Reference

PLY (Polygon)

PLY (Polygon File Format, or Stanford Triangle Format) is a 3D format for storing meshes and point clouds. It records vertices and faces along with extras like color and normals, and is common in 3D scanning and research.

Files & formatsGeneral

PLY (Polygon)

Also known as: .ply file, Polygon File Format, Stanford Triangle Format

Stores 3D meshes and point clouds
Supports per-vertex color and normals
Common in 3D scanning and photogrammetry

What PLY stores

PLY lists vertices and faces and lets you attach per-vertex properties such as color, normals, and confidence. That flexibility makes it a natural fit for 3D scans and point clouds.

It comes in an ASCII form that is easy to read and a binary form that is more compact, with a small header describing the layout.

Where PLY is used

PLY is a staple of 3D scanning, photogrammetry, and research. Tools like MeshLab and Blender open it; convert to OBJ, STL, or glTF when handing models to other pipelines.

Related terms

Keep reading the reference.

Files & formatsOBJ (3D model)OBJ is a plain-text 3D geometry format that stores a model’s vertices, faces, and texture coordinates. It is one of the most widely supported interchange formats, but it carries no animation and stores materials in a separate .mtl file.General Files & formatsSTL (3D printing)STL is the standard file format for 3D printing. It describes a model’s surface as a mesh of triangles, with no color, texture, or units — just the geometry a slicer needs to turn into printer instructions.General Files & formatsglTF / GLB (3D)glTF is an open, royalty-free 3D format from the Khronos Group, often called "the JPEG of 3D." It bundles geometry, materials, textures, and animation in a compact, runtime-ready form, and GLB is its single-file binary version used on the web and in AR.General