Send to SimplyPrint: open files from Printpal, Tinkercad and other sites in SimplyPrint
Send to SimplyPrint lets another website hand a 3D model or print file straight to your SimplyPrint account. You click the button on the other site, SimplyPrint opens, and you choose whether to print the file, slice it in the Cloud Slicer, add it to the print queue or save it to your files. No downloading and re-uploading.
- How Send to SimplyPrint works
- Send a file to SimplyPrint
- Choose what to do with the file
- Which sites can send files
- Troubleshooting
- For site owners: add a Send to SimplyPrint button
How Send to SimplyPrint works
The other site gives SimplyPrint a link to the file. SimplyPrint downloads the file from that site and opens it in your panel, the same way as if you had dropped the file onto the page yourself.
You need:
- A SimplyPrint account, on any plan.
- A site that SimplyPrint has approved for Send to SimplyPrint. See Which sites can send files.
Nothing needs to be installed or connected on the SimplyPrint side.
Send a file to SimplyPrint
Each site places its button differently. For step-by-step guides with screenshots, see Send 3D models from Printpal.io to SimplyPrint and 3D print directly from Tinkercad - wirelessly.- On the other site, choose its SimplyPrint option. On Printpal, click the arrow next to Print now, pick Send to printer, then SimplyPrint. On Tinkercad, click Export, choose 3D Print, select SimplyPrint, then click Continue to SimplyPrint.
- The SimplyPrint panel opens. If you're not logged in, log in. SimplyPrint then takes you straight back to the file.
- Wait while SimplyPrint shows Getting file.... Large files take a little longer.
- Pick what to do with the file. The options are explained below.
Choose what to do with the file
When the file has arrived, SimplyPrint shows its name and a choice of actions.
Option | What it does | When it's shown |
|---|---|---|
Save | Saves the file to your SimplyPrint files. You pick the folder. | Always |
Starts printing the file on one of your printers. | Ready-to-print files, such as G-code, when your user may start prints from the panel | |
Slice | Opens the model in the Cloud Slicer, so you can slice it and print it. | Model files, such as STL and 3MF |
Add to queue | Adds the file to your print queue. | When your user has permission to use the print queue |
If your account uses the Hub and your user can print, but not from the panel, you see Go to Hub to print instead of Print. Adding a file to the queue needs the print queue on your plan, which is part of the Pro plan and up. See the pricing page for what each plan includes.
Once the file is in SimplyPrint, it behaves like any other file you uploaded.
Which sites can send files
Only files hosted on sites that SimplyPrint has approved can be sent this way. Files hosted anywhere else are refused.SimplyPrint downloads the file from the other site on your behalf, so it only does that for sites we have reviewed. If the download link redirects somewhere else, SimplyPrint checks that every step stays on an approved site.
Approved today:
- Printpal (printpal.io)
- PrintWatch
- Tinkercad
- Thingiverse
- Printables
Printpal and Tinkercad have the button built in. The guides linked above show where to find it.
If a site you use isn't approved, download the file from that site and upload it to SimplyPrint yourself.
Troubleshooting
When SimplyPrint can't get the file, it shows a Failed to get file message with the reason underneath. Find the reason below.
"(host) is not an approved Send to SimplyPrint source"
The file comes from a site SimplyPrint hasn't approved. Download the file from the site and upload it to SimplyPrint instead. If you run that site, see For site owners.
"(site) answered HTTP (number) instead of the file. The link may have expired."
Many sites give out download links that only work for a short time. Go back to the other site and click the button again to get a fresh link.
"Couldn't reach (site) to get the file"
The other site didn't answer. Check that the site loads in your browser, wait a moment, then click the button again.
"The source stopped sending the file before it was complete"
The download stalled or took longer than 5 minutes. Click the button again. If it keeps happening with a large file, download it from the site and upload it to SimplyPrint instead.
"The file is larger than the 1 GB SimplyPrint accepts"
SimplyPrint accepts files up to 1 GB, whether they're sent from another site or uploaded. Use a smaller file.
"The link must be an https:// address of the file"
The link the other site sent isn't a secure (https) file address. Download the file from the site and upload it to SimplyPrint instead, and let the site know.
"The file address is not a public address"
The link points to an address SimplyPrint can't download from. Download the file from the other site and upload it to SimplyPrint instead.
"The source returned an empty file"
The other site sent an empty file. Go back and click the button again. If it keeps happening, check that the file downloads normally from that site.
The file ended up in the wrong account
Send to SimplyPrint uses whichever SimplyPrint account you're logged into in that browser. Log out, log in with the right account, then go back to the other site and click the button again.
Print or Add to queue is missing
Print only shows for ready-to-print files such as G-code, and only when your user may start prints from the panel. Model files need slicing first, so use Slice. Add to queue shows when your user has permission to use the print queue, and adding the file needs the print queue on your plan (Pro and up). Ask the account owner if you think you should have these.
For site owners: add a Send to SimplyPrint button
If you run a site with 3D model files, you can let your users send them to SimplyPrint.
- Apply for approval at simplyprint.io/send-to-simplyprint/request. Include your platform name and website, a contact name and email, one working example file URL, every host your files are served from (including CDNs, storage buckets and any host the link redirects to) and the file types you send. Your file hosts must be approved before the button works.
- Add the button to your page. Either load the script
https://simplyprint.io/send-to-simplyprint/v1/button.jsand place<div class="simplyprint-send" data-url="..." data-filename="..." data-source="..."></div>where the button should appear, or, on pages that allow iframes but not scripts, embedhttps://simplyprint.io/send-to-simplyprint/v1/button.html?url=...&filename=...&source=...in a 210 × 40 iframe. - Or link directly to
https://simplyprint.io/panel?import=<file URL>&filename=<name>&utm_source=<your site>. The file URL must start with https, and both the file URL and the filename must be URL-encoded (for example withencodeURIComponent). The button does this for you.
The full developer documentation, with every option and example, is in the SimplyPrint API docs.
Related articles
- Send 3D models from Printpal.io to SimplyPrint
- 3D print directly from Tinkercad - wirelessly
- Browser extensions; send Thingiverse & Printables files directly to SimplyPrint
- Uploading files and splitting multi-plate 3MF files
- How to import models into the Cloud Slicer
- The print queue: manage, schedule and automate your prints
Updated on: 16/10/2026
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