What we check / Inside a Print Score

Know what the
file can tell you.

File-derived geometry. User-supplied production inputs. Questions still unresolved. Know which is which before you print.

Check a File Look inside the sample
  • Geometry, with its limits visible
  • A downloadable example to inspect
Illustrative mesh inspection: a mechanical housing with triangle surfaces, coordinate bounds, and a magnified open boundary.
Illustration · not a scored model

01 Three kinds of evidence

A finding is not
a guarantee.

Keep the measured facts separate from the assumptions and the questions still open.

Calculated / From file coordinates

Geometry you can inspect.

Coordinate bounds, triangle topology checks, triangle surface area, and a signed-volume reference when the required mesh conditions are available. Confirm units and read every analysis limit.

Supplied / For production planning

Inputs the mesh cannot provide.

Use the exact slicer and your current business records for printer, profile, orientation, supports, material usage, time, labor, overhead, packaging, shipping, fees, tax, and margin. Print Score does not calculate a production price.

To verify / At the source

Rights you still need to check.

Organize license, attribution, and commercial-use questions. Source Check does not open the remote page or verify permission.

Prepare the source checklist
02 / Look closer

Same size. Different surface.

Compare two synthetic STL fixtures before using a personal file. Both have a 10 × 10 × 10 envelope when their coordinates are read as millimeters. One has a triangular opening that its dimensions alone do not reveal.

Wireframes projected from the two STL files, viewed from below. Three edges around the missing triangle are highlighted on the right.
Drawn from the downloadable triangle coordinates. Highlighted edges occur in only one triangle; they are the boundary of the opening.

Closed cube

12 triangles · 0 boundary edges

The triangle shell closes. Continue with units, intended use, and slicer checks; closed geometry alone does not establish a successful print.

Download closed STL

Cube with one triangle missing

11 triangles · 3 boundary edges

Inspect whether the opening is intentional before using a volume reference. If it is unintended, repair it, recheck the exact exported file, and validate the result in the target slicer.

Download open STL
Where the numbers come from

These repository test fixtures were checked on September 13, 2026. The exercise counts identical triangle-edge endpoints and measures coordinate bounds. STL files do not declare units; millimeters are an explicit assumption here.

This is a reproducible geometry lesson, not a Print Score report or a physical printing test. It is separate from the unscored report-structure sample and the gallery's teaching illustrations.

Download measurements, method, and file hashes

Try the check: download either file, open Check File, sign in, and select that STL. Compare the finding with this exercise. The report is saved in your account.

03 From evidence to action

Make the next move
a considered one.

  1. Inspect what changed.

    Review the finding. Repair or ask for a better file when needed.

  2. Validate the setup.

    Confirm orientation, supports, material, and intended use in your own workflow.

  3. Explain the decision.

    Carry findings and open questions into the customer handoff before accepting the job.

A mesh preflight does not establish physical safety, a successful print, or permission to sell. Slicer review, physical testing, and production authorization remain separate.

See the handoff

A report you can explain.

The unscored sample explains the fields, evidence boundaries, and next steps without inventing measurements for an unattached model.

View Sample Report