What files the quoting tool accepts

The configurator accepts files up to 50 MB. A 3D model is priced automatically. A drawing is passed to the shop with the data that could be read from it. The engine recognises the file type itself; the customer uploads the file as received and does not have to classify it.

STEP and IGES

STEP and IGES files follow the full automatic path: geometry analysis, a 3D preview with clickable features, the configurator and a price. Assemblies are split into parts and priced together; identical parts are grouped. These are the only formats for which a quote can reach the customer without manual handling.

DXF

A DXF file is either a flat 1:1 cutting profile (laser, waterjet, sheet metal) or a drawing sheet made of views. The engine distinguishes the two itself. From a profile, the engine extrudes a solid, which then follows the ordinary path with a 3D preview and the configurator. From a DXF drawing sheet, the attributes are read and the part is priced by hand. Unlike a PDF drawing, a DXF drawing sheet is never rebuilt into a solid.

• Thickness: the customer enters it; if the customer does not, a thickness noted in the file is used. Without either, the profile cannot be extruded.
• Units: if the file declares none, the customer selects millimetres, centimetres or inches. Units declared in the file are always used.
• Nesting: every part laid out on the sheet is priced as a separate item.

PDF drawings, scans and photos

From a vector drawing, the engine reads:

• the material, which it matches to the shop's library;
• the quantity;
• threads;
• the ISO 2768 general tolerance classes: linear f, m, c, v and geometric H, K, L;
• roughness;
• hole fits;
• heat treatment and coating.

Individual GD&T feature control frames are not read. For flat parts made by a single extrusion, the engine can also rebuild the solid from the drawing and run it through the ordinary geometry analysis.

Scans and photos of drawings are accepted, because this is often all the customer has; otherwise the customer would upload a photo renamed to .pdf. Values that cannot be read reliably are not guessed. The customer leaves an e-mail address and a quantity, the enquiry appears in the shop's Quotes tab, and the shop prices it by hand from the drawing.

Accepted image formats: JPG, PNG, TIFF and WEBP. HEIC, the default format of the iPhone, is not accepted. An image, PDF or STEP file whose content does not match its extension fails at analysis. DXF and IGES files have no reliable signature and are not checked.

If a drawing lacks the scale, the material thickness or a material the shop stocks, the customer can enter the missing value, and the drawing is read again. If the part can then be rebuilt, the customer continues in the 3D configurator, as with an uploaded model. Otherwise the customer sends the drawing with an e-mail address, a quantity and a material, and the shop prices it by hand.