Your projects stay in this browser.

Every change is saved to the browser's storage (IndexedDB) shortly after you pause. The status at the top right says Unsaved changes, Saving or Saved; Project › Save saves the newest revision immediately.

Behind the current project, GrainDraft keeps two rotating recovery copies and a same-tab recovery journal for refreshes. The Project shelf's recovery shelf lists them read-only; restore one, then save it as a named copy if you want to keep it.

Two open tabs cannot overwrite each other's saves: the tab that loses keeps its changes and tells you.

Browsers can clear site data to free disk space, and Safari on iPad and Mac can clear it after about a week without a visit. After the first save, GrainDraft asks the browser to keep your projects. The Project shelf shows Kept by this browser when it agreed, or Browser may clear it with a Keep projects button (Firefox asks you to confirm).

Either way, download backups. Project › Download project backup saves a portable .graindraft file. Project › Save named copy keeps a milestone you can reopen, rename, duplicate, download or delete.

Projects do not follow you between browsers or devices. Download a backup, then open GrainDraft on the other device and choose Project › Open → Import .graindraft. Importing always creates a separate copy and never overwrites the model on screen.

A .graindraft file is checked before anything changes: a file with a part that has no position, a non-positive size or an unknown material is refused, with the parts named, and your project is left as it was.

Projects saved at the old address, hobbybuddy.ca/GrainDraft, stay in that browser at that address. Download them there and import them at graindraft.com/app.

If GrainDraft stops with an error screen, choose Download project backup first: it saves the model that was open, including unsaved changes. Then choose Reload GrainDraft. Saving stops when the error happens, so reloading returns to your last saved version; the error screen never overwrites your autosave or recovery copies.

If the same project fails again after a reload, open the downloaded backup with Project › Open → Import .graindraft.

Share in the header (or Project › Share) uploads a copy of the open project to GrainDraft's server and gives you a link. Nothing is uploaded until you press Upload and create link, and your own project is not changed. Anyone with the link can see the project and open their own copy, with no account on either side — so share only what you are happy to show.

Opening a shared link asks first. Save and open saves your current project to the Project shelf as “Before shared project” with the date, then opens the shared one as your own independent copy. Add to shelf only keeps your project open and stores the shared copy on the shelf. Check the dimensions before cutting anything you did not design.

Links are not permanent. Shared projects are kept in a fixed amount of storage; when it is full, the least recently opened links are removed first. Stop sharing in the Share window removes a link early, from the browser that made it. For a copy that lasts, download a .graindraft backup. What is stored and for how long is in Privacy.

Open GrainDraft opens the app with whatever project you had open. Open the side table asks first; if you agree, it saves your open project to the Project shelf as “Before example” with the date, then opens the example. If you decline, nothing changes.

Open in GrainDraft on a gallery project asks first as well. Save and open saves your open project to the Project shelf as “Before gallery project” with the date, then opens the gallery project as your own independent copy. Add to shelf only keeps your project open and stores the copy on the shelf. Keep my project open changes nothing. The project file is downloaded from this website and nothing of yours is uploaded; what you do to your copy never changes the listing. Check the dimensions before cutting anything you did not design.

This website loads no advertising, analytics or other third-party scripts, because it shares its address with the app and the browser storage your projects live in. See Privacy.

Project › Publish to Gallery sends a public copy of the open project to GrainDraft for the gallery. Nothing is sent until you press Submit for review, and your own project is not changed. Publishing needs no account.

Before you submit, the window shows everything that will become public: the picture, the title and description you typed, the sizes and counts GrainDraft measured, every part and group name, and the notes on your dimensions. Your saved views, pins and presets are not included, and your lumber prices are replaced with GrainDraft's defaults.

GrainDraft looks at every submission before it appears, usually within a few days, and may decline or remove a listing. A published project is a public page that anyone can find, open, change and build from, under the licence in the gallery terms.

Withdraw in the same window, in the browser that submitted, takes your listing down at once. It cannot recall copies that people have already opened or downloaded, and search engines can take a while to forget a page. What is stored and for how long is in Privacy.