PLT File Viewer: Open HPGL Files Online, Free
Open a PLT or HPGL cutter file in your browser and see every cut: its real size in millimetres, the number of paths and points, pen-up travel, and one click to DXF or SVG. Nothing uploaded.
What it opens
| DWG | AutoCAD R13 to 2018 (not 2007): the model drawn, with its version, layers, units and extent. The DWG viewer adds pan, zoom, layers, text and measuring. |
| DXF | Entity count, declared units and the real extent. Says so plainly when the file declares no units, which is the usual reason a part comes out 25.4 times off. |
| G-code, NC, TAP | The toolpath drawn, the extent, and whether the program declares its units and ends with the tool off. |
| PLT, HPGL | Cut paths, pens used, and the real size in millimetres, converted from plotter units at 40 to the millimetre. |
| EPS, AI | Colour layers, outline count and the bounding box in points and millimetres. |
| DST, PES, JEF, EXP, PEC | Embroidery designs open in the embroidery viewer: every stitch drawn in its thread colour, the size, stitch count, hoops it fits, and a sew-out you can step through. |
| STL, OBJ | Turned in 3D, with the triangle count, the bounding size, and whether the mesh is closed. |
| SVG | Path count and canvas size, and a warning if it holds live text or an embedded bitmap. |
| Images | JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP, and TIFF, PSD and camera RAW, which most browsers cannot show: the picture, its pixel dimensions and file size. |
What it cannot open, and why
| Rendering one means fonts, colour spaces and compression filters. The PDF to SVG converter will pull the vector artwork out. | |
| 3MF | A zip archive that has to be unpacked before the geometry inside it can be read. Export STL for now. |
PLT file viewer: open HPGL in your browser
This plt file viewer opens a PLT or HPGL file and draws every cut, with its real size in millimetres (HPGL counts 40 units to the millimetre), the number of paths and points and the pen-up travel between them. It is the check before a file goes to a cutter: is it the size you meant, is anything missing, does it travel back and forth across the sheet.
Tested on a 14.6 MB PLT of 1.09 million points: opened in about a second. From here a PLT converts to DXF for CAD or LightBurn.
People also search for
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Questions
What is a PLT file?
A plotter file in HPGL, the language HP wrote for pen plotters and that vinyl cutters still speak: pen up (PU), pen down (PD) and coordinates in units of 0.025 mm.
Can I edit a PLT file?
Convert it to DXF or SVG, edit it in any CAD or vector program, and convert it back with SVG to PLT.
Is my file uploaded?
No. It is read in the tab and never leaves the machine, which is also why it works on a file you are not allowed to send anywhere.
Why does it say my DXF has no units?
DXF stores units in a header variable called $INSUNITS, and plenty of exporters leave it out. Whatever opens the file then guesses, and the guess is wrong half the time. The number the viewer shows is the raw extent; multiply by 25.4 to test the inches theory.
What does watertight mean?
Every edge of the mesh is shared by exactly two triangles, so the solid has no holes in its surface. A slicer given an open mesh has to invent a way to fill the gap, and the print will differ from the model.
Can it open a file bigger than memory?
No. Everything is held in the tab, so a very large mesh will be slow and an enormous one will be refused with a message rather than crashing.