User Experience
Redesigned Landing Page for All Users
The redesigned xDesign landing page, which has been available to students since R2025x FD02, is now available for makers and commercial users. It provides an intuitive entry point to access recent designs, learning content, and sample content.
New Option to Auto-Save on Disconnect
Protect your work from unexpected interruptions by automatically saving progress when a disconnection occurs. A new option to “Auto-save on disconnect” is available in the preferences dialog. When enabled, any changes to open physical products will be saved to the database automatically in the event of a disconnection, regardless if it was caused by internet issues, timeouts, or crashes.
Improved Import Tools
Importing files is now faster and more efficient. Files can be uploaded and imported in the background, allowing you to continue working until the files are ready to open. You can select multiple files to perform a bulk import. Monitor the status of bulk import jobs from the import monitor, which is accessible from the action bar or on the landing page.
Part and Assembly Design
New Wrap Command
Add logos, text, or intricate patterns to curved surfaces without manual modeling effort. The new Wrap command projects open or closed sketch profiles onto one or more target faces and generates a result as an Emboss, Deboss, Scribe, or Curve.
Manage External References with Greater Control
The External Reference Manager provides a centralized interface to view and manage the status of all external references in a design. Users can change reference states between enabled, disabled, or isolated, making it easier to manage dependencies within assemblies.
Easily Add Recycling Symbols to Parts
Ensure accurate recycling identification and promote sustainability with new enhancements that automate the process of adding recycling symbols to parts. From the Update Content Library dialog, there is a new option to Update Recycle Symbols. Once that command has been run, you can use the Insert Sketch tool to insert pre-built sketches for various types of recycling symbols. When inserting a recycling symbol sketch, the appropriate symbol is automatically chosen based on the material assigned to the active part.
New Option for Automatic Color Assignment
Improve model clarity and reduce interpretation errors by automatically assigning distinct colors to each new geometry set, making it easier to navigate and understand complex designs.
Additional Enhancements:
- Added support for importing Parasolid files into xDesign, enabling seamless data migration from third-party CAD applications such as Siemens NX and Solid Edge.
- Cross-highlighting now works with items that were hidden with view filters. If the user selects or hovers over an item in the Design Manager that was hidden with a view filter, that item will now appear highlighted in the graphics area.
- Added an option to open the Information Panel for a 3D Shape directly from the 3D Shape context toolbar.
Subdivision Modeling
Normal Robot
Easily create complex shapes with the ability to move selections perpendicular to the curvature of the surface at each selection. This allows you to move many entities in different directions in a single action.
Drawings and Model-Based Definition (MBD)
Exploded Views
Bring your assemblies to life with exploded views. Communicate complex assembly details, demonstrate how components fit together, identify internal components or highlight assembly instructions with clean dynamic visuals using both model-based and drawing-based workflows.
Sheet Scale
Save time and ensure consistency by setting the drawing scale at the sheet level. All views placed on the sheet will automatically adopt the sheet scale, eliminating the need to adjust each one individually. This enhancement streamlines drawing creation and reduces errors, especially in multi-view layouts. Sheet scale options are present at the system, document, sheet, and view level and respect and override hierarchy from left to right as shown below.
Dynamic View Borders
Enjoy a cleaner, more focused workspace with dynamic drawing view borders. View borders now appear only on mouse hover or touch selection, reducing the on-screen clutter while keeping editing capabilities just a click away.
Annotation Set Indicator in Authoring Apps
Stay in tune with your documentation throughout the design process with new visual indicators that show which physical products contain an associated annotation set. This simple indicator within the session information ensures complete documentation coverage for your design and instantly helps you identify which components still require downstream documentation. In addition, you can select any physical product from the design tree to open it directly with a new context menu button.
Integrated Lifecyle Tools
Seamlessly manage your drawing’s evolution with lifecycle and revision controls directly available in the xDrawing action bar. These commands bring immediate access to critical operations like revisioning and state changes without ever leaving the authoring environment.
Rendering
Automatic Camera Matching
Effortlessly align the camera with your backplate in a single click to achieve the perfect layout quickly and accurately, thanks to advanced AI, which boosts content production.
Camera Grid
Improve precision and capture the perfect perspective with the new grid settings to assist with manual camera adjustments.
