# Is there a max file size for a shapr design?

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [July 26, 2020, 6:41am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451 "2020-07-26T06:41:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Capnok](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/capnok/32/6886_2.png) [@Capnok](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Capnok)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2020, 6:41am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/1 "2020-07-26T06:41:44Z")

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Just curious if there are any hard maximum limits of any kind. My current design is around 100mb and was just curious what would be considered large.

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![setal2003](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@setal2003](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/setal2003)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2020, 8:32am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/2 "2020-07-26T08:32:55Z")

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I have tried 160 mb and the App crashes during opening  
130 mb still safe for me  
The current solution is to split your project in smaller parts

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**Author:** ![Istvan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/istvan/32/23668_2.png) [@Istvan](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Istvan)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2020, 10:28am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/3 "2020-07-26T10:28:33Z")

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File size does not mean much. Even very small files can contain very complex geometry sometimes, while simple geometry can generate big files. A better way to approach the question is how many faces/bodies can Shapr3D load, and the answer is that quite a lot. We’ve successfully imported and edited bigger assemblies, with thousands of bodies. But again, the geometry matters a lot, and your iPad too. Eg. if you have thousands of screws where all the threads are modeled out (which is not a great idea, unless you are modeling for 3D printing), you may have issues. Also on the lates iPad Pro, everything will be 10x+ faster than on the first iPad Pro.

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**Author:** ![Capnok](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/capnok/32/6886_2.png) [@Capnok](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Capnok)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 2:19am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/4 "2020-07-27T02:19:58Z")

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Cool good to know! So far I am amazed by the performance and stability of Shapr, awesome software. 😄

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**Author:** ![sl59lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@sl59lee](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/sl59lee)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/5 "2020-12-17T05:22:03Z")

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I am okay so far, but am afraid as my file size gets bigger because I hear there are crashes.  
It would be good to know approximate file size or number of bodies that shapr3d can handle for 1 project.  
It will also be good if the app does not shut down, but rather get slower and heavier so that I can estimate when to look for alternatives such as group multiple parts as one, etc.  
It will be good to let us know tricks to keep a project efficient in detail as well  
Thank you, so far I am enjoying a lot.

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**Author:** ![Istvan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/istvan/32/23668_2.png) [@Istvan](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Istvan)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 7:36am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/8 "2020-12-17T07:36:22Z")

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It’s really not depending on file size unfortunately. The limitation is usually the iPad’s memory, and even small files can become very big after loading and vica versa. In 2021/Q1 and Q2 we will work a lot on optimizing for larger designs, so these problems should be gone. We are seeing that more and more of our users are making really big things in Shapr3D.

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**Author:** ![sander](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/sander/32/2625_2.png) [@sander](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/sander)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 8:12am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/9 "2020-12-17T08:12:48Z")

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I always make duplicates for my very large files to make sure I have a backup when I can not open the file anymore. It would be great if shapr would provide some sort of backup when a file gets corrupted.

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**Author:** ![sander](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/sander/32/2625_2.png) [@sander](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/sander)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 8:15am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/10 "2020-12-17T08:15:13Z")

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I have an iPad Pro 2018 and have files with over 1600 bodies, around 500mb bigger then that gets problematic most of the time. I then simplify complex geometries and try to merge objects where possible

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**Author:** ![sl59lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@sl59lee](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/sl59lee)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 11:30am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/11 "2020-12-17T11:30:48Z")

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I am so glad to hear that you guys are working on it!  
Meanwhile, I would like to ask,

- You can count number of bodies? If it is possible, how?
- Will it help to use Union to unify bodies or maybe just Grouping will help?
- Lastly, is “Tesselating” when i start up, meaning that the project is getting large?

Apologize for asking too many, but organizing layers and keeping structure of project simple would be helping anyway, so I wonder.

Backing up each time is nice idea, and I am currently doing it

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**Author:** ![Istvan](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/istvan/32/23668_2.png) [@Istvan](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Istvan)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2020, 7:11pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/is-there-a-max-file-size-for-a-shapr-design/8451/12 "2020-12-17T19:11:10Z")

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> [@sl59lee](#):
>
> - You can count number of bodies? If it is possible, how?

The number of selected bodies is displayed in the bottom. If all of your bodies are in the same folder, selecting it should show the number.

> [@sl59lee](#):
>
> - Will it help to use Union to unify bodies or maybe just Grouping will help?

No, unfortunately not.

> [@sl59lee](#):
>
> - Lastly, is “Tesselating” when i start up, meaning that the project is getting large?

No. Tessellating however is slower when you have more geometry. [Tessellation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessellation_(computer_graphics)) is the process of generating triangles for rendering from the [b-rep](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_representation) model.