Documentation
Projects, saving and sharing
Graphite4D saves every change automatically. There is no Save button to remember. Each edit is written to your device first, then sent to the cloud when you are online, so you can keep working through a dropped connection.
Read the save status
The status in the top bar tells you where your latest work is.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Saved to cloud | Everything is stored in your workspace and available on any device. |
| Saving… | Recent edits are being sent to the cloud. |
| Saved on this device | Your edits are safe in this browser and will be sent to the cloud. |
| Offline · 3 pending | You're offline. The edits are safe in this browser, and Graphite keeps retrying. |
| Conflict · 2 local edits | Changes saved elsewhere overlap yours. Your edits are kept on this device until you choose what to do. |
| Opening project… | The project is loading. Controls are unavailable until it is ready. |
| Project recovery needs attention | The project couldn't finish opening. See Troubleshooting. |
Find and open projects
When you sign in, you see your workspace's Cloud projects. Search by name or description, then select a project to open it. To return to this list from the model, choose Projects from the projects and workspaces menu in the top bar, or Saved projects from the project menu.
Start a new project
- On the Cloud projects page, choose New project, enter a Project name and choose Create project.
- From inside a model, open the project menu and choose New project. Graphite opens an empty project called "Untitled design".
Keep a copy
To keep a design as it stands, open the project menu and choose Save project copy. Enter a Project name and an optional Description, then choose Save project copy. The copy includes geometry, recipes, drawings and appearance, and any open AI proposal preview. Your current project stays open.
Copies appear in your projects list marked Saved copy. The same window has a Browse projects tab that lists your saved copies. Open project continues editing one, and Open a copy starts a new, separate project from it.
Save and open project files
A project file is a portable .graphite4d.json file that contains the whole project.
- To download one, open the project menu and choose Save file, or press ⌘ S on a Mac or Ctrl S on Windows.
- To bring one back, choose Open project file. Graphite opens it as a new project, so it never overwrites an existing one.
Project files can be up to 4 MB.
Export for other software
Open the project menu and choose Export, or press ⌘ Shift E on a Mac or Ctrl Shift E on Windows. Choose which Appearance to export, then a format:
| Format | Contains |
|---|---|
| GLB · 3D exchange | Geometry with realistic materials and image textures |
| USD · scene description | Geometry with display color and opacity |
| SVG · appearance legend | The legend for the chosen appearance |
Both 3D formats keep element attributes. Perforated panels export as solid panels. Export uses the current design, not an open AI proposal preview. Drawings export separately as PDF or SVG; see Drawings.
DWG, IFC and Revit formats are not available in the initial release.
Download a whole workspace
On the Cloud projects page, choose Download workspace. You get a .tar.gz archive of every saved cloud project in the workspace, including projects outside your current search. Extract it and open any .graphite4d.json file with Open project file.
Finish synchronizing first; the archive doesn't include edits that are still only on a device. Keep the window open while the download runs. It contains no API keys, invitation links or payment details.
Edit together (beta)
Co-editing is in beta. Members of a firm can open the same cloud project at the same time and edit different parts of it.
- The collaboration button in the top bar shows how many other editing sessions are open. Open it to see who has reserved which parts.
- When you start editing a part's controls or move it in the 3D view, Graphite reserves that part and what it depends on. Choose Reserve selected parts to reserve ahead, and Release reservation when you're done.
- If someone else has a part reserved, you see "Another person is editing these parts". Choose another part, or wait for them to release it.
- Your reservation ends when you change the selection, hide the tab or stop editing for two minutes. Editing inside a recipe reserves the whole recipe, and some changes reserve the whole project.
- Changes to different parts combine automatically. While you have controls open, others' changes wait until you apply or cancel.
- Undo reverses your own edits, not a teammate's.
When edits conflict
If your edits overlap changes another person saved, the collaboration panel opens with Sync your edits:
- Use cloud version drops your pending edits and loads the latest shared version.
- Apply non-conflicting edits starts from the latest version and reapplies the edits that still fit.
- Keep as a separate project saves your whole local version as a new project and leaves the shared one unchanged.
- Save local version as a file downloads what you see.
The first two choices keep a recovery copy on this device, under Recovery copies on this device.
Firms, members and seats
Everyone starts with a personal workspace. To work with others, open the projects and workspaces menu and choose Create a firm. Everyone in a firm can open its projects. Use the same menu to switch workspaces.
In a firm, People & invitations lets owners and admins invite up to 50 people at a time by email address. Graphite emails the invitations, or gives you links to share yourself. Each link works only for the invited, verified email and expires after 7 days.
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Viewer | Open and export projects |
| Editor | Also change projects |
| Admin | Also manage editors, viewers and project connections |
| Owner | Everything an admin can do, and invite admins |
Editing needs a paid seat assigned to you. Without one, you can still open and export models. Owners and admins buy seats and assign them to members under Subscription & seats; viewers can't hold a seat. Reassigning a seat to another member keeps its monthly rate. Unassigned seats remain part of the subscription. In your personal workspace, you subscribe for yourself from the same place.
To close your account, open your account menu and choose Account & data. Your personal cloud projects stay recoverable for 30 days.