Cimatron adopts new 3D printing data exchange format

According to 3D printing industry expert Terry Wohlers, principal consultant and president of Wohlers Associates and member of Cimatron's 3D Printing Advisory Board: "Since the late 1980s, the STL file format has been the de facto industry standard for transferring CAD data to additive manufacturing equipment (3D printers). However, the STL format has no provisions for representing colour, textures, materials, lattice/mesh structures, units, and other properties of the finished printed part. "The new XML-based AMF standard was developed to bridge the gap between CAD and modern additive manufacturing technology. This file format contains all relevant information required for making a 3D printed part, including the final part's material, colour and internal structure. "The AMF format was jointly adopted as an industry standard by both ASTM International and the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) last year, and I am glad to see that Cimatron has completed development for supporting this capability in its next software release." Danny Haran, Cimatron's president and CEO, added: "As we've previously stated, we keep looking at solutions that Cimatron can offer to the growing market for additive and hybrid manufacturing. We are pleased to be among the first CAD vendors to offer direct support of AMF. We believe more market participants will adopt AMF as their preferred method of 3D printing file interface in the coming years."