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OPENSCAD(1)		     General Commands Manual		     OPENSCAD(1)

NAME
     openscad - script file based graphical CAD environment

SYNOPSIS
     openscad [options] [file]

DESCRIPTION
     This manual page documents briefly the openscad command.

     openscad is a software for creating solid 3D CAD objects. It focuses on CAD
     aspects rather than artistic ones.

     OpenSCAD  will start as a graphical program unless export options are given
     (see below). For the usage of the GUI and a  description  of  the	OpenSCAD
     language	 see	the    OpenSCAD    user   manual   at	https://en.wiki-
     books.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual.   A	tutorial   can	 be   found   at
     https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_Tutorial.

OPTIONS
     -o outputfile
	    Export the given file to outputfile in STL, OFF, AMF, 3MF, DXF, SVG,
	    or	PNG  format,  depending on file extension of outputfile. If this
	    option is given, the GUI will not be started.

	    Known extensions: stl, off, amf, 3mf, csg, dxf, svg, png, echo, ast,
	    term, nef3, nefdbg.

	    Additional formats, which are mainly used for debugging and  testing
	    (but  can  also  be  used in automation), are AST (the input file as
	    parsed and serialized again), CSG (an OpenSCAD language  representa-
	    tion  of  the input file with calculations done and module calls ap-
	    plied), TERM (the constructive solid geometry expression  passed  to
	    OpenCSG).	If  outputfile	is null, no output file will be written,
	    but the file will still be evaluated and all echo commands	will  be
	    written  to  the  standard error output. (The rendering process will
	    still take place if the --render option is given.)

     --export-format=format
	    Overrides format of exported scad file when using option -o.  format
	    can  be  any of its supported file extensions. For ascii stl export,
	    specify asciistl, and for binary stl export, specify  binstl.  Ascii
	    export  is the current stl default, but binary stl is planned as the
	    future default so asciistl should be explicitly specified in scripts
	    when needed.

     -q     Quiet mode (don't print anything except errors)

     -d file.deps
	    If the -d option is given, all files accessed  while  exporting  are
	    written to the given deps file in the syntax of a Makefile.

     -m make_command
	    If	a  nonexisting	file is accessed during OpenSCAD's operation, it
	    will try to invoke make_command missing_file to create  the  missing
	    file, and then read it again.

     -O section/key=val
	    Pass  settings  value  to  the  file  export  using  the format sec-
	    tion/key=value, e.g export-pdf/paper-size=a3. Use  --help-export  to
	    list all available settings.  More than one -O option can be given.

     -D var=val
	    This  option can be used to assign constant values to OpenSCAD vari-
	    ables. The variable's value is an expression, so if  this  mechanism
	    is	used to assign strings, care has to be taken that the shell does
	    not consume quotation marks.  More than one -D option can be given.

     -p [ --p ] arg
	    Customizer parameter file.

     -P [ --P ] arg
	    Customizer parameter set.

     -h [ --help ]
	    Print basic program usage.

     --help-export
	    Print list of export parameters and values that can be set via -O

     -v     Print version.

     --render
	    If exporting an image, render the model fully. (Default is preview)

     --preview[=throwntogether]
	    If exporting an image, use an OpenCSG preview (optionally in thrown-
	    together mode for quicker rendering).

     --animate[=N]
	    Export N animated frames as PNG images.

     --view[=axes|crosshairs|edges|scales]
	    View options

     --csglimit=limit
	    If exporting an image as an OpenCSG preview,  stop	rendering  after
	    encountering limit elements to avoid runaway resource usage.

     --camera=transx,transy,transz,rotx,roty,rotz,distance
	    If	exporting  an  image, use a Gimbal camera with the given parame-
	    ters.  Rot is rotation around the x, y, and z  axis,  trans  is  the
	    distance  to move the object in the x, y, and z directions, and dis-
	    tance is the distance between the camera and the center of	the  ob-
	    ject.

     --camera=eyex,eyey,eyez,centerx,centery,centerz
	    If	exporting  an  image, use a Vector camera with the given parame-
	    ters.  The first three are for the	Eye  position,	while  the  next
	    three  are	for the Center (or target) that the camera will look at.
	    The 'up' vector is not currently supported.

     --viewall
	    If exporting an image, adjust camera distance to fit the  whole  de-
	    sign in the frame

     --autocenter
	    If exporting an image, center the design in the frame

     --imgsize=width,height
	    If exporting an image, specify the pixel width and height

     --projection=[o|ortho|p|perspective]
	    If	exporting  an image, specify whether to use orthographic or per-
	    spective projection

     --colorscheme=scheme
	    If exporting an image, use the specified color scheme for  the  ren-
	    dering.    scheme	can  be  any  of  Cornfield,  Sunset,  Metallic,
	    Starnight, BeforeDawn, Nature or DeepOcean Solarized, Tomorrow,  To-
	    morrow 2, Tomorrow Night, Monotone.

     --hardwarnings
	    Stop on the first warning

     --check-parameters=[true|false]
	    Configure the parameter check for user modules and functions

     --check-parameter-ranges=[true|false]
	    Configure the parameter range check for builtin modules

     --info
	    Show  which  versions of libraries were used to compile the program,
	    and which OpenGL details are discovered.

COMMAND LINE EXAMPLES
     Render example001.scad into the .stl format (raw triangle data):

     openscad -o example001.stl examples/example001.scad

     Compile a 2d image using a camera rotated 25 degrees in x and 35 in z, dis-
     tance 500, with orthographic projection:

     openscad -o o.png o.scad --camera=0,0,0,25,0,35,500 --projection=ortho

     Set the 'mode' variable in example017 so that it will render only the parts
     of the shape. Export to a .dxf file.

     openscad -o example017.dxf -D'mode="parts"' examples/example017.scad

AUTHOR
     OpenSCAD was written by Claire 'Clifford' Wolf, Marius Kintel, and others.

     This manual page was written by chrysn <chrysn@fsfe.org>,	for  the  Debian
     project (and may be used by others). Updated by the OpenSCAD team.

				   2026.08.30			     OPENSCAD(1)
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