3MF Import/Export
3MF Import/Export for Blender — Spec-Compliant & Slicer-Aware
This add-on handles geometry, materials, textures, metadata, triangle sets, multi-color slicer-style paint workflows, slicer profile round-tripping, Orca/Bambu modifier parts, and spec-compliant 3MF packaging.
Documentation
The full user guide lives on CloneCore and covers the add-on in much more detail than this page.
- Start here: Getting Started & Importing
- Choosing the Right Mode / Standard Export
- Object or Face Colors
- Painting or Texture Baking
- Metadata, Part Types & Triangle Sets
- Slicer Profiles
- Troubleshooting & FAQ
Core 3MF Engine
- Full support for 3MF Core Specification v1.4.0 import and export
- Correct ZIP package structure
- Proper handling of units, build items, object hierarchies, and resources
- Recovery-oriented parsing for imperfect or partially invalid files
- Non-destructive handling of unknown or vendor-specific metadata
Geometry & Scene Handling
Multi-object and multiple build item support
Components extension fully supported
- Blender linked duplicates (Alt+D) export as shared components
- Re-import restores linked duplicates correctly
Trianglesets extension mapped to Blender Face Sets
- Visualization and remapping supported
Optional modifier application on export
Selection-only and hidden-object export options (with clear warnings)
Configurable coordinate precision
Materials & PBR Support
Full Base Materials (basematerials) extension support
Full PBR Materials extension support
- Metallic, specular, and translucent workflows
Textured PBR maps (base color, roughness, metallic) embedded and restored
Materials mapped to Blender Principled BSDF nodes
Face-level color preservation via Blender materials
Stable round-tripping across import/export cycles
Smart material reuse on re-import to reduce duplication
Multi-Color / MMU Authoring Workflow
Import and edit slicer multi-material paint data directly in Blender
Automatic UV map generation for objects lacking proper mapping
Built-in painting tools for filament assignment
User-defined filament count and color selection
Bake textures, PBR materials, or procedural shaders into discrete filament colors
- HSL conversion and quantization to a user-defined palette
Export slicer-ready triangle data compatible with multi-material workflows
This part of the add-on can take some help, if you find you need some please read this part of the guide: https://www.clonecore.net/docs/3mf-guide/mmu-painting
Slicer Compatibility
Supports slicer project-style 3MF files and real-world production workflows.
Orca Slicer / Bambu Studio
- Full round-trip support
- Multi-color paint zones preserved
- Filament colors read from and written to slicer metadata
- Production Extension multi-file project structure supported
- Built-in Bambu Lab A1 project template
- Import printer profiles from slicer files for export targeting
PrusaSlicer / SuperSlicer
- Multi-material zones imported and preserved
- Compatible export for painted multi-material workflows
- Graceful handling of filament index–based color systems
Workflow & Usability
- Drag-and-drop
.3mffiles directly into Blender’s viewport - Flexible import placement options (original position, world origin, 3D cursor)
- Export option presets and user preferences
- Metadata panel for viewing, editing, and adding metadata
- Embedded viewport thumbnail included in exported 3MF files
- Clear progress and status reporting designed for readability
Quality & Maintenance
- 600+ automated tests covering core features and workflows
- Continuous integration validation
- Public Python API for scripting and automation via CLI or other add-ons
- Sphinx-generated API documentation (with getting started guide and workflow recipes) hosted on my site here: https://www.clonecore.net/docs/3mf/guide
- Actively maintained and modern Blender (4.2+/5.0+) compatible
Support Development
If you would like to support continued development, or just appreciate the add-on and would like to tip, you can do that here:
Credits
Maintained by Clonephaze (2025– ) Originally created by Ghostkeeper (2020–2023)
What's New
2.7.3 June 16th, 2026
2.7.3 - Better Progress Feedback & Improved Color Detection
What's New
Smarter progress indicators that automatically adapt to the task you're running.
- Quick operations complete without any progress bar flashing in and out.
- Medium-sized tasks show progress directly in the 3D Viewport.
- Large exports and baking operations open the full progress window, to avoid hangups in the blender viewport from stopping your indication of progress.
New viewport progress display shows operation status, progress, current step, and elapsed time directly inside Blender without opening an external window.
More reliable progress windows with improved cleanup and automatic closing behavior to prevent leftover windows from previous operations.
Improved operation timing display that continues updating smoothly during longer tasks such as baking and export processing.
Fixes
Fixed an issue where white colors could be missed during "Detect Colors".
- Models and textures that intentionally contain white areas will now be detected correctly.
Fixed several crashes in "Detect Colors".
- Improved stability when analyzing textures with very little color variation or large areas of a single color.
very useful and thanzzz