An STL file is still the common way a 3D print leaves a slicer or a desktop scan. A phone’s AR Quick Look, and a lot of product pages that let you “place this in your room,” usually want USDZ. Those are different containers for a mesh, and a double-click on the STL will not turn it into an Apple-ready preview.
The 3D model file converter on CanvaPro accepts OBJ, STL, GLB, GLTF, USDZ, DXF, PLY, 3MF, or a ZIP of those, up to 50 MB, and can export among GLB, GLTF, OBJ, STL, USDZ, PLY, 3MF, and DXF. GLB is the default, which is useful here: you can convert the STL to GLB first, inspect that stand-in, then export USDZ for the phone. The converter uploads over HTTPS and typically takes a couple of minutes. It does not preview the mesh on the page, so inspection happens in a viewer you control.
The 3D file viewer on the same site is local and does not upload the file. It only opens GLB or GLTF. It cannot open USDZ or STL. That is why the honest sequence is STL to GLB, a quick look in the viewer, then a second convert to USDZ for AR, rather than a single leap you cannot check in the browser.
A practical sequence
- Start with a clean STL under 50 MB — a closed mesh if you can, without a huge number of stray shells you did not mean to include.
- Convert it to GLB and open that GLB in the on-site viewer. Orbit, check the scale, and look for inverted faces or a model that landed on its side.
- Convert the same STL, or the inspected GLB, to USDZ when the stand-in looks right. Download the USDZ and open it on an iPhone or iPad with AR Quick Look, or in a tool that supports that format.
- Check real-world scale on the table or the floor. STL files are often unit-less. A fox that was modeled in millimeters can appear huge or tiny in AR until you fix scale in the original tool and convert again.
Convert the STL to GLB first, inspect it, then use the model converter a second time to export USDZ for AR Quick Look.
What this conversion does not do
A format change is not a repair. A non-manifold mesh, a hole, or a tangled normal will usually still be a problem in USDZ. The converter is not a slicer, and the viewer is not a measuring tape. If the print was meant to be 80 millimeters long, confirm that length before you promise an AR preview at life size.
Materials can also surprise you. A monochrome STL has no color or metalness to carry over. USDZ will still open, but it may look like a plain clay object until you add a material in a real 3D app. Do not expect a painted product render from a bare print mesh.
A format change will not invent a mesh from a photo; if you only have a still of the object, start with the image to 3D tool, then convert that GLB.
When GLB is enough
If you only need to show the model on the web, stop at GLB and use the viewer. Export USDZ when the next step is an iOS preview, a product page with Quick Look, or a colleague on an iPhone. Keeping both files — a GLB for the browser and a USDZ for AR — is often clearer than a single format that only one platform likes.
The broader format list, including OBJ, PLY, and 3MF, is in the article on how to convert a 3D model file online.
A short checklist
- Stay under 50 MB, and treat HTTPS upload as part of the convert step. The viewer itself stays local and only opens GLB or GLTF.
- Inspect a GLB stand-in before you rely on a USDZ in AR Quick Look.
- Check scale and orientation on a real table, not only on screen.
- Do not expect a format change to repair a broken mesh or to invent a material the STL never had.
Sharing, names, and a simple test on a table
Give the exports clear names: product-fox-inspect.glb and product-fox-ar.usdz, not two files called export. When you send the USDZ to a colleague, tell them to open it on an iPhone and to look at it both as a Quick Look object and, if they can, placed on a real table. Ask them how large it appeared. A “looks fine on my laptop” report is not the same as a life-size fox next to a coffee cup.
If the model includes several parts, confirm they all survived the trip into GLB and then into USDZ. A missing base, a flipped lid, or a mesh that opened as a hollow shell is easier to catch in the browser viewer than after you have already dropped the USDZ into a product page. When something is wrong, fix it in the original tool if you can, and convert again, rather than trying to patch a USDZ by hand unless you already work in a 3D app that edits that format well.
A model that looks right in the browser and then sits at the right size on a kitchen table is the goal, not a file extension by itself. When you are ready, convert to GLB, take a minute to inspect it, and only then make the USDZ you will open on a phone.
Before you send the USDZ, inspect the GLB stand-in with the steps to view a GLB or GLTF file in your browser.