The new HighDesign release is ready for macOS 13 Ventura and introduces key new features for tracing and drafting.
HighDesign R7 has arrived and delivers important features and enhancements that were among the top requested by users. Listening to the feedback we receive is very important to us and we always do our best to meet the needs of designers and implement features that are designed with real-world applications in mind.
Ready for macOS Ventura
HighDesign was developed and tested extensively on macOS 13 Ventura. As Apple continues improving and modernizing the macOS, HighDesign has always been up-to-date with the new technologies: it was the first CAD app to move to 64-bit and the first to support the latest ARM-based chips. With R7, we made sure HighDesign runs smoothly on the new macOS on both Intel- and ARM-based Macs.
HighDesign R7 was also tested successfully on the latest Windows 11 release.
Trace References
This features is so important that we felt it deserved to have a release all for itself. Trace reference is a new tool to display, review and trace drawings and pictures on a drafting sheet. You can use a Trace Reference to compare drawings, create elevations and cross sections from floor plans, or to set to scale and trace a scanned floor plan or city map.
Here is how it works: let’s say you have a drawing or an image on a drafting sheet. It can be an imported drawing, a scanned picture, a map or a drawing made on HighDesign. Create a new drafting sheet and enable the Trace reference pointing to that sheet. Now you have a view of that sheet that you can move, rotate and resize as you need. If the area you need to work on is smaller that the referenced sheet, you can also define a crop rectangle and limit what is shown and you can change opacity and colour filter as needed. All transformations are non-destructive, meaning that they do not affect the source content.
Trace references also include the Set to Scale tool: when you need to trace a scanned floor plan, a map or an imported drawing, you can set it to the correct scale by simply tracing an item and entering its length. The trace reference will be scaled to match the entered measure.
Another common use case of trace references is to create elevations or cross sections of a building from a floor plan. In this case, you can create a reference to the floor plan and rotate it according to the direction of view. Since trace references provide snapping to the referenced drawing objects, it is easy to place guides or simply use the quick alignment guides to draw the elevation or section view.
Smarter Hatches
The Hatch at Click tool has been redesigned and is now faster and more efficient. You can insert a hatch on shapes made of lines, poly-lines, polygons, arcs, circles, curves and walls, all with a single click.
The same method can now also open islands inside any selected hatch: opening holes in components, or doors and windows on elevations has never been easier.
Enhanced curves and poly-lines
HighDesign R7 offers improved control over curves and poly-lines with the ability to quickly change a node’s geometry. Select a node through Object Info and change it from straight to curved with mirrored, asymmetric or disconnected tangent lines.
Poly-lines offer a similar control to change a node from straight to arc, both convex and concave.
The Join command was also enhanced and now offers the ability to combine two poly-lines, bezier curves or splines into one object.
Miscellaneous improvements
This new version of HighDesign includes over a hundred of improvements, speed optimizations and fixes in all areas of the software: pattern hatches are now up to five times faster than before; texts, dimensions and annotations now behave more consistently; viewports are faster and easier to use; printing and publish to PDF have been improved; photogrammetry, drawing presentation, walls and windows, DXF/DWG compatibility, and many more items have been improved for added stability and efficiency.
HighDesign is the modern design software that combines the directness of 2D drafting with powerful BIM-like project control and processes. Available for macOS on both Intel- and ARM-based machines and for Windows 10 & 11, HighDesign R7 comes in three editions to best suit your needs. Learn more and download a free trial today on www.ilexsoft.com.
