Import Points¶

In one sentence: Load a point cloud file from disk and create a Points::Feature object in the active document.

Overview¶

Workbench: Points
Menu: Points → Import Points…
Shortcut: none

Reads a point cloud file and adds it to the current document as a Points::Feature object, ready for visualisation, processing, or export. Supported formats are .asc, .pcd, .ply, and .e57.

Intuition¶

A point cloud is just a large list of 3-D coordinates — the output of a LiDAR scanner, a structured-light system, or photogrammetry software. FreeCAD itself cannot create point clouds, but Import Points lets you bring in clouds produced by external hardware or software and work with them alongside CAD geometry.

Think of it as a straightforward file-open: you pick a supported cloud file and FreeCAD reads the coordinates into a lightweight Points::Feature object that you can visualise and pass to the other Points tools.

When to use it¶

You have a scan file (.ply, .pcd, .asc, .e57) from a LiDAR scanner or photogrammetry pipeline that you want to bring into FreeCAD.
You need to compare a manufactured part against its scan cloud.
You want to use the cloud as a reference for curve-on-mesh or reverse-engineering workflows.

When NOT to use it¶

Don't use this to open mesh files (STL, OBJ, etc.) — those are triangle meshes, not point clouds. Use the Mesh workbench → Import Mesh instead.
Don't use this for CAD formats (STEP, IGES, FCStd) — use File → Open or File → Import.

Step-by-step¶

Switch to the Points workbench.
Choose Points → Import Points….
A file dialog opens. Navigate to your point cloud file.
Select the file and click Open.
FreeCAD creates a Points::Feature object in the document tree.
If the cloud's bounding box does not contain the origin, FreeCAD asks whether to translate the cloud to the origin. Accept for most workflows (see note below).

Tip

Survey and geo-referenced clouds are often millions of metres from the origin (absolute coordinates). Always translate to origin on import — FreeCAD's 3-D renderer uses single-precision floats internally, which causes visible jitter for large coordinate values.

Parameters¶

This tool has no task panel — it opens a file dialog directly. The only parameter is the file path chosen in the dialog.

Input	Description
File path	Path to the point cloud file to import
Translate to origin?	Dialog prompt shown when the cloud bounding box does not contain the origin. Selecting Yes translates the entire cloud so its bounding-box centre is at the document origin.

Supported file formats¶

Extension	Format	Notes
`.asc`	ASCII XYZ	One point per line, whitespace-separated X Y Z
`.pcd`	Point Cloud Data	PCL library format; supports colour and normals
`.ply`	Polygon File Format	Binary or ASCII; supports colour and normals
`.e57`	ASTM E57	Standard scanner exchange format

Common mistakes and pitfalls¶

Rendering jitter on distant clouds

Cause: Geo-referenced data has absolute coordinates far from the origin. FreeCAD's renderer uses 32-bit floats; large values lose precision.
Fix: Accept the "Translate to origin?" prompt, or move the cloud manually with the Placement property after import.

File not found / format not supported

Cause: File extension is recognised but the content does not match (e.g. a binary PCD file that FreeCAD's reader cannot parse).
Fix: Convert the file using CloudCompare or open3d before importing.

E57 files import but appear empty

Cause: Some E57 files store intensity or RGB channels but no XYZ data that FreeCAD can read.
Fix: Open the E57 file in CloudCompare, confirm it has XYZ data, and export as PCD or PLY before importing into FreeCAD.

Python API¶

import Points

# Import a PLY file into the active document
Points.insert("/path/to/scan.ply", "Document")

# Import an E57 file
Points.insert("/path/to/scan.e57", "Document")

# The resulting object is a Points::Feature in App.ActiveDocument
import FreeCAD as App
cloud = App.ActiveDocument.ActiveObject
print(cloud.Points.Count)   # number of points imported