CAD & design files
Upload and manage CAD files and design assets.
Overview
The Design section at /admin/design is the home base for every CAD file, render, technical drawing, and reference image your studio produces. It is a Supabase-backed file manager with three things bolted on that generic file managers don't have: a real 3D viewer, aversioning model tuned for jewelry revision cycles, and direct links into Katura's product catalog and pricing pipeline.
Tip
If you're new to the CAD pipeline as a whole, start at CAD pipeline overview for the end-to-end story; this page documents the Design surface specifically.
Layout
The Design page has three panes:
- Left: folder tree (organize by project, client, or product line).
- Center: the file grid with previews — STL files render their thumbnail; images and PDFs show inline.
- Right: details for the selected file — versions, who uploaded, linked products, audit log.
Uploading
Drag any file onto the page. Katura recognizes:
| Type | Inline preview | Hooks |
|---|---|---|
| STL / OBJ | 3D viewer with rotate/zoom | Volume + price calc, product linkage |
| 3DM (Rhino), STEP | thumbnail only | Convert to STL on upload |
| JPG / PNG / WEBP | full-size preview | Use on product / proposal pages |
| inline reader | Bench drawings, certificates | |
| Anything else | generic icon | Stored, downloadable |
Versioning
Files with the same base name in the same folder are grouped automatically. A single design row exposes a version dropdown — pick any version to view, set as current, or download. The latest version is what feeds price calculations and the customer-facing proposal viewer unless you pin an earlier one.
Recommended folder structure
Engagement Rings/— sub-folders by client name or project code.Wedding Bands/Custom Orders/— one folder per consultation, named after the consultation id so links from/admin/customersjust work.Templates/— reusable CAD bases your team starts from.Renders/— final hero images per piece, used on product pages.Catalog Library/— production-ready CAD for current SKUs.
The 3D viewer
Click any STL or OBJ to open the 3D viewer. It supports orbit, pan, zoom, material toggling (yellow gold / white gold / platinum / matte), wireframe overlay, and auto-rotate. The viewer is the same component used on customer proposal pages and the marketing site, so what you see here is what the customer sees.
Live pricing & product linkage
Selecting an STL exposes a Pricing tab on the right pane. It shows:
- Computed mesh volume (cm³) and watertight check
- Mass for each alloy (14k YG/WG/RG, 18k YG, platinum, sterling, palladium)
- Live metal cost using today's spot
- Studio-multiplied price using your alloy / labor / margin settings
From the same pane, click Link to product to attach the file to an existing SKU. From that point on, the product detail page renders the 3D viewer and uses live pricing automatically. See Linking CAD files to products.
Sending a customer proposal
- Open the file and click Send proposal.
- Pick the customer (or create a new contact).
- Add a price, an optional message, and an expiration window (default 14 days).
- Katura sends an email with a signed link to a customer-facing proposal page that includes the 3D viewer, the price, and approve / request-changes buttons.
- Every action the customer takes is logged on the consultation timeline.
Permissions & sharing
By default, every CAD file is private. There are exactly three ways anyone outside your studio can see one — all explicit, all logged. See CAD asset permissions for the full breakdown of the admin proxy, the public whitelist, and signed proposal links.
Audit log
Every upload, download, link share, and proposal view is recorded with the actor, IP, and timestamp. Available at /admin/design/audit for 12 months.
Tip
Files are stored in Supabase Storage with global CDN delivery, so your team in another country sees previews load just as fast as someone next to the bench.