Short pieces on what Preview3D does and why it works the way it does.
A shaded model shows its shape, but not always what it is made of. Where a fillet ends, where the next face begins, what a part hidden behind another looks like. So since 1.4.0, Preview3D draws a model three ways, and one click switches between them.
October 7, 2026
Do you have 3D models on Printables? You probably have photos of them, maybe from several angles. Printables adds a 3D preview of the first file on top of that — except it is always orange. On a multi-colour model that loses exactly what you painted it for.
September 23, 2026
You download a 3D model and the author has included a finished .gcode. Or a colleague sends you a file saying "the supports look odd on this one". And you want a quick answer to what's actually in it.
August 14, 2026
A model on a display has no scale. You rotate it, you zoom, and you still don't know whether that Raspberry Pi case will fit behind the monitor. Millimetres are hard to picture — and finding out by printing costs you half a day.
August 6, 2026
A folder full of .step files looks, in the Finder, like a folder full of blank sheets of paper. White icon, filename, nothing else. When you're hunting for one part among thirty CAD exports, you open them one after another.
July 29, 2026
You get a STEP file and a PDF drawing with it. The model says what the shape is; the drawing says how big the hole is and to what tolerance. Two places, two files — and when the model is revised, the drawing is often forgotten.
July 21, 2026