Perugia, Italy-based, ILEXSOFT, has today announced HighDesign 2016, the latest version of its powerful, full-featured CAD software exclusively for Mac OS X.
The new CAD system update delivers native 64-bit support, which provides a substantial speed boost, in all areas of the software, says the company. Additionally, HighDesign 2016 now features associative dimensioning, compound walls, enhanced input and output with improved support for DWG files, GIF, and PNG with alpha channel support and more. All of this is packaged within a modern Apple Mac user interface that emphasizes the user experience (UX) and maximum productivity.
01 – A screenshot of the new HighDesign 2016, 64-bit native OS X CAD system.
“With the support for the 64-bit architecture and many new improvements, HighDesign 2016 is a very important update as it focuses on the core drafting features: speed, workflow, and interoperability, as well as adding some tools that had been requested by our users in the fields of architecture and mechanical design,” said Andrea Suraci, co-founder of Ilexsoft.
Dozens of New Features—HighDesign 2016
A list of many of the top new features in HighDesign 2016 include:
- Overall Speed Up — 10x gains in drawing regeneration, panning, zooming, file save and open
- New Associative Dimensions — dims link to objects so when objects change dimensions adjust automatically
- New Compound Walls (Pro) — to easily create multi-layer, parametric walls with customizable fill, hatch, thickness, and function
- New Smart Snap, vector, and object info to speed up the drafting process. On-screen tooltips display in one place and directly near the cursor the relevant information about the current element
- New Export as PNG with Alpha Channel support
- New Copy as Image Command
- New View menu to control zoom, options and views
- New Display modes to quickly view the project by layer or wireframe
- New Distribute commands for easier layouts
Other features include improved handling of multi-page PDF documents, more linear units and preset drawing scales, including the full range of engineering and architectural scales. HighDesign 2016 also adds a number of options and preferences for a more flexible and accessible user interface, like the new option to enlarge the tooltips and info boxes.
02 – HighDesign 2016 is suitable for several disciplines, including mechanical drafting.
More information about what’s new in this release are available at http://www.ilexsoft.com/
Pricing and Availability
HighDesign 2016 runs on Macs with OS X 10.11 El Capitan, OS X 10.10, OS X 10.9 and OS X 10.8. HighDesign 2016 is available in two main editions, Standard for 199.00 USD and Professional for 349.00 USD. A third option, called “Professional Plus”, offers two Professional licenses at the convenient price of 499.00 USD.
One-year educational licenses are available free of charge for qualified students and teachers. More information at www.ilexsoft.com/educational/.
Architosh Analysis
In the sub 500.USD range there are actually limited numbers of CAD tools on Mac OS X suitable for professionals themselves. HighDesign is one of them. In this latest release, HighDesign 2016 marches on with some professional grade features in editable groups with their own separate workspace, plus associative dimensions, and compound walls. This last feature in particular is absolutely key for professional architects.
There are features that HighDesign has that many much more expensive CAD solutions, on either Windows or Mac, quite often lack. The alpha channel support on PNG file export is one example.