OpenFlipper is a free, open-source application and programming framework for processing, modelling and rendering 3D geometry, mainly polygon meshes. It comes from the Computer Graphics group at RWTH Aachen University, the same group behind the OpenMesh library, and is used mostly by geometry-processing researchers and students. There is no “medical” or “dental” edition. What exists is the standard OpenFlipper, with plugins for tasks such as hole filling, smoothing, decimation and remeshing that also work on STL scans of teeth, casts or bone surfaces.
The project is dormant as far as releases go. The latest version, 4.1, was released on 13 December 2019. Since then the source code has received only occasional commits, with no new numbered release. It still installs and works for mesh clean-up, but for daily lab work you should also consider maintained tools.
OpenFlipper at a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Latest version | 4.1 (13 December 2019); no release since |
| Licence | Free and open source, BSD 3-Clause (since April 2016) |
| Platforms | Windows 64-bit and macOS (official 4.1 installers); Linux by building from source |
| Developer | Computer Graphics and Multimedia group, RWTH Aachen University |
| Official website | graphics.rwth-aachen.de/software/openflipper |
| Best for | Research and teaching in mesh processing; scripted repair and simplification of STL/OBJ/PLY meshes |
What it does
- Loads and saves triangle and polygon meshes in OFF, OBJ, PLY and STL, plus VTK files, and handles point clouds, curves and B-spline surfaces as other data types.
- HoleFiller plugin: finds boundary holes, flies the camera to a selected hole and fills it.
- Decimater plugin: reduces triangle count with constraints such as normal deviation, to shrink large scans.
- Smoother, Isotropic Remesher and Remesher plugins: even out noisy surfaces and triangle sizes.
- MeshRepair plugin: flips orientation, fixes topology and snaps boundary vertices.
- Ruler plugin and mesh information tools: measure distances and see vertex counts, valence histograms and genus.
- Mesh Compare plugin: compares two meshes.
- Scripting and batch mode through QtScript and, since 4.0, an integrated Python interpreter, so a repair sequence can run on many files without the GUI.
How dental teams use it
OpenFlipper has no dental functions, tooth libraries or CAD tools for restorations. The realistic use is cleaning up and simplifying meshes before printing, analysis or teaching.
Closing holes in a scanned cast before 3D printing
- Open the STL file in OpenFlipper.
- Open the HoleFiller toolbox, let it list the holes, and select the small ones you want closed. Leave intentional open edges such as the model base if you will close them another way.
- Run Fill, then check the result with the mesh information panel.
- Save as STL and load it into your slicer.
Reducing a heavy scan for teaching or web use
Load the mesh, open the Decimater, set the reduction target and constraints, and apply. Compare the simplified model with the original (Mesh Compare) to make sure the occlusal detail you need is kept.
Batch processing in research
Write a short Python or QtScript script that loads each file, runs the same smoothing or remeshing steps and saves the result. OpenFlipper’s batch mode then processes a whole folder of scans without the GUI.
Install and first run
Windows: use the 64-bit installer for version 4.1 (built with Visual Studio 2017). It dates from 2019 and has not been updated for current Windows versions, so test it on your machine before relying on it.
macOS: a .dmg for 4.1 exists. It was built in 2019, so on recent macOS versions and Apple silicon expect Gatekeeper warnings or compatibility problems.
Linux: build from source. According to the official download page you need Qt 5.9 or newer (5.11 recommended) and OpenGL; QWT 6 is optional for histogram plots. The build uses CMake.
Gotchas: OpenFlipper’s interface is a framework UI with many plugin toolboxes, so find the plugin you need via the toolbox list rather than menus. Rendering uses OpenGL, so old or remote-desktop graphics drivers can cause display problems.
Limitations
- It is dormant: the last release is from 2019, with no updated installers.
- There is no medical or dental edition, no CBCT/DICOM segmentation and no dental CAD.
- Official binaries exist only for Windows and macOS; Linux users must compile it.
- It is designed for researchers, and the documentation is mostly developer-oriented.
- It does not import DICOM. Surfaces from CBCT must first be created in other software.
OpenFlipper vs alternatives
MeshLab, a free mesh processing tool from ISTI-CNR, covers similar repair and simplification tasks and is more widely used for 3D scans. ParaView is better when you start from CT/CBCT volumes and need to extract and visualise a surface before cleaning it. Meshroom creates meshes from photos that you can then repair in OpenFlipper. Developers who need geometry kernels for CAD rather than triangle meshes look at Open CASCADE Technology.
FAQ
Is there an OpenFlipper medical or dental edition?
No. There is only the standard OpenFlipper (Free and Staging branches). Its mesh tools work on any mesh, including dental scans.
Where is the OpenFlipper download and GitHub?
The official site at RWTH Aachen hosts the releases and documentation. The official source repository is on RWTH’s own Git server, not on GitHub.
Is OpenFlipper free?
Yes. It is open source under the BSD 3-Clause licence.
What is the latest OpenFlipper version?
4.1, released 13 December 2019. There has been no newer numbered release.
Can OpenFlipper open STL files?
Yes. It has an STL file plugin (including binary STL) as well as OBJ, PLY, OFF and VTK support.
Does OpenFlipper support Python?
Yes. Since version 4.0 it includes a Python interpreter for scripting and batch mode, alongside the older QtScript scripting.
Last checked against official sources: 29 September 2026 (developer website: graphics.rwth-aachen.de). Versions and licence terms change — confirm on the developer's site before deploying in a clinic.
