What is the EOSPRINT Plugin?
The EOSPRINT Plugin is an add-on plugin that enables your EOSPRINT instance to import parts designed in nTop directly. This eliminates the need for meshing and allows the user to prepare the part for manufacturing directly from an nTop Implicit file (*.implicit).
The nTop Implicit file (*.implicit) format offers advantages over existing B-rep or mesh-based data formats in the following ways:
nTop Implicit files are accurate and lossless geometry representations based on mathematical functions, not surface approximations.
nTop Implicit files are generated faster, are significantly smaller (up to 99%), and can be loaded more quickly in the receiving software compared to the mesh files.
nTop Plugin for EOSPRINT is a licensed product that is available for purchase. It does not require an nTop license but is only compatible with EOSPRINT 2.14 or later.
To purchase the nTop Plugin for EOSPRINT, please get in touch with your nTop representative.
How do you install it?
1. Go to nTop Dashboard (app.ntop.com)
2. Click on the Add-Ons Tab on the ribbon on the left side.
2. Download the Installer (*.msi) and the License file (*.lic) by clicking the buttons below the nTop Plugin for the EOSPRINT card.
4. Execute the nTopPluginForEOSPRINT-0.X.X.X.msi file for the Plugin.
5. Follow the instructions on the Installation screen and install the plug in the same place as the EOSPRINT.
6. Once the installation has finished, navigate to the folder where you have installed the EOSPRINT plugin. (C:\Program Files\EOS\EOSPRINT 2\2_14\plugins\ntop)
7. Copy and paste the license file you downloaded from Step 3 into this folder where you have installed the plugin (C:\Program Files\EOS\EOSPRINT 2\2_14\plugins\ntop).
8. Open EOSPRINT to verify that you have installed the plugin correctly. Click Import Part on the left ribbon to see if you can import the *.implicit file.
Now, you can open nTop, export your implicit body using the Export Implicit Body (Beta) block, and import it directly into your EOSPRINT software. That’s it. You have successfully installed the nTop Plugin for EOSPRINT.
Note: We have updated the nTop Plugin for EOSPRINT to 0.5.0.7. Users can now adjust the slicing tolerance by adding ‘config.json’ (see below) in the plugin installation folder.
{
"slice_feature_size": 0.00025,
"slice_algorithm": "Marching squares"
}
1. The feature size is in meters. The above would set the slicing tolerance to 0.25 mm.
2. The available algorithms are "Marching squares" and "Dual contouring". The default option when none is specified will be Dual contouring.
How do you use and troubleshoot it?
You can open nTop, export your implicit body using the Export Implicit Body block, and import the nTop Implicit File (*.implicit) directly into your EOSPRINT software.
You must be on these nTop versions to export supported implicit files for the plugin.
| nTop Plugin for EOSPRINT Version | nTop Version |
| 1.0.0.10 | 5.0.4 |
| 0.4.0.5 | 4.13.3 |
| 0.3.0.4 | 4.8.2 |
| 0.2.1.3 | 4.5.3 |
If you are running into a FailedToLoadPart error on EOSPRINT 2.15 or 2.16, Please check if C:\Program Files\EOS\EOSPRINT 2\2_15\plugins\ntop contains the current version. If not, replace the ntop folder with the one from C:\Program Files\EOS\EOSPRINT 2\2_14\plugins.
If you happen to have any issues, please email support@ntop.com. We will be happy to resolve them with you.