Troubleshooting
Diagnose and resolve the issues sellers encounter most.
7 min read
Most issues trace back to a small set of causes: an unverified email, a store that is not attached inside Shippo, or a SKU that does not match. Locate your symptom below, read the cause, and apply the fix. If none of these resolve the problem, the final section explains how to reach support.
Email verification required
This message appears when you try to connect Shippo, save a card, or finish setup. The entire Workspace stays locked until it clears. This is expected behavior, not a bug. Email verification is a required gate: until your email is verified, every setup action is blocked on the server, and the Add card button in Settings is disabled with a “Verify your email first” tooltip.
Google accounts are verified automatically
How to verify
- 1
Open the email from PrintPort3D
Click the verification link inside it. If it is not in your inbox, check your spam and promotions folders, where it most often lands. - 2
Return to the tab
The verification screen checks your status every few seconds and again when you switch back to it, then advances automatically. You do not need to refresh or paste anything. - 3
Resend if it does not arrive
Use the Resend button on the verification screen. If nothing arrives after a couple of attempts, the address most likely contains a typo. Sign up again with the correct email.
For the full walkthrough, see Create your account.
Store connected but nothing appears
Every storefront connects to PrintPort3D through Shippo. There are no direct marketplace integrations. Two separate connections must be correct, and most missing-store and missing-order problems trace back to one of them.
No storefronts appear in Settings
Cause: connecting Shippo inside PrintPort3D is not the same as attaching your store inside Shippo. The platform and store URL you entered during onboarding are only a declaration; the live product never reads them, so they connect nothing on their own. Settings reads your storefronts live from Shippo, so if Shippo has none attached, PrintPort3D shows none.
Connecting Shippo is not the same as attaching your store
Fix: open Shippo, add your store platform, and authorize it. In PrintPort3D, Settings → Connections reads it live and the storefront appears as a read-only row. There is no “add store” button in PrintPort3D by design; stores are managed only inside Shippo. For step-by-step instructions, see Connect Shippo and Link your store in Shippo.
A connected store shows zero orders
Cause: almost always a SKU mismatch. The SKU is the only link between your store listing and a PrintPort3D product, and the characters must match. Case and surrounding spaces do not: PrintPort3D compares a canonical form, uppercasing both sides and trimming leading and trailing spaces, so dragon-01, DRAGON-01, and Dragon-01 all match a product whose SKU is DRAGON-01. What breaks the match is a genuinely different character: an underscore where you used a hyphen, an extra space inside the code, a typo, or an empty SKU. The order then arrives as No product match instead of flowing through. A connected store with no orders also shows a hint in Settings: “check your listing SKUs match your Catalog.”
Fix: set your store listing’s SKU to the same characters as the SKU shown on your PrintPort3D product. You do not need to copy the exact case. PrintPort3D displays and stores the SKU in uppercase, but a lowercase or mixed-case listing SKU still matches. Ensure the characters line up, with no underscore-for-hyphen swaps or stray spaces mid-code. For details on how the join works, see The SKU link and Publish to your store.
Orders that need your attention
The Orders page is exception-first. It places the small set of orders that genuinely require action in a Action required tab and lets the rest flow on their own. There are only a few recovery actions, and two of them cover the most common problems.
No product match
Cause: the SKU on the incoming order line did not match any product SKU because its characters differ. Matching ignores case and surrounding spaces; see the SKU section above.
Fix: open the order and tap Map product. Select the matching product, then confirm with Approve. This charges your card, starts production, and records the match, so future orders with that SKU flow through automatically. To prevent recurrence, also correct the SKU on your store listing so its characters match. Case and surrounding spaces do not matter.
Payment declined
Cause: your saved card was declined when PrintPort3D attempted to charge the make cost during fulfillment. The card is charged at label purchase: PrintPort3D authorizes, buys the shipping label, then captures. A decline stops the order there, with no charge made.
Fix: add or update a card in Settings → Billing, then open the order and tap Retry card.
There is no automatic retry
A few problem states are not self-serve: a delivery problem, a bad address, or a customer’s refund or replacement request. For those, the button reads Get help with this and hands off to Support. See Fix order problems, Order statuses, and Refunds & replacements.
Design upload failed analysis
When you upload a design, PrintPort3D slices it to measure weight, print time, and dimensions. If the file cannot be analyzed, the Files tab row shows a red Failed dot with the exact reason. The following table lists each message, its cause, and how to fix it in your CAD or mesh tool.
| What you see | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| “Model is too large… Max allowed size is 255.0mm on any side.” | Any single axis exceeds the 255.0mm build limit. | Scale the model down so every axis (X, Y and Z) is 255mm or under, then re-export. |
| “Model is too small…” | The smallest side is under 0.5mm. | Scale up — the whole model’s smallest dimension must be at least 0.5mm. |
| “Model appears empty or has zero volume.” | The mesh has no solid volume (often a surface or a shell with no thickness). | Re-export as a solid, watertight mesh with real thickness. |
| “…contents do not match the declared file type.” | The file was renamed rather than re-exported (we verify the real contents). | Export a genuine file of that format — don’t just change the extension. |
| “File is too large (max 500MB).” | The upload is over the 500MB seller cap. | Decimate or simplify the mesh, or export at a lower resolution. |
- “Model is too large… Max allowed size is 255.0mm on any side.”WhyAny single axis exceeds the 255.0mm build limit.FixScale the model down so every axis (X, Y and Z) is 255mm or under, then re-export.
- “Model is too small…”WhyThe smallest side is under 0.5mm.FixScale up — the whole model’s smallest dimension must be at least 0.5mm.
- “Model appears empty or has zero volume.”WhyThe mesh has no solid volume (often a surface or a shell with no thickness).FixRe-export as a solid, watertight mesh with real thickness.
- “…contents do not match the declared file type.”WhyThe file was renamed rather than re-exported (we verify the real contents).FixExport a genuine file of that format — don’t just change the extension.
- “File is too large (max 500MB).”WhyThe upload is over the 500MB seller cap.FixDecimate or simplify the mesh, or export at a lower resolution.
Export as STL or 3MF
Two behaviors commonly cause confusion. PrintPort3D does not require a watertight or manifold model and never checks wall thickness, so those are not the cause of a failure here; the only automatic correction it makes is flipping inverted normals. For 3MF specifically, the file’s unit setting is ignored and raw coordinates are read, so a 3MF exported in inches or meters is mis-scaled and may trip the size checks. Always work in millimeters.
Unable to upload at all
For full details, see File requirements, Upload a design, and Limits & specs.
Studio troubleshooting
Studio is where you design with AI or from a template. Most Studio errors are credit or input messages rather than failures. The following sections explain the common ones.
“Not enough credits”
Cause: Studio actions run on credits from your platform balance, and yours has run low. The message names the price and your balance, for example “this photo costs $X, your balance is $Y.” Typical costs: designing in chat is $0.50 per message ($1.50 for a multi-part assembly), generating a 3D mesh is $0.40 (image) or $0.50 (text), and AI product photos are $0.25–$0.50 each (the 5-shot pack is $1.50). Multi-angle renders are free, and any action that fails is refunded automatically. Accounts created on or after 2026-07-07 receive a one-time $10 welcome credit. The full table is in Studio credits.
“Render shots of this design first”
Cause: AI product photos are staged around your design’s real geometry, so actual renders must exist first. They are never invented from nothing.
Fix: run Render all angles, which is free, then generate your photos. See Renders & product photos.
A request was refused
Cause: requests for weapons or trademarked items are declined. You receive a short explanation in the chat, your current design is left untouched, and the charge for that attempt is refunded.
Why AI-authored designs have no sliders
Notifications are not reaching you
When order or shipping updates do not reach you, the usual cause is watching the wrong channel. Different kinds of updates travel by different routes.
| Update | Where it goes | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A Studio design finishes | The in-app bell | Nothing — this is the only thing the bell carries today. |
| Order, shipping and support updates | Email + mobile push | Email is ON by default — setup switches on “Email me about orders” for you (Settings → Fulfillment, if you ever want to turn it off). |
| Orders, Finance, Overview and Catalog pages | They refresh live on their own | Just keep the tab open — changes appear without a notification or a manual reload. |
- A Studio design finishesWhere it goesThe in-app bellWhat to doNothing — this is the only thing the bell carries today.
- Order, shipping and support updatesWhere it goesEmail + mobile pushWhat to doEmail is ON by default — setup switches on “Email me about orders” for you (Settings → Fulfillment, if you ever want to turn it off).
- Orders, Finance, Overview and Catalog pagesWhere it goesThey refresh live on their ownWhat to doJust keep the tab open — changes appear without a notification or a manual reload.
The in-app bell reports only Studio design completions. Order and shipping alerts do not appear in the bell; they are sent by email, and Email me about orders is on by default (your first verified sign-in switches it on), so onboarded sellers already receive them. If you are not, confirm it was not turned off in Settings → Fulfillment.
“Real-time” means the page refreshes, not a ping
Contact support
Before investigating further, check the public status page at /status. It indicates whether a service is having trouble platform-wide. Note that the service dots reflect the last known state and can lag by up to about 15 minutes, so a very recent problem may not show yet.
To reach a person, the reliable channels are email at support@printport3d.com and, on any order, the Get help with this button, which opens the /support page with that order number in the link. The in-app support desk is still being built, so to reach us directly, email support@printport3d.com with that order number. The floating AI chat and feedback popup are hidden throughout the Workspace. Every channel is documented in Getting support.