This question was answered in the customer portal:

This is a Parasolid surface creation and knitting limitation.  The limits for STL/VRML imports are:

-  20,000 faces for creating solid bodies

-  100,000 faces for creating surface bodies

-  No limit for creating graphic bodies

The answer was updated over 6 years ago. Has the number increased? I am using Solidworks 2014 and I am trying to import fairly complex STL files into Solidworks as solid bodies.I have gotten an error message saying that there are too many faces to import as a solid. Is there any way to avoid this?

My main goal is to calculate the surface area of polygonal objects. I am using 123D Catch from Autodesk to generate a 3D model of a real world object and then converting it into an STL file. Once I get the STL file and import it into Solidworks as a solid body I should be able to use the mass properties tool to get a surface area calculation. Any advice?