) and export to another software to print with 3rd party hardware it’s a net loss for Formlabs.

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**Author:** ![mgarrity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@mgarrity](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/mgarrity)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 7:47am UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-save-a-repaired-stl-from-preform/23031/3 "2019-04-12T07:47:49Z")

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To be clear, the mesh repair in PreForm is done using [Autodesk’s Netfabb](https://www.autodesk.com/products/netfabb/overview). You could certainly use netfabb to repair your STLs directly. It should give you exactly the same result you get when you import them into PreForm.

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**Author:** ![neuronelektrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f1d935/32.png) [@neuronelektrod](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/neuronelektrod)\
**Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-save-a-repaired-stl-from-preform/23031/4 "2019-04-12T14:15:18Z")

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Thanks!

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**Author:** ![PolygonMasterWorks](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex025/user_avatar/forum.formlabs.com/polygonmasterworks/32/12900_2.png) [@PolygonMasterWorks](https://forum.formlabs.com/u/PolygonMasterWorks)\
**Post date:** [April 24, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://forum.formlabs.com/t/is-there-any-way-to-save-a-repaired-stl-from-preform/23031/5 "2019-04-24T20:14:07Z")

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I sometimes use Netfabb on some complex meshes as well. However, I am still interested in learning more about the process PreForm is using.

Because I don’t even remember any failed repairs on PreForm, and it just asks if we want it repaired, we click ok, wait a bit, and then it’s done.

While on Netfabb I have had to change and tweak settings many times to get the result I want.

What I’m saying is I find it interesting that this Netfabb / PF integration seems to work every time without any custom user input.