PLY was designed at Stanford for storing 3D-scanned data. Beyond plain geometry it can attach arbitrary per-vertex properties — most importantly vertex colors — which makes it the format of choice for 3D scans, photogrammetry output and point-cloud-derived meshes.
PLY is what 3D scanners and photogrammetry tools write: RealityCapture, Meshroom, Polycam, structured-light and laser scanners, and MeshLab. It was designed at Stanford for scan data, which is why it can carry per-vertex properties that other mesh formats cannot.
Best for: 3D scans and colored meshes from photogrammetry. There is a fuller write-up on the PLY format reference page.
Every format on this site also gets the same viewport tools: orbit, pan and zoom with fit-to-view, isometric and the six standard views, a perspective/orthographic toggle, shaded, shaded-with-edges, wireframe and X-ray display, hide-selected, and a PNG screenshot of the current view. The same controls are on the general 3D and CAD viewer, which accepts every importable format at once.
Worth knowing before you rely on it. A viewer that overstates what it can read wastes more of your time than one that is specific about its limits.
| PLY files | |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .ply |
| Geometry | Triangle mesh / scan data |
| Units | No |
| Colors & materials | Per-vertex colors |
| Animations | No |
| Typical use | 3D scans & photogrammetry |
PLY declares no unit, so coordinates appear as stored with a millimetre label — worth remembering, because photogrammetry output is frequently in metres or in no unit at all.
PLY can be written as well as read here, so the common move is into a printable or shareable mesh format. The converter runs on the same local pipeline as this viewer, so a conversion is just as private as a preview: PLY to STL is the usual choice.
No. The geometry is loaded and shaded with one neutral material, so the per-vertex colors a scanner wrote are not visible. Everything geometric — counts, dimensions, area, sections, measurements — is accurate.
Only if the file contains faces. The viewer renders triangle meshes, so a PLY holding nothing but points has no surfaces to draw. Mesh the cloud in your scanning or photogrammetry tool first.
No. The file is parsed by a JavaScript loader in a Web Worker in your own browser, which matters for scans of people, sites or products that were never meant to be shared.
Because it assumes a closed mesh. Scans usually have holes and open boundaries, and the signed-volume calculation cannot tell you that — treat the number as indicative only.
Geometry: triangle mesh / scan data. Units: no. Colors and materials: per-vertex colors. Animations: no. Of that, the viewer draws geometry and flat base colors; texture maps and animation are never displayed. PLY declares no unit, so coordinates appear as stored with a millimetre label — worth remembering, because photogrammetry output is frequently in metres or in no unit at all.
Read the PLY format reference for the format itself, open the general 3D and CAD viewer if you have several formats to look at, or start from the 3D and CAD converter.
If the model is heavier than it needs to be, the mesh simplifier reads .ply directly, decimates it in your browser and previews the result before you export. If the file is headed for a 3D printer, the G-code viewer shows the sliced toolpath layer by layer once your slicer has run.