Export the model: GLB for SketchUp, DXF for the CNC

What Fabivo gives you today

The 3D view has three outputs. Save 3D model (glTF) downloads a GLB with one object per board, grouped by module. Part DXF (mm) downloads a ZIP with one file per distinct board, with its cutouts and pockets. The third is the PNG image of the view.

The cut plan has its own ZIP: Nested DXF for CNC. It holds one file per sheet, with the parts in place and the sheet border on its own layer. The PDF report, the SVG diagram and the CSV list stay for anyone cutting by hand.

There is no .skp file and no round trip. The GLB and the DXF are output copies: an edit made outside does not return to Fabivo.

Open the piece in SketchUp

SketchUp 2024 and later import GLB natively. SketchUp 2023 needs an import extension. The file arrives as one component with groups inside: the file name becomes the component and every board keeps the part name.

• Check the piece in Fabivo. Look at the overall size and the board thickness: the GLB copies what is there, mistakes included.
• Open View, in the corner of the 3D view, and press Save 3D model (glTF). The file downloads with the project name.
• In SketchUp, use File → Import and pick the GLB. There is no unit to choose: glTF uses metres and Fabivo writes positions in metres.
• Double-click the component to edit it, or explode it to move single boards.
• Measure one known part and compare it with Fabivo. If it differs, fix the scale in SketchUp, not in the file.

Reference objects such as a fridge, an oven or a wall arrive as translucent boxes. Delete them if you only want the boards.

What the GLB keeps and what it loses

The GLB carries geometry, materials and names. Shop data travels in extras, but SketchUp does not read it.

• Kept: the real shape of each board, cutouts and mitres included; its position, its orientation, the material colour and name, and the part name.
• Lost in SketchUp: grain, edge banding, hardware, holes, model formulas and the assembly order. The GLB extras keep grain, thickness and sizes in millimetres for other programs, but SketchUp ignores them.
• Door and drawer fronts arrive as boards. On a glass door the frame arrives and the opening stays empty: the pane is hardware.
• There is no link to the model: if a dimension changes in Fabivo, export again and replace the file.

Part DXF, for machining

The parts ZIP is the machining file. Each DXF holds one flat board at its finished size, in millimetres, with the origin at the bottom-left corner. Identical boards share one file and the name says _x2.

• Layer PARTS: the board outline, closed. Notches that reach the edge are part of this outline.
• Layer CUTOUT: cutouts that go through the board, such as a sink opening or a cable hole.
• Layers POCKET_<mm>: blind pockets, with the depth in the layer name.
• The ZIP includes parts.csv with the name, quantity, sizes, material, grain and whether the part is special. The README repeats the layers and the units.
• There is no text inside the drawing: the part name lives in the file name and in the CSV, so no machine mistakes a label for a cut.

The outline is the finished part size, with no tool offset. Kerf, lead-ins and tabs are machine settings. Mitres are not a 2D shape: cut those parts from the drawing, not from this DXF.

Nested DXF for the whole sheet

The plan ZIP is for the machine that cuts the whole sheet. It holds one DXF per sheet, with the border on SHEET and every part at its true position inside PARTS. Those positions already include the kerf and edge trim of the project, so the layout in the file is the one on screen.

The plan DXF draws rectangles, because the plan lays out rectangular parts. Cutouts and pockets live in the parts ZIP. When a part has an opening, machine its outline from the plan and add the cutout from its part file.

• One file per sheet, with the material and the size in the name.
• The SHEET layer can be hidden: some programs add the border themselves.
• parts.csv says which part sits on which sheet, with its banded edges and quantity. The placed_quantity column says how many were placed: a 0 is a part that did not fit.

Units and checks before you send a file

The DXF is in millimetres, with the unit in the header and coordinates to three decimals. The GLB is in metres, the glTF convention, and keeps shop sizes in millimetres inside its extras. Fabivo shows the unit you pick: mm, cm or inches.

Before you send a file, check four things:

• The overall size of the piece, in the unit your shop uses.
• The sheet format and its real thickness, measured with a caliper.
• The kerf of your blade, which the plan and the nested DXF positions already use.
• The grain direction on visible parts, when the material has one.

A correct file does not fix a badly measured piece. Check the model before you export.