Tip of the month! February: New features in 8.1

I have assembled here below the complete list of all the new features found in the latest upgrade of Palette CAD, version 8.1 for your reading pleasure, enjoy.

Also, we really have to give serious kudos and thanks to our favourite geeks and nerds in the programming department. Keep up the good work!!

Graphics

• The image quality in the virtual reality mode has been improved considerably and now also shows light and shadow live

• There are many new, realistic configuration options for the distribution of light for spots

• There is a new setting dialog for daylight

• The sun is now controlled via the dialog for daylight

• The sun’s position can be set easily in the scene using the mouse

• There is an option for automatic white balance to avoid colour alterations resulting from environment light

• The different types of light sources can now be inserted via the “Insert” ribbon

• Light sources can be set live while designing using the object controller

• The calculation for ambient light has been accelerated

• The maximum size of bitmaps in the Exposé and for Save/Print has been significantly increased

• In the Exposé, large images are now calculated and displayed little by little in individual tiles so that a partial preview of the quality of the image is provided early on during the calculation process

• The setting “Material with structure” has been improved and is now more realistic

Lots of fun to be had with the new improved lighting options.

Operation and user interface

• Larger icons can be chosen for high-resolution screens so that they are easier to recognize

• Ribbon customizations made by the user can now be saved and loaded

• The “Save object” command is now also available in the context menu of the right mouse button

• Construction of shapes made easier: The lines which result from the creation of an extrusion or from sawing, for example, can be snapped already during input using the snap functions

• The corners of fronts and workspaces are recognized as points during construction and are snapped

Search

• There is a new, very fast search feature for objects and materials in the installed catalogues

• The search works in a manner similar to search engines on the Internet

• There is a search line in the status bar of the object catalogues and material catalogues in which several search terms can be entered

• For a comprehensive search with special restrictions, there is an additional search mask

• When new catalogues have been installed, an index for fast searches is created automatically in the background

Recesses and openings

• There are configurable recesses and openings for walls

• Recesses and openings are used like windows and doors

• A recess can now also be loaded from the “Insert” ribbon

Primitives

• There are now powerful intelligent objects for the primitives, such as cuboid, pyramid, cylinder, ellipse, sphere, etc.

• The configuration options for these objects are considerably more intuitive and powerful now

• You can select the insertion point before insertion

• For rounded objects, the faceting and thus the fineness and the number of faces can be set

• One highlight is the triangle with grippable sides which is ideally suited for taking measurements, for example

Masonry enclosure

• There is a new object called “Masonry enclosure”

• This object automatically creates a frame around a selected object in the scene

• The frame can automatically be extended onto and joined to walls in the vicinity of the object

• A masonry enclosure is an intelligent extrusion

• A masonry enclosure is particularly useful for the installation of tubs in front of a wall, for example

Sections

• When objects are made to intersect with a front or a workspace, section edges are now generated as a contour

• There is a special sectional view which basically functions like a front except that in this case the area shown lies behind the cutting line

• The edge thickness and colour of the section edge can be set

• This makes it easy to hatch a cross section in 2D

Import

• The import of laser measurements in the IFC (Flexijet) format has been expanded to include additional architectural elements (such as pillars, pitched roofs, floors, recesses, openings)

• The additional option, SAT import, which was temporarily disabled in 8.0, is once again available

• Projects from Palette@Home can be imported into Palette CAD

 

Get some sunlight going to warm up your winter days. Now easier than ever!

Cameras

• The front clipping plane of cameras can be moved with the mouse

• This makes it possible to hide objects which are near the camera, for example, to look through a wall into a room

Configuration objects

• There is a “Simplify” option for configuration objects

• The background for this is that some configuration objects have so many configuration options that they become large and cumbersome

• When these configuration options are no longer needed, the object can now be converted to a simple and lean stretch object

Additional enhancements

• The maximum addressable memory for projects has been doubled

Wood technology

• The wood technology board has been enhanced with additional functions and configuration options

• For example, oblique bores and mitre cuts (compound mitre cuts) are possible

• Basic settings can be saved as the standard values

• The connection of CNC operations has been improved

• For example, free macros can be defined and linked to machining operations and joints, or connectors

• Machining operations can be sorted before output

• Grooves can also be positioned so they are centred

• The CNC output name is given in accordance with the name of the project

• Designing corners is now more intuitive

Tiling technology

• There is now a new laying style called “Laying in courses”

• This creates rows, or courses, of tiles in which each course can contain different tiles

Sanitary technology

• It is now possible to search for complete article numbers in the ARGE New Media catalogues

• Article sets are now loaded as groups

• This way, the sub-objects of a set can be edited and replaced

• When updating ARGE New Media catalogues, only the preview images for new articles must be calculated; existing preview images are transferred

Palette 2D

• Automatic backup has been enabled once again

• The DXF Export function has been improved

Palette Play

• The way some “critical” objects are shown in the scene has been improved

Palette@Home

• There is an Internet design module called Palette@Home

• This design module is an add-in module

• Projects from Palette@Home can be imported into Palette CAD

Troubleshooting

• There is a log file which helps us to find problems

 There you have it, so now, get some wonder-plans done!

Greetings from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD-Blog Team

Another year over, and a new one just begun

Festive holidays have passed us by here in Stuttgart and without snow too. Many are happy but I feel somhow cheated and slightly dissapointed. Winter without snow is like a Chrismas tree without decorations on it, just not right. On the other hand not having to scrape ice off the windscreen for ten minutes is also nice.

Palette CAD-wise it has been a very good start to the year. The new upgrade 8.1 is in it's final testing stage and should be finished next week. The wiz-kids upstairs in the programming department have manged to pack-in more than 70 new features and improvements into this upgrade and I must admit even I am truly impressed. Some of my favorites include the new easy way to position the sun live in the plan, new light fittings feature under insert tab and a fantastic Google like search feature for materials and objects. A whole list of these can be found in Palette CAD 8.1 help menu (F1) under "New features in Palette CAD 8.1". Make sure you take some time to check it out for yourself when you get your copy or have a read in our next "Tip of the month" installment in February!

We were once again at Kok 2014 in Wels, where brought along our new 52 inch touchscreen toy with in-development internet planner Palette@HOME for our visitors to try out. The feedback was very positive and most people found it very easy and intuitive to use. We also added our newest member of the team to the program, Palette Cat, which visitors thought was a very fun touch.

The fair itself was very good as always, lots of new ideas and inspirations. Only drawback was that some of the big boys decided not to present there this year. Not to worry as there was still plenty to see and do as you can see from some of the pics below.

3D model printer, fully integrated with Palette CAD of course

Some of the handwork on display was truly mesmarising

In other developments, updates in the tiling and stove catalogues are almost finished so these should also be making their way to our service partnership users during February.

Such a great start and so much more to come throughout 2014, it's really going to be a busy and an exciting year for Palette CAD and our users. Thank you all once again for being a part of our adventure. Until next time...

Greeting from Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD-Blog Team

Tip of the month! January: Keyboard shortcuts

Already middle of January, regardless happy new 2014 everybody. More and more of our users want to work at lightning speeds. To help get you there, below you can find the list of shortcuts for Palette CAD 8. Use them well, oh, and plenty please!     Display A Zoom to Extents W Zoom Window Scroll wheel Used to zoom in and out Scroll wheel held down Used to move the image detail Double-clicking the scroll wheel Zoom to Extents Page Up Full screen mode Page Down Four-window display Double-click title bar window Switch maximize / 4-window Objects and materials O Open the object catalogue Shift+O Open the bathroom fittings and plumbing catalogue Shift+M Open the material catalogue X Used to create an extruded object Q Used to load a cuboid F Load cylinders Y Used to create a line Ctrl+Y Create profile Z Used to create a wall Selections Esc Cancel selection Shift Multiple selection < Enable Object Pick > Enable Individual object selection Ctrl+< Enable Subgroup Pick Operations V Move K Copy R Rotate N Elevation (elevation, wall distance) B Cut G Scale D Stretch T Replace (exchange) DEL Delete I Intelligence Double-click Intelligence CTRL Copy object during dragging Esc Cancel operation or undo selection Snap E Snap to end point M Snap to centre point S Snap to intersection L Snap to line Other Spacebar Collision detection On/Off C Measuring Ctrl+C Copy object to clipboard Ctrl+Y Insert object from the clipboard into the scene Alt Angle lock Ctrl+F6 and Ctrl+Tab Switch between open projects   Notes For a list of all shortcuts, use the File / Help / Keyboard Assignment menu option You can customize shortcuts under File / Program settings / Interface There are practical shortcuts for the buttons in the ribbon which can be started using the Alt key As soon as the Alt key is pressed, these shortcuts are shown in the ribbons
Greetings from Stuttgart, Your Palette CAD-Blog Team

Winter wonderland

Well here we are at the end of 2013, time to reflect and look forward to adventures ahead.Santa is still making his way around and hopefully you have all landed on the "Nice list" and get your wishes fulfilled. Then again, if not fresh start is just around the corner.

For us at Palette CAD this year seemed to be one of the shortest ever. It certainly was filled with innovation, expansion and excitement. We saw the introduction of Palette CAD 8 in international markets and it's proved to be a big hit with the users. Now available in eight languages, world-wide support, user driven social media groups and YouTube channels and being put to awesome use as far as Down Under. We have also had major updates in our tiling, sanitary and tiled stove libraries as well as adding architecture and interior design to our range.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our users and partners for their continued custom and input. Here below a few user designs from throughout 2013, posted in our Facebook group.

Bruno Bruni

Carl Richardson

Zoo Lander

Thomas Richter

Christian Stappenbeck

Of course there is much more to come in 2014. Within the first quarter we can look forward to Palette CAD 8.1 update (more in-depth info soon), library updates for wood engineering, interior design, tiling as well as tiled stoves and fireplaces.

Next year also marks 20 years of Palette CAD. We have come a long way since but there is no signs of slowing down. We are already very busy with our internet planning projects Palette@Home and Palette4Business, working on a 64bit version of Palette CAD, making further inroads with augmented reality development as well as working on the next version of Palette CAD of course.

More on all this throughout 2014 but for now I wish you all the best for the holiday season and for the coming year.

Greeting from sunny Stuttgart,

Your Palette CAD-Blog Team