Tag and Rate 3D Models Without Modifying the Files

You have a folder of 3D models and you would like to bring some order to it. Flag the good ones, label them by project, note where a given file came from. Then a hesitation stops you: will this modify my files?

It is a fair question. A 3D file delivered to a client, sent to a printer or committed to a repository has to stay exactly what it was. Here are the three ways to attach information to a model, what each one costs you, and which one leaves your originals untouched.

The three ways to attach information to a 3D file

• Write inside the file. Some formats provide metadata fields. The problem is twofold: the file changes, so its checksum changes with it, and many formats simply have nowhere to put that information. STL is the textbook case, carrying geometry and nothing else, with no colour, no materials and no free field.
• Finder tags. They do not alter the file's contents, which is a real advantage. But they are macOS-specific extended attributes: they vanish on the way to Windows, are frequently lost through email or an archive, and cannot carry a rating out of five or a free-text comment.
• A companion file. The information lives in a small separate file kept beside your models. The originals are never touched, and the metadata can be as rich as you like.

What Eyemesh does

Eyemesh takes the third approach. Star ratings, tags and notes are saved in a companion file kept beside your models, never written inside the 3D files themselves. Your originals stay intact byte for byte.

In practice this means you can annotate a folder of client deliverables freely, and not one of the files you hand over will differ from what you received or produced.

Rating, tagging, annotating

1. Stars. Give any model a one to five star rating from the info panel or a right-click. Ratings appear as badges on thumbnails, and you can sort the browser by rating to bring your five-star models to the top.
2. Tags. As many as you want, free text, by project, style or status. No fixed list to comply with: you type, and Eyemesh suggests tags you have already used so your vocabulary does not drift. The same tag always keeps the same colour.
3. Notes. A revision to make, where a model came from, a quirk to watch out for. Saving is automatic as you type.

The full detail is on the custom file metadata page.

What follows the file, and what does not

This is the part to understand before relying on it day to day:

• Copying or moving the folder takes the metadata along with it.
• Renaming or moving a file from inside Eyemesh keeps its metadata attached.
• Adding a model to a favourites collection brings its tags, notes and rating with it.
• Moving a single file in the Finder to another folder, on the other hand, separates it from its companion file. That is the direct trade-off for never writing anything into your originals.

Put differently: portability happens at folder level. As long as you think in folders, everything follows.

When this approach is the right one

It is right as soon as the files are not entirely yours: client assets, models under an NDA, approved deliverables. It is also right whenever you work with formats that have no metadata field, which covers most of the 3D printing world.

It is less right if you need the information to travel inside the file into another program, for instance to feed an automated pipeline that reads embedded metadata. In that case the format itself has to carry the information, and no external tool will replace that.

FAQ

Are my 3D files modified?

No. Nothing is written inside them. The originals stay identical byte for byte, and a checksum computed before and after annotating will return the same result.

Can I tag STL files?

Yes, and this is precisely the case where the companion file approach earns its keep, since the STL format offers nowhere at all to store a tag, a rating or a comment.

Does it conflict with Finder tags?

The two coexist without interfering: they are separate mechanisms. Eyemesh's list view even shows your file tags in their own column.

What happens if I send a model to someone?

They receive the model as it is, without your annotations, which is usually the behaviour you want. To pass the context along too, send the folder rather than the single file.

And if I manage hundreds of files?

That is where tags come into their own, combined with sorting and filtering. The topic is covered in organising a folder of downloaded STL files and in managing a 3D asset library without a DAM.