What is a .TAP file?
TAP files hold CNC G-code, a nod to the old paper-tape programs machines once read. The same extension is also the cassette-tape image format for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64.
- Did you know
- The extension recalls the punched paper tape that early numerically controlled machines read before computers were built in.
- TAP files are usually produced by CAM software such as Mastercam, which turns toolpaths into machine-ready G-code.
- A .tap is plain-text G-code, so it can be opened and checked line by line before being sent to a CNC machine's controller.
- What Analyser shows you
- Reconstruct and visualise the printed (or machined) object straight from G-code: every extruded move is drawn as a line in an interactive WebGL viewer, height-coloured and Z-up, with a build-height scrubber to peel the print back layer by layer. Works universally across slicers (PrusaSlicer, SuperSlicer, OrcaSlicer, Cura, ideaMaker, Bambu Studio, Simplify3D) and CNC / laser CAM, handling absolute and relative moves, inch and millimetre units, and G2/G3 arcs; travel moves are separated out. Reads the slicer or CAM tool, object size, layer count and height, filament or cut-path length, feedrate range, and nozzle/bed temperatures. NC programs written to DIN 66025 (the German standard behind ISO 6983, used by Heidenhain and Siemens Sinumerik controls and commonly saved as .din) are read by the same viewer.
- Open a .TAP file
- Drag a .TAP file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It opens entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.