View PLY files in your browser
The format of 3D scans, from Stanford's bunny to photogrammetry and Gaussian splats. Open one right here, in its own colors, with nothing to install. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your model opens in 3D, lit and framed, with what's in it beside it and what you pick on the other side.
- Turn, zoom and move it • Double click to center on a point
- Every object in a list • Hide one or see it alone
- Its own colors, clay, wireframe or X-ray
- Export • PNG, GLB, USDZ, STL and OBJ
About PLY
Greg Turk made PLY at Stanford in 1994 for the models its 3D scanners captured, the Stanford bunny among them. Scanning apps, photogrammetry and point cloud tools still save it, and Gaussian splatting saves its captures as PLY too.
A PLY starts with a text header that lists its elements and their properties, then holds them as text or binary: vertices with a position and often a color and a normal, faces between them, or only points. A splat PLY keeps the color, size, turn and opacity of each splat.
Filepeek reads it in your browser: a mesh in its colors, a point cloud as points, and Gaussian splats drawn with Spark as the capture they are. Meshes get Inspect, Measure and Section, and Export saves them as GLB, USDZ, STL or OBJ, or the view as PNG.
Polygon File Format
.ply
Format
- MIME type
- application/octet-stream
- Made by
- Stanford University
- Released
- 1994
Inside the file
- Header
- Its elements and properties, as text
- Vertices
- Positions, often with colors and normals
- Faces
- Between vertices, or none in a point cloud
- Splats
- The color, size, turn and opacity of each
Opens in every browser
Browsers download PLY files, and scanning and 3D apps are the usual way to see one. Filepeek opens them in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, text or binary.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Questions
How do I open a PLY file?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek a PLY. It opens at once in 3D, in its own colors, with nothing to install.
Can it show a point cloud?
Yes. A PLY with no faces opens as points, each in its color, with how many there are in its details.
Does it open Gaussian splats?
Yes. A PLY of Gaussian splats, as capture apps save them, opens as the capture it is, drawn by Spark. Choose Turn it over when it's upside down.
Can I turn a PLY into an STL?
Yes. Choose Export, then Save as STL for 3D printing, or OBJ, or GLB, which keeps its colors.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The model opens inside your browser and never leaves your device.