Troubleshooting

The report (the CLI’s output, or Report in the app and web app) notes what happened and warns about anything that needs attention. A warning means the file was made but may not do what you want in CAD; the CLI exits with 2. An error means nothing was made; the CLI exits with 1.

Run Analyze (shapemason analyze FILE) to see what’s in a file before converting it.

Common problems

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Finished with an open-path warning (exit code 2)	Shapes in the art don’t close	Fix the art, or turn on Closed shapes only. More
The whole batch was refused, nothing written	One or more outputs already exist	An empty output folder, or `--overwrite` on purpose. Output rules
Converting a DXF refuses to write	The output name is the input’s	`-o`, `-d`, or another Save To folder. Use case
The part is 25.4 times too small or too big	Unitless input made in inches, or the reverse	Set Units. More
The model is tiny and lying on its back	A glTF or Blender export: meters, Y-up	Units › Meters, Up axis › Y. Use case
“mesh is not watertight”	Holes or defects in the mesh	Repair mesh, or Surface body. More
Countersinks, domes and fillets stay faceted	Only cylinders are recognized	Expected; booleans still work. Rebuild them in CAD if needed
Rounded edges look segmented	Offset and Union flatten curves	Lower Flattening tolerance, or skip Union and combine in CAD
An image is missing from the result	Raster images in SVG are skipped	Trace it to vectors in another tool. More
Clipped art comes out unclipped	Clip paths and masks are skipped	Flatten the clips in your design tool. More
DXF text, dimensions or hatches are missing	They aren’t read from DXF input	Outline text in the source; add dimensions in CAD
The wrong font in the result	The font wasn’t found; a fallback was used	Font and Extra fonts folder. More
Hidden layers are missing	Hidden SVG elements are skipped	Include hidden elements
Separate pieces come out as one part	They touch or overlap in the mesh	Separate them in a mesh tool first
Support or modifier objects from a 3MF are missing	Skipped on purpose	Expected
Old laser or CNC software rejects the DXF	Newer DXF version or splines	DXF version › R12, or Curves › Polylines. More
CAD is slow with the STEP	An organic mesh with many faces	Reduce the mesh before converting. More
No text option in the web app or Shortcuts	No fonts in the browser; no file to pass in Shortcuts	Use the app or the CLI. Text
No Quick Action in Finder	The shortcut isn’t set to Use as Quick Action, or not on a Mac	Turn it on; Quick Actions are Mac only. Automation

Open paths will not extrude

1 open path(s) will not extrude in CAD: (20.0,12.0)

A path whose ends don’t meet can’t bound a region, so CAD can’t extrude it. The report gives the position of each one (in mm), and the preview draws it dashed red.

If it should be closed, close it in your design tool. Gaps smaller than the tolerance (0.01 mm) are closed for you; a larger tolerance closes larger gaps.
If it’s decoration you don’t need, turn on Closed shapes only (--closed-only) to drop open paths.
Stroked lines are kept as their centerline, which is open. To get a shape with the stroke’s width, use Strokes › Stroke to path (--strokes to-path).

If every path is open and Closed shapes only drops them all, conversion fails with SVG has no closed profiles.

Mesh is not watertight

mesh is not watertight: 12 open edges, 0 non-manifold edges (try --repair, or --surface-body for a surface body)

A solid needs a closed skin: every edge shared by exactly two triangles. Open edges border a hole; non-manifold edges are shared by three or more triangles. Meshes from scans, games and some exporters often have both.

Repair: Repair mesh (--repair; the app and web app offer Repair Mesh and Retry) drops duplicate faces, welds cracks, makes the winding consistent and fills small holes. The report says what it fixed.
Merge distance: if the cracks are wider than 0.001 mm, raise Merge distance.
Surface body: if it still isn’t closed, Surface body (--surface-body; Import as Surface Body) converts it anyway, with a warning. CAD imports the result as a surface body, not a solid.
Otherwise, fix the mesh in a mesh tool (Blender’s 3D Print toolbox, Meshmixer, your slicer’s repair), or trace it from sections and silhouettes.

Analyze lists each object’s open and non-manifold edges.

Font is not installed

font 'Brand Sans' is not installed; text was set in a system fallback font instead (use --font or --font-dir)

Text in SVG names a font that isn’t on this device, so it was set in another one and won’t look like your design.

Best: convert text to outlines in your design tool before exporting. Then no fonts are needed, anywhere.
Install the font, or point Extra fonts folder (--font-dir) at a folder with its files.
Or choose the font to use instead with Font (--font).

In the app, the font pickers list the fonts the app can actually use, which inside the sandbox may be fewer than the system shows.

The web app has no fonts at all, so it leaves SVG text out of the result and says so; see what the web app can’t do.

Wrong size or units

largest dimension is 2.36 mm; if this was modelled in inches, pass --units in

largest dimension is 25400 mm; if this was modelled in metres or microns, pass --units

A part under 3 mm or over 3000 mm is usually a unit mistake.

Meshes: STL, OBJ and PLY have no units, so they’re read as millimeters. Set Units (--units in, cm, m) to what the file was modelled in. 3MF records its unit, which is used.
SVG: coordinates without units are CSS pixels, 96 per inch. If the art was drawn in mm or inches, set Units (--units mm), or scale to a known size with Scale to width.
DXF: the file’s own unit is used; setting Units to mm or inches overrides it.

Skipped content

skipped 2 raster image(s); only vector geometry is converted

skipped 4 TEXT entities; only sketch geometry is converted

1 group(s) use clip-path/mask, which DXF cannot represent; geometry was exported unclipped

Pictures, DXF text, dimensions and hatches have no sketch geometry, so they are left out. Clip paths and masks can’t be represented in a DXF, so the geometry under them is exported whole: apply the clip in your design tool (flatten or expand it into plain shapes) before exporting.

Nothing to cut there

Z=50 is outside the mesh (0 to 20); nothing to cut there

A cross section position is beyond the mesh along its axis. The message gives the mesh’s range; pick positions inside it.

Many faces

6200 faces is a lot for one file; curved surfaces stay faceted, and CAD may be slow to import or boolean this

Curved surfaces in a mesh stay as many flat facets. Prismatic conversion (--prismatic) turns faceted cylinders into single cylindrical faces. Other curved surfaces stay faceted.

Errors

Message	What to do
`no usable geometry (paths/shapes); text needs fonts or outlining`	The SVG has no shapes, or only text that couldn’t be set. Outline the text, or use the app or CLI with the font installed
`--select matched nothing; ids and layers in the file: …`	Only names no element, group or layer in the file. The message lists what is there
`no object matches '…'; the file has: …`	Object names no object in the mesh. The message, and Analyze, list them
`mesh contained no triangles`	The file has no mesh, or only support and modifier objects (3MF)
`could not parse SVG/DXF/mesh: …`	The file is damaged or not what its extension says. Export it again
`invalid option: …`	An option value the converter won’t take, such as a negative size. Change it

In CAD

The sketch is the wrong size: see wrong size or units, and choose millimeters if your CAD tool asks.
Curves are missing or jagged: older importers can’t read splines. Use Curves › Polylines or DXF version › R12.
Holes in a converted mesh aren’t round: use Prismatic conversion.
The import is a surface, not a solid: the mesh wasn’t watertight and Surface body was on. See above.

Import steps for each tool: Shapr3D, Fusion, Onshape, FreeCAD, SolidWorks.

Current limits

Prismatic conversion recognizes cylinders with square-cut ends only; cones, spheres, tori and fillets stay as flat facets.
Extrusion goes straight up from z = 0 per layer: no draft, taper, chamfer or stacked layers.
Union and Offset flatten curves to polylines.
Output is DXF and STEP, plus SVG and PNG pictures.
Not read: SVG raster images, clip paths and masks; DXF text, dimensions and hatches. All are reported.
Open meshes convert only as surface bodies, when you ask; badly broken meshes may still fail after repair.
The web app can’t set text; Quick Actions and install-quick-action are Mac only.

Still stuck? Email hello@nearlydone.tech or open an issue.