# Proper Design Techniques

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/proper-design-techniques/28546>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [October 23, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/proper-design-techniques/28546 "2023-10-23T00:22:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dayton3D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7bcc69/32.png) [@Dayton3D](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Dayton3D)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 12:22am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/proper-design-techniques/28546/1 "2023-10-23T00:22:05Z")

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Ok, I used the free version for a few days and I like it so far, and it will definitely suffice for what I need. I just purchased the Pro license, and I have a couple weeks to make sure I’m thinking the same way as the developers did.

So, I know(?) there isn’t really a library where I can store individual widgets that can be used in various projects. That’s ok, but how should I approach this? Let’s say I modeled 30 different bolts that I know I’ll be using over and over. Should they all be in a single project that I can import? Or should they be stored as individual projects and retrieved as needed? Should I make a ‘new project’ template that contains all of these widgets in folder and then import it when I create a new project?

I don’t care how I need to do it, but I don’t want to get deep in design and then wish I can done it differently. Thanks!

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**Author:** ![TheBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@TheBum](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TheBum)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/proper-design-techniques/28546/2 "2023-10-23T01:39:52Z")

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Since there’s currently no way to insert objects from one project to another within the app, your only option at present is to save them as files, preferably .x\_t files. You can organize the files however you want within your computer’s or iPad’s filesystem and then import them into your projects as needed.

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**Author:** ![McD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/mcd/32/15504_2.png) [@McD](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/McD)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/proper-design-techniques/28546/3 "2023-10-23T02:30:26Z")

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Alan, you prefer X\_T over Shapr3D format?

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**Author:** ![TheBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@TheBum](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TheBum)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 4:13am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/proper-design-techniques/28546/4 "2023-10-23T04:13:44Z")

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I wasn’t sure there was a way to import a .shapr file into an existing design. I just tried it and it does work.

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**Author:** ![Bob3DPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7993a0/32.png) [@Bob3DPO](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Bob3DPO)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 4:30am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/proper-design-techniques/28546/5 "2023-10-23T04:30:15Z")

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There are pros/cons how ever you do it.

- .shapr has advantage of bringing step history if that is needed (HBPM beta)
- .shapr will have everything in the design, hidden items, sketches, visualization, etc.
- .x\_t has advantage of respecting isolation so you can get just one (or a few parts) from an existing design easily (without duplicating the design so you can delete everything you don’t want to export.
- .x\_t is best way to exchange between HBPM beta and stable Shapr3d

And for “standard” items, there is a great resource with McMaster-Carr, where hundreds of thousands of design files can be downloaded in .step format.

> **[McMaster-Carr](https://www.mcmaster.com)**
>
> McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

In the past, I would use .shapr format, where I had only 1-2 bodies in the export. Today, I generally use .x\_t. After HBPM is released, I’ll may go back to .shapr files. For me, I want to organize my pseudo library in my file system as individual items (or pseudo assemblies) and not as a big template file with lots of various things. (I did that for a very short time ; -) And, it is OK to have a mix of various file types in the pseudo library that you import.

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**Author:** ![McD](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/mcd/32/15504_2.png) [@McD](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/McD)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 4:31am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/proper-design-techniques/28546/6 "2023-10-23T04:31:29Z")

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Using Shapr3D format is how I’ve saved all my components into iCloud folders. I was wondering if I was missing something…! 🤣