Free Online GLDF 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 a GLDF File?
GLDF (Global Lighting Data Format) is the open format lighting manufacturers use to publish a luminaire as one file. A .gldf is a ZIP package: product.xml describes the product, its variants and how each variant is built, and folders beside it hold the photometry (EULUMDAT, IES LM-63 or TM-33 files), the 3D geometry as an L3D model, and product pictures. DIALux and Relux import it directly.
The viewer reads the package in your browser. It draws the luminaire’s L3D model in metres, with its parts placed and its light-emitting surfaces glowing, and hangs each emitter’s photometric web from the light-emitting object the variant names, turned the way that object faces. A floor lamp with a direct and an indirect head shows both distributions where they leave the luminaire. The other variants’ distributions sit on layers of their own, ready to switch on.
The status line gives the product name and number, the first emitter’s lumens, peak candela, beam angle, power and colour temperature, and how many variants the product has. Open in IES Viewer takes that emitter’s photometry to the IES Viewer for the polar plot and isofootcandle plan. The scene exports like a 3D model, for example to GLB or OBJ.
Who Uses GLDF Files?
Lighting designers and electrical engineers who receive GLDF files from manufacturers, DIALux and Relux users who want to check a product before placing it in a project, manufacturers checking the packages they publish, and architects, specifiers and wholesalers who have no lighting software installed.
Common Use Cases
- Look at a manufacturer’s GLDF luminaire without DIALux or Relux
- Check that each emitter’s photometry sits on the right part of the model
- Compare the light distributions of a product’s variants on their layers
- Read the product name, number, lumens, beam angle and power from the package
- Take the photometry to the IES Viewer for the polar plot and isofootcandle plan
- Export the luminaire as GLB, OBJ or FBX for a render or a BIM model
Features
Opens GLDF Packages
Global Lighting Data Format luminaire files (.gldf), as manufacturers publish them for DIALux and Relux.
The Luminaire in 3D
The package’s L3D model in metres, with every part placed and its light-emitting surfaces glowing.
Light Where It Leaves
Each emitter’s photometric web hangs from the light-emitting object it belongs to, facing the same way.
Every Variant
The first variant is shown; the other variants’ distributions wait on their own layers.
EULUMDAT, IES and TM-33 Inside
The photometry files in the package are read whatever their format.
Product Data on the Status Line
Product name and number, lumens, peak candela, beam angle, power and colour temperature.
Simple Geometry Too
A variant described as a box or cylinder is drawn at its size, with its emitter face.
Open in the IES Viewer
One click takes the photometry to the IES Viewer for the polar plot and isofootcandle plan.
Export the Luminaire
Save the model and its webs as GLB, OBJ, FBX, STL, USDZ, STEP or DXF, or the view as PDF, PNG or JPG.
Nothing Is Uploaded
The package is read and drawn entirely in your browser. No account, no upload, no copy on a server.
Compatibility & Format Notes
What is drawn: the first variant that has an L3D model, with each of its emitters’ photometric webs placed on the light-emitting objects it names; the other variants’ webs on hidden layers. A variant with a simple geometry is drawn as its box or cylinder with the emitter face at its stated size. A package with no geometry opens its first photometry on its own, the way an .ies or .ldt file does.
Files: GLDF 1.0 packages, with EULUMDAT, IES LM-63 and TM-33 photometry inside. Packages are recognised by their content, so a renamed .gldf, or one zipped again, still opens.
Not drawn: files the package only links to on the manufacturer’s website, sensor detection areas, and the product pictures. Joints are shown at their default angles.
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 GLDF 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
▶Do I need DIALux or Relux to open a GLDF file?
No. The viewer reads the package with its own reader, in your browser, on any computer, tablet or phone. Nothing needs to be installed, and no account is needed.
▶Which variant does the viewer show?
The first variant that has an L3D model. The photometric webs of the other variants built on the same model are on layers named after each variant, switched off at first; turn one on in the layer panel to compare. Variants that differ only in emergency mode or a sensor share their webs and get no layer of their own.
▶Where do the photometric webs come from?
Each emitter of the variant points at a photometry file in the package (EULUMDAT, IES or TM-33). The viewer reads that file, draws its candela distribution as a 3D web, and places it on the light-emitting object of the L3D model that the variant names, facing the same way.
▶Can I get the polar diagram and an isofootcandle plan?
Yes. Click Open in IES Viewer on the status line. The first emitter’s photometry moves over already parsed, with the polar plot, the isofootcandle plan and the zonal lumen table.
▶Is this GLDF 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. Click Export in the toolbar. The luminaire and its webs save as GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, FBX, DAE, USDZ, 3MF, PLY, STEP (a faceted solid) or DXF, and the view as PDF, SVG, PNG or JPG. The viewer does not write .gldf files.
▶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.