Guide · Digital workflow
How to export STL from 3Shape TRIOS for your lab
In 3Shape Unite, STL leaves through Export > Scans with no color; DCM and PLY keep it. The steps, 3Shape's route to a lab and how to upload to our portal.
Short answer
On 3Shape TRIOS, scans leave the Unite software through the case's three-dot menu, under Export > Scans, once the case is post-processed. Export STL, the colorless format every lab software opens; DCM and PLY keep color. Attach the files to your order in the Smile portal, along with the implant brand and platform.
Step by step
- 01
Finish post-processing
Unite only exports scans that are post-processed or already sent. Finish the bite and trimming until the case reaches the Send stage; if post-processing fails, fix the scan first (see the errors below).
- 02
Open the case from Patients or Cases
In Unite, click Patients and the patient's name, or go straight to Cases. Open the case you're sending, not an older copy or the pre-op scan.
- 03
Choose Export > Scans from the three-dot menu
With the case open, click the three-dot menu, then Export and Scans. The save dialog opens with a format picker.
- 04
Save as STL, or PLY when color matters
Pick a folder, give the file a name without the patient's name, select STL and click Save. For esthetic cases, save a PLY too; it keeps color and needs an active TRIOS license on the dongle.
- 05
Attach the files to your Smile portal order
Open an order in the portal, choose the services and teeth (FDI numbering) and attach the STL. For implant work, add the implant brand, platform and scan body model to the order.
Which format should you export from TRIOS?
STL is the TRIOS format any lab software can open. It carries no color and, per 3Shape, the same scan quality as DCM, 3Shape’s own format. When color helps the technician read tissue and tooth, export a PLY as well; it only exports with an active TRIOS license on the dongle.
| format | keeps color? | when to use it |
|---|---|---|
| STL | no | crowns, bridges and full-arch cases where shade comes from the tab and photo; the format our portal accepts |
| DCM | yes, the real scan colors | when the lab works in 3Shape software; check before you send |
| PLY | yes, adapted colors (not the real ones) | esthetic cases, so the technician sees margin and tissue in color; needs an active TRIOS license |
| .3oxz | the whole case package | not for sending outside the 3Shape platform: it carries the patient’s data with it |
Format doesn’t change the geometry. Elbashti and colleagues (Clinical Oral Investigations, 2026) converted 50 full-arch scans taken on a TRIOS 4 from native PLY to STL and OBJ. Dimensions and mesh resolution held; PLY loaded faster and took up less space than OBJ.
How do you send a case through 3Shape’s own route?
3Shape’s route sends the case from Unite straight to a connected lab. In Unite 24.1 and later, you connect under More > Store > Labs > Add connection, and the lab has to approve the request. Once the case is post-processed, it goes out with the Send button.
On the lab’s side, 3Shape requires a Store profile, created in 3Shape Communicate, for the lab to show up in the Store. Outside that route, 3Shape describes a manual export: the file leaves Unite and reaches the lab however you choose. That’s how cases reach Smile Digital Lab, as files attached to the order in our dentist portal.
Which scan errors send a TRIOS file back?
A TRIOS file comes back when a part the design needs is missing or the mesh is flawed. Some of these errors stop Unite from post-processing the case at all; the rest only show up when the technician opens the file.
| error | what happens | how to avoid it on TRIOS |
|---|---|---|
| No opposing arch | contacts and occlusion designed blind | scan the full opposing arch before post-processing |
| No bite, or a bite that didn’t align | the restoration may come in high or out of contact | start at the buccal of the most posterior molar and cover four teeth; if it won’t snap, use Re-Align Manually or 3-point alignment under Tools |
| Mesh clipped during trimming, or with holes | margin or adjacent tooth with no surface to design on | trim only tissue and artifacts; 3Shape lists holes, double images and overlapping layers among post-processing failures |
| Scan body covered by tissue or incomplete | implant position shifts in the design | expose the scan body and capture its top and sides before moving on |
| Unite order form doesn’t match the scan | post-processing fails | if the form is wrong, redo the case with the right form |
| Full arch with too many images | post-processing may fail | 3Shape suggests keeping a full arch to 2,000 to 2,500 3D images |
Scan path, margins and scan bodies are covered in our intraoral scanning guide. For full-arch implant bridges, also see our full-arch scan body guide.
How do you attach a TRIOS file to a Smile portal order?
In the Smile portal, the TRIOS STL is attached to the order once you’ve picked the services on your price list and marked the teeth in FDI numbering. Attach what came out of Export > Scans, with both arches, and leave the .3oxz out: it carries the patient’s data. The patient’s name goes in the order field, not in the file name.
STL is accepted; PLY or DCM only after you check with us before your first case. Shade, material and implant details go on the order itself, as our guide to sending a case shows, and the portal screens are in Portuguese. We check every case at intake, starting with the file; if something is missing, we contact you before design starts.
Related services
Open a portal accountFrequently asked questions
Can TRIOS export OBJ?
Not according to 3Shape's Unite export page. Scan export options are DCM, STL and PLY, plus the .3oxz case package. If you need color, DCM keeps the real scan colors and PLY carries adapted colors.
Why won't Unite let me export my scan?
Unite only exports scans that have been post-processed or sent. When post-processing fails, 3Shape lists the usual causes as insufficient trimming, holes and double images, overlapping scans, and an order form that doesn't match what was scanned.
Does a TRIOS PLY show true tooth color?
Not quite. 3Shape describes PLY colors as adapted; the true colors stay in DCM. For the shade of the restoration, what counts is the shade tab written on the order and a photo with the tab in frame, not the color on the mesh.
Sources
- How to export cases and scans in Unite · 3Shape (updated September 9, 2026)
- How to connect to a lab in 3Shape Unite · 3Shape (updated September 3, 2026)
- How to build a lab profile for the 3Shape Unite Store · 3Shape (updated September 10, 2026)
- What to do when you cannot post-process your scan · 3Shape (updated November 24, 2025)
- How to achieve the best occlusion alignment results · 3Shape (TRIOS 3)
- Mesh quality comparison of common three file formats derived from intraoral scans · Clinical Oral Investigations (Elbashti et al., 2026)
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