DAE → STL · FREE · NO UPLOAD
DAE to STL Converter — Print Collada Models
Turn a .dae from SketchUp, Blender or a game engine into a printable .stl right here in the browser. Works with Collada scenes, furniture kits and architectural models. No upload — your model stays on your device.
What it does: parses a Collada DAE XML file, extracts the triangle geometry from all meshes, bakes transforms, and writes binary STL — 50 bytes per triangle, no materials, no textures.
Why you need it: DAE (Collada) is exported by SketchUp, Blender, and game engines; slicers (PrusaSlicer, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer, Cura) cannot open Collada files — they need STL or 3MF.
How it works: the three.js ColladaLoader parses the XML in this browser tab. No server, no upload — disconnect and it still runs.
Conversion specs
| Input format | DAE (Collada XML — SketchUp, Blender, game engines) |
| Output format | Binary STL (50 bytes per triangle) |
| Scene handling | All meshes merged, node transforms baked |
| Data dropped | Materials, textures, cameras, lights, animations |
| Unit mapping | Collada units vary; slicers read STL as mm — scale if needed |
| File size limit | Device RAM only — no server limit |
| Processing | 100% client-side via three.js ColladaLoader |
| Cost | Free, unlimited conversions, no account required |
From Collada to print
DAE — Digital Asset Exchange, the file extension of Collada — is an XML-based 3D format. SketchUp, Blender and game engines export it because a single file can carry a whole scene: mesh geometry, materials, textures, cameras, lights and animation. A slicer wants none of that extra data. STL stores triangles and nothing else. Converting DAE to STL drops materials, textures and animations and keeps the triangles — the part that can actually sit on a print bed.
- Export the model as Collada / DAE from SketchUp, Blender or your engine. If the asset is animated, pose it first — the converter writes the rest pose it finds in the file, not a chosen frame from a clip.
- Drop the file on the drop zone above. Nothing is uploaded; the mesh is parsed in this tab. Wait for the preview to appear so you can confirm you have the right object and that the whole figure showed up, not a fragment of a multi-mesh scene.
- Check scale against the bounds readout under the preview. Collada files do not guarantee a unit. SketchUp often writes inches; Blender defaults to meters; slicers assume STL numbers are millimeters. If a 50 mm part shows bounds around 2 or 0.05, scale it on the plate (or re-export with a millimeter unit) before you print. Trust the numbers on this page, not a guess.
- Download the STL and open it in Bambu Studio, PrusaSlicer, Cura or OrcaSlicer. Treat it like any other mesh you would drop onto a plate: orient it, add supports if the overhangs need them, and slice.
- SketchUp and game-engine meshes are often not watertight — overlapping shells, interior walls, or reversed faces from a CAD-to-Collada hop. If the slicer reports holes, non-manifold edges, or a failed slice, run its built-in repair on import. You can also check the file first on the STL repair page on this site, which reports open edges without sending the mesh anywhere.
That is the whole pipeline: export DAE, convert here, download STL, open in the slicer. Materials, textures and animations never come along — they cannot — and that is the point of the conversion. The only extra step worth doing every time is reading the bounds so the first print is the size you meant.
From SketchUp or Blender to a slicer
A SketchUp model or a Blender Collada export arrives as DAE. Slicers — PrusaSlicer, Cura, Bambu Studio, OrcaSlicer — want a plain triangle mesh, and their common language is STL. This page is the bridge:
- Export your model as DAE (Collada) from SketchUp, Blender or the engine.
- Drop it above — the preview shows exactly what will be exported, with triangle count and size.
- Click Download STL and open the file in your slicer.
- If the size looks off, scale in the slicer — Collada units vary, slicers assume millimeters (details in the FAQ).
Going the other way for AR or web embeds? Use the STL to GLB converter. Have a glTF file instead? That's the GLB to STL page.
What survives the conversion
| In the DAE | In the exported STL |
|---|---|
| Triangle / polygon geometry (all meshes) | Kept, triangulated, world transforms applied |
| Scene hierarchy & node transforms | Baked into the triangles |
| Materials, textures, UVs | Dropped — STL cannot store them |
| Animations, cameras, lights | Dropped — meaningless for printing |
| Units (unspecified in Collada) | Numbers copied as-is; slicers read them as mm |
FAQ
Is my DAE file uploaded anywhere?+
No. The converter parses the Collada XML with the three.js Collada loader inside this tab and re-encodes the triangles as binary STL, also locally. There is no upload endpoint. Load the page, disconnect from the internet, and the conversion still works.
What is a DAE / Collada file?+
DAE is Collada — COLLAborative Design Activity — an XML-based 3D interchange format whose official name is Digital Asset Exchange. A .dae file can store a scene graph, mesh geometry, materials, textures, cameras, lights and animation clips. SketchUp, Blender, Maya and several game-engine pipelines still export it. STL stores only triangles, which is why this conversion exists: to get a printable mesh out of a Collada scene.
Does the conversion keep textures, materials or animations?+
No. A DAE can carry Phong or Lambert materials, image textures, a skeleton and a timeline; STL cannot store any of that. The exporter writes every mesh in the scene, transformed to world space, and drops materials, textures, cameras, lights and clips. If you need a specific pose, key the model in SketchUp or Blender first, then export a still DAE.
What programs export DAE?+
SketchUp (File → Export → 3D Model → Collada), Blender (File → Export → Collada), Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, and several game-engine pipelines that still ship a Collada exporter. SketchUp is the most common source on this page: architectural models and furniture kits often leave SketchUp as .dae. If the file references external texture paths, ignore them — this converter only needs the mesh.
How does the STL file size compare to the DAE?+
DAE is XML: vertex positions, normals and UVs are written as text, often with materials and unused scene nodes on top. Binary STL spends 50 bytes per triangle and repeats every vertex. A dense mesh usually becomes a similar or larger STL; a DAE padded with unused nodes, cameras and animation can shrink once those extras are dropped. The triangle count under the preview is the number that actually ships.