Free Online E57 Viewer (No Signup)
Also opens DWG, DXF, STEP, IGES, IFC, SKP, STL, OBJ, GLB, FBX, 3DM and other 3D/CAD files. Drop any file on the viewer.
Works directly in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge
Also from Innerscene: Circadian Lab, a free lighting calculator for room illuminance, melanopic EML, and glare.
What Is an E57 File?
An .e57 file is what scanning software exports when the data has to reach another program intact. It is a binary file made of fixed-size pages, each ending in a checksum, with an XML section that describes what the file holds. Each scan in the file has a pose (the rotation and position that register it to the others) and its points, stored either as X, Y and Z or as range, azimuth and elevation measured from the scanner, together with intensity, RGB color and flags for missed returns.
The points are packed tightly: each value takes only the bits its declared range needs, so an E57 is usually much smaller than the same scan written as text. Units are fixed by the standard as meters, so an E57 always opens at its real size. Photos from the scanner’s camera and spherical panoramas can travel in the same file, next to the scans they were taken from.
For airborne LiDAR with classification, see the LAS / LAZ viewer; for Leica text exports, the PTS viewer.
Who Uses E57 Files?
Scanning contractors and surveyors exporting from FARO SCENE, Leica Cyclone and REGISTER 360, Trimble RealWorks, Autodesk ReCap, RIEGL RiSCAN, Z+F LaserControl, NavVis and CloudCompare; and the architects, engineers, facility managers and contractors who receive a scan of an existing building, a plant room or a site and need to look at it before modelling from it in Revit, AutoCAD or Rhino.
Common Use Cases
- Open an E57 a scanning contractor delivered without installing ReCap, SCENE or Cyclone
- Check that every setup of a registered project is in the file and lines up
- Show or hide individual scans from the Layers panel
- Measure distances and heights on the scan before modelling from it
- Share a scan with a client as a link they can orbit in a browser
- Convert an E57 to PLY, GLB, XYZ or 3DM for another program
Features
Opens .e57 Scans
ASTM E57 files from FARO SCENE, Leica Cyclone and REGISTER 360, Trimble RealWorks, ReCap and CloudCompare, loose or inside a .zip.
Every Scan, Registered
Each scan is placed by the pose stored with it, so a registered project opens assembled.
A Layer per Scan
Every setup gets its own layer, named as in the file, to show and hide one at a time.
Large Files, Read in Pieces
The file is read by byte range in a background worker, so a multi-gigabyte project opens without loading it whole into memory.
Even Sampling
Points are kept evenly across every scan, up to 5 million on a desktop, and the status line shows how many of how many are drawn.
Cartesian and Spherical
X Y Z scans and range, azimuth and elevation scans both open, at any bit width the file uses.
True Color and Intensity
RGB is scaled by the color limits the file declares; intensity-only scans get a gray ramp.
Missed Returns Dropped
Points the scanner flagged as invalid are left out, so the cloud shows only real measurements.
Measure on the Scan
Click two points to measure a distance or a height, in meters, the unit E57 always stores.
Convert to PLY, GLB, OBJ or XYZ
Export the colored cloud as PLY, GLB, OBJ, VRML, XYZ or Rhino 3DM, or save the view as PDF, PNG or JPG.
Nothing Is Uploaded
The scan is read entirely in your browser. No account, no upload, no copy on a server.
Share and Embed
Send a link that opens the scan in any browser, or drop the viewer into your own page with one iframe.
Compatibility & Format Notes
Every scan in the file is read and placed by its pose, so a registered project opens assembled, with one layer per scan named as in the file. Points stored as range, azimuth and elevation are converted to X, Y and Z. Integer, scaled-integer and floating-point fields of any bit width are decoded, and extension fields added by scanner vendors are skipped. Points the scanner flagged as missed returns are left out.
Scans with RGB show their color, scaled by the color limits the file declares; scans with only intensity are shaded on a gray ramp. An E57 can also carry photos and panoramas: the viewer counts them and draws the points. Page checksums are verified as the file is read.
The file is read by byte range in a background worker, a few megabytes at a time, and points are sampled evenly across every scan while they are decoded: up to 5 million on a desktop, 2.5 million or 1 million on smaller devices. The status line then shows how many of how many points are drawn. Files past a size ceiling set by the device’s memory (512 MB, 2 GB or 4 GB) ask before loading, and Open anyway still reads the whole file.
Embed on Your Website
Add this viewer to your own site with a single line of HTML. Click Embed in the toolbar to generate an embed code, or use the snippet below with your own file URL.
Your Files Stay on Your Computer
Your E57 files are parsed entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored, or shared unless you explicitly click the Share button. Shared files are hosted for 90 days then deleted.
Frequently Asked Questions
▶How big an E57 file can I open?
Files of several gigabytes open. The viewer reads the file in pieces and keeps an evenly spread sample, up to 5 million points on a desktop, so memory use stays at the size of the sample. Past a size ceiling (512 MB to 4 GB depending on the device) the viewer asks first, and Open anyway reads the whole file.
▶Are all the scans in my project shown?
Yes. Every scan is read and placed by the registration pose stored with it, and each gets its own layer, named as in the file, so setups can be shown and hidden one at a time. The sample is spread across all of them.
▶Why does the status line say “of” a larger number?
The file holds more points than this device’s point budget, so an evenly spread sample is drawn. The status line shows the number drawn and the number of valid points in the file. The sample covers every scan, so the extent, shape and detail you see represent all of it.
▶Why is my scan gray?
The scans carry intensity and no RGB, so the points are shaded by return intensity on a gray ramp. Scanners that capture color store it only when the export includes it; export again with color from the scanning software to see the scan in color.
▶Does the viewer show the panoramas in my E57?
Not yet. The photos and spherical panoramas an E57 can carry are counted when the file opens, and the points are drawn; the images themselves are not displayed.
▶Is this E57 viewer really free?
Yes, completely free. No signup, no watermarks, no file size limits on the viewer (the optional share-link feature has a 100 MB upload cap). Built by Innerscene as a tool for architects, engineers, and designers.
▶Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. All parsing, rendering, and conversion runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded, stored, or transmitted by default. The Share button is the only feature that uploads a file, and only when you explicitly click it.
▶Can I convert to another format?
Yes. The Export menu writes the points on screen to OBJ, GLB, PLY, VRML (.wrl), XYZ and Rhino 3DM, with their colors, and saves the view as a snapshot PDF, PNG or JPG. Exported points are in meters. OBJ, PLY and XYZ put them back at the file’s own coordinates (Z up); GLB, VRML and 3DM center them on the cloud. A decimated cloud exports as the sample that is drawn. Point clouds have no surfaces, so STL and the other mesh formats are left out of the menu.
▶Can I embed this viewer on my own site?
Yes. Click Embed in the toolbar to generate a one-line <iframe> snippet you can paste into any HTML page. You can choose whether the embed shows the viewer’s toolbar.