Export and import .surf files

What a .surf file is

A .surf file holds one design: the version you choose, every graphic skin, and the 3D model you uploaded, if there is one. Any Surfbase account can import it and gets a new, fully editable copy of the design. Send it to a shaper at another shop, keep a copy of your own work, or move a design between a personal and a shop workspace.

A .surf file opens only through Surfbase. It is a backup of your Surfbase design, not a backup that outlives Surfbase. Nothing else can read it: not the design name, not a dimension, not a picture.

Export a design

1. Open the export menu

   On the designs list or the design page, select Export, then Surfbase file.

2. Choose a version

   The current version is selected. Pick an earlier one to send the version a customer approved. Only the current version carries the uploaded 3D model.

3. Set a password, or don't

   A password cannot be recovered — not by you, not by Surfbase. Keep it with the file. Leave the field empty and anyone with a Surfbase account can import the file.

4. Download it

   The file is named after the design and the date, for example twin-fish-20261017.surf. It stays available to download for 7 days.

Export is on every plan, including Free.

Import a design

1. Open the import

   On the designs list, select Import, then Surfbase file. You can also drop the .surf file where you would drop a 3D model: Surfbase recognises it. Files up to 64 MB are accepted.

2. Check what you're about to create

   Surfbase shows the design's name, category and dimensions, when it was exported, and whether it includes a 3D model and artwork, before anything is created. If you imported the same file before, it says so, and importing again makes another copy.

3. Enter the password, if the file has one

   Ten wrong tries in a minute and you are asked to wait a minute.

4. Import

   The design appears in your list as a new design, with version 1 and the skins and model from the file. It never replaces or changes a design you already have.

What a .surf file never contains

Orders, customers, prices, costs, stock, share links, comments, drafts and renders stay in your workspace. The file carries the design and nothing about the people in your shop. Whoever imports it sees that it came from Surfbase, and from their own design if it did, but never which other account sent it.

If something goes wrong

• "That isn't a Surfbase file": the file is not a .surf, or its extension was changed.
• "This file is damaged and can't be opened": it was altered or cut short on the way. Ask for it again.
• "Update required": the file was made by a newer Surfbase. Try again after the next update.
• "That password doesn't open this file": there is no way around a forgotten password. Ask whoever sent the file to export it again.