CAD Viewer for Windows

Inspect CAD files on Windows without editing them

Tridi Viewer opens supported STEP, STP, IGES, IGS, and BREP files as a focused Windows inspection workflow. The app tessellates supported CAD shapes into display geometry for real-time viewing while retaining available native edge topology for Solid Wireframe inspection.

This makes it useful when you need to review a supplier handoff, confirm that an assembly opens, inspect part hierarchy and dimensions, or identify obvious orientation and tessellation problems without launching a full parametric CAD system.

Common CAD viewer use cases

• Preview a STEP or IGES handoff before importing it into a manufacturing or design application.
• Check assembly hierarchy, object names, colors, transforms, orientation, and overall dimensions.
• Inspect native face boundaries and B-rep edges separately from viewport tessellation triangles.
• Review a CAD model locally when uploading customer or production geometry to an online service is inappropriate.
• Compare tessellation quality and loading cost before exporting the model into a mesh-based pipeline.

Supported CAD formats and inspection data

STEP and STP are the primary neutral CAD exchange formats supported by the viewer. IGES, IGS, and BREP are also available for supported shapes and topology. Imported results can include tessellated geometry, hierarchy, transforms, available names and colors, dimensions, and native curve topology.

The visible shaded surface is generated for the viewport. It is not a replacement for the source mathematical surface definition, but it provides a practical way to orbit, frame, select, measure, and inspect supported CAD data alongside mesh-oriented formats.

Native CAD edges versus display triangles

Curved CAD surfaces must be tessellated before a real-time renderer can display them. A higher tessellation quality can produce smoother curves, but it also creates more triangles and can increase loading time and memory use.

Solid Wireframe can display available native CAD edge topology instead of drawing every generated display triangle. This distinction helps reveal face boundaries and part segmentation without confusing those boundaries with the tessellation used only for rendering. See the CAD edge inspection guide for the viewport workflow.

What this CAD workflow does not replace

Tridi Viewer is a viewer and inspection tool, not a parametric CAD editor. It does not expose feature history, sketches, constraints, construction geometry, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, manufacturing annotations, or repair commands. It also does not certify watertightness, tolerances, machinability, printability, or CAD-kernel validity.

A successful visual preview confirms only that the supported data reached the viewer. Use the source CAD application or a dedicated validation tool when engineering acceptance, measurement precision, topology repair, or manufacturing decisions matter.

Local review and handoff

Model processing occurs on the Windows device. Original CAD contents are not uploaded to Orcavia, which can make a desktop viewer useful for early review of confidential handoffs. Store services may still be involved in installation, licensing, updates, and the limited content-free counters described in the privacy policy.

Keep the original CAD file unchanged and use Tridi Viewer for visual inspection. If the result needs editing or formal validation, continue the handoff in the appropriate CAD or manufacturing application.

Related viewer guides