Allow upload of duplicate models

I’m trying to upload a model I already have uploaded. I want to put it in a different folder with different print settings. I renamed the file before trying to upload but it still puts the new print file under the original model instead of creating a new model. Any way to fix this so we can have duplicate models in different folders?

It wouldn’t make sense to have the exact same design file twice in your account. Design files are only used as source to create print files. There’s no need for two.

The system detects that the model already exists in your account. You can of course create multiple print files for different settings but we don’t allow the same design twice in your account. It seems that the real problem problem is the way print files are organized.

Please contact us via support request with your exact requirements and we can see how it can be solved.

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It does make sense daniel. Let me give you an example.

I have parts I print and sell. The final product contains multiple print files. So I have a folder for that object. Containing 4 models. Each model has a print file for it.

Now I would like to keep things organized and experiment with some different materials and therefore print settings. So instead of messing with my nicely organized folder. I want to make a new “test folder” with some of my same designs in it, but with different print files.

I do not want to clutter or confuse myself by having multiple test print files in my nicely organized product folder. I want to be able to have a separate test folder for tests. I think most people can pretty clearly see how this does make sense.

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Your proposed organization scheme makes sense. Having two equal design files in the account does not.

Uploading a second design that’s exactly the same as the one you had, adds no additional value. What you want is a new way of organizing what you already have ( including one design in two folders )

We’ll keep this in mind

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I agree with you both…:slight_smile:

I have proposed some alternate organization in the past…And I think this will come as astroprint grows up.

In my opinion, Daniel and the guys have done a good job adding features when possible and keeping things simple to use and not let the back end get to the point where it has to become a pay service.

I currently have almost 300 designs in my astroprint account and so I feel the pain of limited organization.
And I can see the OPs point I sometimes upload an ‘almost’ duplicate design under a different name.

Maybe we need something like the way music or photos are organized…like playlists or albums…where
the main library has one copy of each model with some limited sorting functions.
Then a project has links to the individual models and geode is generated for those models in that project.

Another project could have links to the same models or some other collection of models but totally different slice files…

This would be handy for me ‘maybe’ as I sometimes have projects
that I print as drafts or in very slow and fine detail depending on the situation…obviously there are other ways I could organize things to achieve this but that is only one example.

I also rather like the idea of slice profiles being tied to models (with a way to link or copy them) rather than connection hem to the printer/filament…for me how I slice is often determined as much by the specific model or the desired output than it is by the printer or filament…I have no idea how many slice profiles I have but it is too many…and many are old and not useful but it is hard to say…they were generated to suit a specific model that may or may not still be online.

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Point taken. Thanks for you feedback @Darren_DeVecchio and @Jonathan_Jelkin

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Something I’ve done on occasion, for unrelated reasons, is rotate the model 180 degrees in the z axis, rename and slice with new settings. It would allow for a “duplicate” model. May work for the OP’s test folder … not ideal, but a possible workaround.

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Same. I’ve just made a minor change like sliding it over in the x axis 1mm and then saved. This seems to be enough for astroprint to not recognize it as the same file. Still can be somewhat frusterating. Essentially I have a solid formula and I don’t want to go messing it up by adding and deleting print files under the same model. Daniel is right that my proposed idea isn’t perhaps ideal. But neither is astroprints current implementation of only allowing print files under a model and not even allowing you to custom name those print files. Move print files around and I guess you aren’t duplicating the model so fine. But still being able to put them in different project folders is the whole point.

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