Quick Look
Solidly installs a Quick Look extension, so pressing Space on a 3D file in the Finder draws it with the same engine, lighting, environment, tone mapping, and anti-aliasing the application uses. The extension is registered with macOS the first time Solidly is launched.
What the preview does
The preview shows the model and nothing else. It offers navigation, with the same gestures as the viewport:
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Drag | Orbit |
| Right-drag, or a two-finger click-drag | Pan |
| Scroll or pinch | Zoom |
Your orbit style, sensitivity, and scroll inversion settings apply, because the preview reads the same preferences the application writes. Material suggestions and texture classification do not run in a preview.
Trial and purchase
The extension draws previews while Solidly is unlocked on the Mac, during the free trial or after Solidly has been bought. When Solidly is locked, the extension declines every file, and macOS draws its own preview in its place, exactly as it does for a format switched off in Settings. See Free trial and purchase.
The extension does not connect to the internet. In the direct download it reads the confirmation that the Solidly application records each time it checks the account. In the Mac App Store build it reads the App Store's signed record of the trial or purchase, which the application passes to it, so a refund reaches previews the next time Solidly is opened.
Formats
The extension claims .gltf, .glb, .fbx, .obj, .stl, .ply, .usd, .usda, .usdc, .usdz, .step, .stp, .iges, .igs, and .3mf.
Settings ▸ Advanced ▸ Quick Look has a switch per format. A format switched off is declined by the extension.
Multi-file formats in the Mac App Store build
A .gltf needs its .bin and its textures, an .obj needs its .mtl, and a USD layer needs its sublayers. In the Mac App Store build, the extension previews self-contained single files, .glb, .usdz, .stl, .ply, .iges, .igs, and .3mf, wherever they are. Every other format is previewed only when the file is inside a folder Solidly has been granted access to, as described in Sibling files, and is declined elsewhere so the system previewer answers instead. After the Mac restarts, those previews resume once Solidly has been opened.
STEP, IGES, and 3MF previews
A STEP or IGES file is drawn with edge lines, at the complexity level Auto chooses; see Complexity. A large file can take several seconds to read, and when it does, the preview shows a progress indicator until the model is ready. A file that fails to read after the indicator has appeared shows its icon and a message that Solidly could not read it.
A Bambu Studio or Orca Slicer project is previewed on its build plates; see Bambu Studio and Orca Slicer projects.
Taking over the formats macOS reserves
macOS ships its own 3D previewers, and for most of these formats they outrank Solidly's, so the system asks them first. Two Apple extensions are involved:
| Apple extension | Formats it holds | Formats that lose their preview if it is switched off |
|---|---|---|
| Hydra preview extension | .obj, .stl, .ply, .usd, .usda, .usdc | .abc, .mtlx |
| Reality preview extension | .usdz | .reality |
Turning on a Quick Look switch for one of those formats also asks macOS to step the corresponding Apple extension aside, after which Quick Look falls through to Solidly. The change is per user, requires no administrator password, and writes nothing outside your own preview extension registry. Turning the switch off restores the Apple extension.
The right-hand column matters: an Apple extension that steps aside also stops previewing formats Solidly does not claim, and those fall back to the generic previewer. The settings pane states this before the change is made.
If Solidly cannot read the current state of an Apple extension, the row shows a warning symbol and explains that the switch may not take effect. Opening the file in Solidly is unaffected either way.
Direct download only
Replacing an Apple previewer is not available in the Mac App Store build. The per-format switches still work in that build for formats macOS does not reserve. See The two distributions.
Settings the preview uses
The extension and the application share a preferences container, so the environment, lighting, tone mapping, anti-aliasing, texture size limit, and import memory limit set in Solidly are what the preview uses. Changing a setting changes the next preview.