Service 03 of 8
File Prep Studio
Make the file printable before it wastes a spool
Mesh repair, wall-thickness fixes, nesting, and raster-to-vector cleanup by people who actually run the machines.
Most failed jobs are failed files. We repair non-manifold geometry, thicken walls that would print as air, split oversize parts with keyed joints, and nest flat patterns so you buy three sheets instead of five.
- Non-manifold, flipped-normal and self-intersection repair
- Part splitting with dowel/dovetail keys for oversize models
- Sheet nesting with kerf compensation — typical yield gain 15–30%
- Scanned sketch or logo redrawn as clean, cuttable vector
How the job runs
Every step, and who carries the risk at each one
- 01
Send what you have
A broken mesh, a scanned sketch, a photo of a logo, a CAD file that won't export cleanly. The messier it is the more useful this service is.
- 02
Diagnosis
You get a short written note: what's wrong, what it would cost to fix, and whether the fix is worth doing. Some files are faster to redraw than to repair, and we'll say so.
- 03
Repair or redraw
Manifold repair, normal correction, wall thickening, part splitting with keyed joints, or a clean redraw from scratch.
- 04
Verified output
The file comes back with a slicer screenshot or nesting preview proving it's machine-ready, plus the profile notes we'd use to run it.
On the floor
What actually does the work
- Mesh repair
- Non-manifold edges, flipped normals, self-intersections
- Thickness analysis
- Minimum-wall heat map against your chosen process
- Part splitting
- Dowel, dovetail and puzzle keys for oversize models
- Sheet nesting
- Kerf-compensated, typical yield gain 15–30%
- Raster to vector
- Scanned sketch or logo redrawn as clean curves
Pricing
Published, not negotiated
Mesh repair
Per file, two revision rounds included
$45
Part splitting
Oversize model split with keyed joints
$85
Sheet nesting
Per job, any number of parts
$40
Redraw from scratch
Quoted on complexity
from $120
Volume pricing applies above 50 units. Curated and Studio Partner tiers take 15% off every line.
Recent work
Jobs that came through this service
Generated placeholder imagery — replace with shop photography before launch.
FAQ
About file prep studio
Do you keep any rights to the repaired file?
None. The file is yours, including the repaired version and anything we redraw. We keep nothing and license nothing.
What if the file can't be saved?
We tell you before charging. If the honest answer is that redrawing is cheaper than repairing, you get that estimate and decide. The diagnosis itself is free.
Can you work from a photo?
For 2D artwork, yes — that's the raster-to-vector service. For 3D geometry a photo isn't enough; we'd need measurements or a scan.
How many revisions are included?
Two rounds. In practice most jobs need none, because the diagnosis step catches the disagreements before any work happens.
Often booked together
Print Overflow
Send us the job your bench can't absorb. We run your files on a managed farm and ship finished parts, not excuses.
$0.18 / gLaser & CNC Jobs
Thick acrylic, hardwood, anodised aluminium, stainless. Fiber marking, rotary work and 3-axis routing on call.
$32 / sheet setupSmall-Batch Production
When a design takes off, we take it from the bench to a real production run — tooling advice, QC, and a unit cost that survives retail.
Free costing review