Uploading STEP Files

STEP files are uploaded at the item level — each STEP file represents one item in your Item Library. You can upload a file when creating a new item or add it to an existing item at any time.

Before You Upload

Make sure your file is ready:

• Format: .step or .stp file extension
• Protocol: STEP AP203 or AP214 (see Supported Formats)
• Size: maximum 250 MB per file
• Content: single part or assembly — both are accepted, but very large assemblies may time out

If your file is larger than 250 MB, open it in your CAD tool and export a simplified version. Remove internal geometry, lattice structures, and thread representations. The external shell is all LOP needs to compute the bounding box and generate the 3D preview.

Uploading When Creating a New Item

1. Go to the Item Library in the left sidebar
2. Click + New Item
3. In the item creation form, fill in the Name and set the Type to Irregular or leave it as Cuboid if you want the STEP file to override the dimensions
4. Scroll to the 3D Model section
5. Click Upload STEP File
6. Select your .step or .stp file from your computer
7. The upload begins immediately and a progress bar shows transfer status
8. Once the file is fully uploaded, processing starts automatically
9. Click Save Item — you do not need to wait for processing to finish

The item is saved to your library immediately. Processing continues in the background and the 3D model and computed dimensions appear automatically when complete.

Uploading to an Existing Item

1. Go to the Item Library
2. Find the item you want to update and click its name to open it
3. Click Edit
4. Scroll to the 3D Model section
5. If a STEP file was previously uploaded, you will see the current model preview and a Replace Model button. If no model exists, you will see Upload STEP File
6. Click the appropriate button and select your file
7. Click Save Item

Replacing a model triggers a new processing run. The old 3D preview remains visible until the new one is ready.

Upload Progress

Once you select a file, the upload panel shows:

• File name and size
• Upload progress bar — percentage transferred to the cloud
• Processing status — updates automatically as the pipeline runs (Queued → Parsing → Analyzing → Tessellating → Exporting → Complete)

You can navigate away from the page during upload and processing. The operation continues in the background. When you return to the item, the latest status is shown.

After Upload: What Gets Updated

When processing completes successfully, LOP automatically updates the item record with:

You can review and override any of these values by editing the item. For example, if the CAD model includes packaging material that slightly inflates the bounding box, you can adjust the dimensions to match the actual packaged size.

Uploading Multiple Items

There is no batch STEP upload — each file must be uploaded to its corresponding item individually. If you have many irregular items, consider whether all of them truly need STEP geometry or whether a standard cuboid approximation is sufficient for planning purposes.

For bulk item creation without STEP models, use the Excel/CSV import feature, which can create hundreds of items in a single operation.

Manual Orientation

After processing completes, you can set how the item should be oriented when placed in containers. This is done in the Item Library edit view.

Set as Bottom

The most important orientation tool. It lets you define which face of the item rests on the container floor.

1. Go to the Item Library → click on a STEP item → Edit
2. The 3D preview shows the item in its original CAD orientation
3. Orbit the 3D preview (drag to rotate) to view the face you want as the bottom
4. Click Set as Bottom — the current camera direction becomes the new downward direction
5. The item reorients so the selected face is now on the ground plane

For example, if a conveyor belt arrives from CAD standing on its end, orbit until you see the flat bottom face, then click Set as Bottom to lay it flat.

Axis Rotation (Fine-Tuning)

After Set as Bottom, you can fine-tune the orientation with per-axis rotation:

1. Click an axis button (X = red, Y = green, Z = blue) to activate it
2. Use the arrow buttons (up/down chevrons) to rotate:
   • 1° per click at normal speed
   • Hold for acceleration: 1° → 2° → 5° → 10° (thresholds at 500ms, 1500ms, 3000ms)
3. Click the axis button again to deactivate

This is useful for small angular corrections — for example, rotating a machine base 5° to align a mounting surface with the floor plane.

Auto-Rotate Preview

A Play/Pause button in the top-left of the 3D preview toggles automatic rotation:

• Paused (default) — the preview stays in the current orientation for inspection
• Playing — the preview slowly rotates so you can verify the item looks correct from all angles

Reset

Click Reset to clear all manual orientation and return the item to its original CAD orientation.

Orientation Sync with Plans

When you change an item's orientation or dimensions in the library and click Save Item, any plans that contain this item will automatically pick up the updated orientation the next time the plan is opened. You do not need to manually remove and re-add the item.

Dimensions

After processing, the item's dimensions are computed from the 3D geometry:

• Length — the longest horizontal dimension of the axis-aligned bounding box (AABB)
• Width — the shortest horizontal dimension
• Height — the vertical dimension

These dimensions represent the minimum rectangular envelope of the oriented item. For items with angled or irregular profiles, the bounding box may be larger than the item's actual footprint — a disclaimer note appears: "Dimensions (bounding box) — angled parts may show larger values than actual."

Two volume measurements are shown:

• Displaced volume — the volume of the bounding box (L × W × H)
• Material volume — the actual solid volume computed from the mesh geometry. This may be unavailable for non-watertight meshes.

The triangle count of the tessellated mesh is also shown for reference, which indicates the geometric complexity of the 3D model.

Reprocess

The Reprocess button (available on items that already have a STEP file) re-runs the processing pipeline without requiring you to re-upload the file. Use it when:

• The processing pipeline has been updated with improvements
• You want to regenerate the GLB 3D model
• The original processing failed and the issue may have been resolved server-side

Reprocessing does not reset your manual orientation — your saved orientation is preserved.

3D Preview

After processing completes, the item detail view shows an interactive 3D preview:

• "Loading 3D model..." text appears during download, with a percentage indicator showing progress
• Once loaded, the mesh renders with fine edge wireframes that highlight details like screw holes, bolt heads, and panel edges
• Dimension labels are visible on the preview: Length (red), Width (blue), Height (green)
• Drag to rotate the view, scroll to zoom in and out

The 3D preview uses the same GLB mesh file that renders in the load planning editor viewport, so what you see in the preview is exactly what will appear in your plans.

Next Steps

• Processing Stages — understand what happens after upload
• FAQ & Troubleshooting — resolve common upload issues