The 3MF Consortium has announced 3MF additive manufacturing file format has officially been recognised as an ISO standard (ISO/IEC 25422:2025).
Muhammad Ali, ISO/IEC JTC 1 PAS Mentor described the milestone as “a strategic enabler for global adoption” and positions 3MF as “a foundational format for the future of additive manufacturing.”
Hailed as "the lingua franca of 3D printing" when it was introduced in 2015, 3MF (3D Manufacturing Format) is an open source, vendor-neutral XML-based data format designed specifically for 3D printing. The 3MF Consortium was established to deliver a high-fidelity format for additive manufacturing as an alternative to traditional STL, ensuring AM designs are translated accurately from concept to part with information such as materials, colours, textures, and supports all in a single file. The consortium acknowledged the decade of work by the Consortium’s Steering Committee who have helped refine, validate, and future-proof the format to get it to this point.
Duann Scott, Executive Director of the 3MF Consortium, commented, “As additive manufacturing matures, a universal data language is not just beneficial; it is essential for moving ideas cleanly from design to production. With 3MF now an ISO standard, we have that common language. By joining the Consortium, you can help shape the specification so it meets the needs of your industry today and evolves to support tomorrow’s innovations.”
3MF says the ISO-ratified standard is gaining traction in heavily regulated sectors such as defence, aerospace and medical. As an ISO standard, 3MF provides a universal language for 3D printing data and ensures all critical information about a 3D model is preserved to deliver more accurate and reliable prints. 3MF believes having a stable and widely adopted standard in place will free developers and engineers up from addressing data compatibility issues, and could make AM more economically viable by streamlining workflows, reducing errors, and improving interoperability. The 3MF Consortium has said it remains committed to evolving the standard to meet future demands.
Alexander Oster, Technical Director at 3MF Consortium described the news as “another important milestone in our journey to build a professional software ecosystem for additive manufacturing."
