Nearby Projects & Send To

On both computers, open Settings ▸ Nearby:

1. Turn on Enable Nearby, give each computer a recognizable name, and save Settings.
2. Reopen Nearby on your workstation and choose Pair beside the other computer.
3. Remember the six digits shown. You have ten minutes to walk to the other computer.
4. Click its pairing-request indicator, or open Settings ▸ Nearby. Check that the six digits match the workstation, then choose Numbers Match — Approve.

Both screens update automatically and the pairing is remembered. There is no invitation key to copy, paste or type. Reject an unexpected request or a different code; computer names alone are not proof. You can cancel a pending request and start again if it expires. Screen viewing and control stay off until you explicitly enable them.

Pairing is independent of your jetcad.io account and existing License Sharing settings. Previously paired computers keep their permissions. If a computer shows an update requirement, update JetCad3 there before creating a new pairing.

If multicast discovery is blocked but the computers can still reach each other, enter the other computer's host name or local IP beside Pair by Address. The same six-digit comparison applies, and the successful pairing remembers the address. Manual addresses remains available for a paired computer whose address later changes. An address cannot bypass Wi-Fi client isolation or a firewall. Nearby uses UDP port 49252 for discovery, TCP port 49253 for paired project and screen sessions, and TCP port 49254 for pairing while Nearby is enabled. Both connection ports accept IPv4 and IPv6, so the discovered Pair button also works when your network supplies a local IPv6 address. Keep those ports limited to the trusted local network; do not forward them through the internet. On macOS, allow JetCad3's Local Network privacy request. On Windows, allow JetCad3 through Windows Defender Firewall for Private networks only when prompted. On Linux or a JC3 Appliance with a firewall, allow the ports only from the shop subnet.

Pairing lets a computer send projects directly. There is no extra invitation acceptance switch. Separate controls remain for:

• seeing shared projects;
• opening projects;
• editing and saving projects;
• reading and editing linked machine profiles;
• viewing this JetCad3 screen; and
• controlling this JetCad3 screen.

Screen control automatically requires screen view. Turn off either permission at any time to end that capability immediately, or choose Forget Computer to revoke the entire pairing.

Use Add Shared Folder… to publish selected project folders. Folder paths stay private; the other computer sees project names through JetCad3. Live tabs can still be sent individually when no folder is shared.

With the project open, choose File ▸ Send To…, select your paired computer and click Send Project. The project opens there automatically in its own tab. You do not need to walk over to accept it. Opened confirms that the receiving computer has loaded it. Sending again reuses that project tab; other open or unsaved work is not replaced. If a machine is running or paused, its operator view stays in front while the incoming project opens in another tab. Sending never starts a machine.

Large projects use compressed, integrity-checked transfers automatically, including their project history and subsequent edits. The first open can take longer while model and scan resources arrive. The receiving computer still loads and renders the project locally; Nearby does not move that processing or memory demand to the home computer. A successful transfer alone does not mean the destination has finished opening the project. Keep both computers running until Opened appears. If asked to update for a large project, update JetCad3 on both computers; you do not need to remove parts or split the project.

If an initial transfer fails, keep the home computer available and use Send Again. A receiving tab that knows its project identity retains it for reconnect after restart; incomplete placeholders from older failed transfers no longer block new sends. Re-pairing or making a separate project copy is not required.

You can also use the normal Open dialog and select a computer under Nearby to browse its authorized live tabs and shared folders. A reopened remote tab remembers its home and reconnects when that computer returns.

For manufacturing, choose a compatible destination machine for the requested workspace. Readiness checks include its profile, post, tools, recipes and lenses. An incomplete unrelated Laser setup does not prevent sending Drafting or Plasma: the whole project is preserved. Required portable machine profiles travel with the project and link automatically. A missing sheet recipe is a job-setup warning, not a reason sending fails: finish that setup at the destination before running. Posting/preparing an unmapped workspace remains blocked until its setup is complete. Destination machine choices stay local and never rewrite the workstation's choices.

Nearby checks the home file before saving. Changes to file permissions or security metadata alone do not block Save; changed file contents or a replacement file still do. Keep both tabs open if an external-change error appears so unsaved shared work remains available. After the conflict is resolved, a successful Save clears the error on both computers.

Send To includes required profiles automatically. To share or request a profile separately, use the linked-profile controls in Settings ▸ Nearby or Machine Configuration. Ordinary profiles link automatically between paired computers, reusing an existing link or an exact local match. Different same-name profiles are preserved for review rather than silently overwritten. Portable machine settings, tools, charts and required posts travel together; local connections and private credentials stay on their own computer.

A linked profile has one authoritative home, just like a shared project. Either computer can make authorized edits, one editor at a time, and changes return to that home. The home must remain reachable; there is no offline editable branch. Profile read/edit permissions are separate from project and screen permissions.

Custom or changed posts require explicit approval before they can be used. A profile update cannot replace the effective profile beneath an active or paused run: it stays pending until you explicitly apply it while idle. Receiving a profile never connects a controller or starts a machine.

If a save's confirmation is lost, JetCad3 shows an unconfirmed save. Use the displayed recovery actions to resolve the exact save rather than retrying it as a new edit. Unlinking makes a deliberate independent local profile; ordinary exported/imported copies do not secretly retain a live link.

Different workspace domains can be edited simultaneously. For example, one computer can own Modeling while another owns Plasma and a third owns Mill. Only one computer can edit a particular domain at a time; Drafting, Sketch, and Sketch3D share the Modeling owner. JetCad3 requests and releases ownership as tools and edits begin, and fences an editor immediately if its connection is lost.

In Plasma, Oxyfuel, Laser and Router, start a part move or rotation normally. Editing ownership is acquired automatically before the placement changes, stays active through a long gesture, and is released after the completed edit is confirmed. Keyboard nudges, wheel rotation and the position/rotation fields use the same protection. If the other computer is actively editing that workspace, finish its edit first, then try again; no receiving approval is required. Selecting or inspecting parts does not reserve editing ownership.

Sheet and job settings use the same editing protection. Dialogs keep ownership until you finish or cancel, including asynchronous operations such as scaling, duplicating or simplifying parts.

The Preparing bump stops… indicator describes local collision preparation, not project transfer. It clears when that preparation finishes or the gesture is cancelled.

Save on any attached computer commits through the authoritative home and atomically updates the home file. Save As is available only into an explicitly shared folder on that home and creates a new project identity. Remote tabs do not write local autosave copies, so a disconnected computer cannot silently become another version of the project.

Closing a receiving project tab detaches that view. Once the last receiving tab closes, the open home tab returns to ordinary local editing and saving; its latest accepted changes remain there. You can send it again after further local changes. Quitting and reopening JC3 is different: it preserves the shared-tab connection for session restore. The home still needs to be running before another computer can edit or save.

A lost save confirmation does not mean the edit should be repeated. Nearby keeps unconfirmed project edits and checks their original outcome when reconnecting. If another computer changed that same workspace before an unaccepted edit could be recovered, the pending edit is retained and editing remains blocked for review; it is not silently overwritten or made into a separate editable file.

Undo is scoped to the workspace you own. Incoming edits do not enter your local Undo history, and an Undo cannot replace a newer change made by another computer in the same workspace.

A CAM workspace keeps the exact source geometry revision the operator accepted. Drafting or Design changes show source changed; they do not silently rewrite prepared CAM.

• In Plasma, Oxyfuel, Laser, and Router, use the existing part Update from source action when you are ready. Locked parts do not update; unlocked parts keep their placement.
• In Mill, right-click the setup and choose Update from source. Mill retains the accepted model, repairs stable operation references where possible, and regenerates affected operations only after that explicit choice.
• A simulation or physical program already in progress is pinned. Project synchronization prepares the next run but never replaces the program currently running.

Under Settings ▸ Nearby, choose View Screen beside an available computer after it has granted screen-view permission. Screen control works only when that separate permission is also enabled.

The viewer opens inside a themed JetCad3 dialog, not a separate desktop window. On the Appliance it maximizes inside JC3; on a workstation it remembers its dialog bounds. Choose fit or actual-size view and reconnect from the same dialog.

Nearby shows only JetCad3, never the desktop or other apps. A virtual pointer is visible in the viewer and on the shared computer, without moving that computer's physical mouse cursor. Only one remote controller can own input at a time, including OEM support sessions. Release control with Ctrl+Shift+Esc or the dialog's control button.

The shared computer displays an always-visible viewer/controller indicator with Stop. Stop, revoking permission, closing the viewer or losing the secure connection releases held keys/buttons. Changing the shared surface or losing focus also releases input so a drag or modifier cannot remain stuck.

Keep the authoritative home awake and JetCad3 running while the project is shared. If it disappears:

• attached tabs show an offline or reconnecting state instead of saving a local branch;
• workspace ownership is fenced, so an old editor cannot commit after the connection is lost;
• accepted commits and immutable project resources resume or reconcile by exact revision when the connection returns; and
• a changed authority epoch or missing journal range forces an exact snapshot instead of guessing across a gap.

If discovery alone fails, use a manual local address. If pairing fails, choose Pair again and compare the new six-digit code. If a project no longer appears, verify that the peer's project permissions and project/folder scope are still enabled.