The .shapeaway file

A .shapeaway file is a zip holding everything about a sculpt: the clay of every object, paint and masks, detail meshes, hair, photo references, looks and finishes, the camera, limits and a thumbnail.

Safe saving

Shapeaway saves to a temporary file first and only then replaces the old one, so a failed save never damages your previous version. Big sculpts are saved in parts on every processor core.

Versions

Every version of Shapeaway opens every earlier file. Files only change format when they need something new, and older copies say plainly when a file needs a newer Shapeaway.

Saved by	Format	Opens in
1.0	1 to 3	Every version
2.5, 2.6	4, or 5 with several objects	2.5 and later
3.0	6 for big sculpts saved in parts; otherwise as 2.6	3.0 and later (format 6)
4.0	7 with detail meshes, 8 with hair or photos; otherwise unchanged	4.0 and later (formats 7 and 8)

Autosave

Every two minutes when something changed, never mid-stroke. See Autosave and recovering work.