SolidSeas

Install SolidSeas

Download the viewer for Windows, or install the Python library and command line on Windows or Linux. SOLIDWORKS is not needed for either.

SolidSeas Viewer for Windows

The installer, SolidSeas-Setup.exe, is about 27 MB. It installs SolidSeas Viewer for you alone and needs no administrator rights.

  1. Download the installer, the newest release.
  2. Run it and follow the steps. It adds SolidSeas Viewer to the Start menu, and a desktop shortcut if you ask for one.
  3. Start SolidSeas Viewer, then choose File > Open Folder and pick a folder of CAD files.

To remove it, use Settings > Apps, or Add or remove programs. Your settings stay, so a later install picks up where you left off.

Download for Windows

Prefer a single program file with nothing to install? SolidSeasViewer.exe is on the releases page on GitHub, with earlier versions and the extension packages.

Windows may warn you the first time.

The installer is not signed with a code-signing certificate yet, so Microsoft Defender SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC". If you downloaded the file from this site or the project's GitHub releases page, choose More info, then Run anyway.

The viewer is a preview: it is read-only and never changes your files. Settings are kept in%APPDATA%\SolidSeas\Viewer.ini, never beside your files. Some features are switched off until you want them, such as the interactive 3D view under Settings, and the experimental ones are tagged in their menus.

Python library and command line

You need Python 3.11 or newer, on Windows or Linux. SolidSeas is not on PyPI yet, so install it from a copy of the GitHub repository:

git clone https://github.com/Syracuse3DPrintingOrg/SolidSeas.git
cd SolidSeas
python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate          # on Linux: source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install .

That gives you the solidseas command and the solidseas Python package. To run the viewer from the same copy, add the app extra, which brings in PySide6:

python -m pip install ".[app]"
python -m solidseas_app [FOLDER]

Other extras, such as image for Pillow, are listed in the repository's pyproject.toml.

First steps

In the viewer

  1. File > Open Folder, and pick a folder of parts, assemblies and drawings.
  2. Select a file to see its Overview, Preview, Properties and, for an assembly, Components and BOM.
  3. Let the folder finish indexing (the status bar says how far it got), then open the Where Used tab.
  4. Try File > Export STEP, or 3D Print to send a part to your slicer.

On the command line

Every command prints JSON with --json, so any language that can run a program can use it.

solidseas list D:\Jobs\Example --include properties --json
solidseas info D:\Jobs\Example\bracket.SLDPRT
solidseas bom D:\Jobs\Example\frame.SLDASM --type indented --format csv -o D:\Exports\frame.csv
solidseas export D:\Jobs\Example\bracket.SLDPRT --format step -o D:\Out\bracket.step
solidseas export D:\Jobs\Example\frame.SLDASM --format 3mf -o D:\Prints\frame.3mf
solidseas paths D:\Jobs\Example\frame.SLDASM

solidseas paths lists the folder paths and user names a file would reveal if you sent it to someone.

As a local service

Run SolidSeas as a REST service for another program on the same computer. It answers on 127.0.0.1 only, with a bearer token kept in a file only your account can read.

solidseas serve --root jobs=D:\Jobs

The command line, the service and the Python API are all documented in docs/API.md.

Getting help