HighDesign R9 Release Notes

Version: 2025.1
Status: Released

Revision Tools

  • New Markup tool set to annotate, comment, and review designs.
    • Markup tools include freehand lines, lines, rectangles, ovals, clouds, text notes and callouts.
    • Markup objects can be added to any sheet in the project.
  • Redesigned the Measure tool set and grouped with the markup tools.
    • The Linear measure now includes a new automatic measurement option that shows the horizontal, vertical and aligned dimensions of the object under the cursor.
    • Improved readability of the labels.
    • Added a new toolbar with the methods and options of the measure tools.
    • Added a new Clear button that removes all the active measures from the project.
    • Measure objects now support the same colours as the markup objects.
    • Added calibration by angle to align the sheet to match the current linear measure.
  • The main Canvas now includes new floating buttons for markup and measure tools.

Architecture

  • Walls: redesigned the Walls tool to allow more consistent and cleaner joins.
  • Walls: new Walls submenu in Tools menu.
  • Composite walls: greatly improved the mechanism that creates joins between the internal components. Joins are now createed correctly based on priority, function and material of the components.
  • Composite walls: improved the Edit Wall Components window with more intuitive UI and interactive preview.
  • Easier insertion of doors and windows that no longer require the pointer to follow the leading side of the wall.
  • Improved the construction dimensions that appear when inserting walls, doors and windows.
  • Improved the rough and nominal widths in the Window/Door settings panel.
  • Improved the synchronization between the graphic attributes on the Column settings panel with the main Properties bar and Graphic Attributes panel.

Open PDF

  • New Open PDF command opens single- and multi-page PDF documents as stand-alone objects.
  • New Insert PDF command to insert PDF documents into the project.
    • Multi-page PDF documents now provide a side bar for page thumbnails.

Drafting and Documentation

  • Snapping: selected objects are checked first to make editing easier.
  • Snapping: improved snap to grid.
  • Dragging a guide from the rulers now snaps to the grid when active.
  • Title Blocks: inserting and editing attributes is now easier and more intuitive. A new Context Attributes panel allows a better selection and insertion of variable attributes like Project Name, sheet number, etc. and includes a search field. Improved editing and support for context variables.
  • Viewports: it is now possible to apply the layer status of a project view, so that the same drawing can be displayed in different viewports with elements turned on or off based on their layer status.
  • The Line tool now shows the Move cursor when the object is selected and the snapped point is the mid point.
  • The Stretch command can now be applied to selected objects so that only the points of selected objects are modified.
  • Added support for Japanese JIS B paper format.
  • Greatly improved the typing speed and responsiveness of the text input area.
  • Speed optimizations.
  • Project Information: added Organization Phone field.
  • Project Information: the Import Information button now works correctly when importing XML data.
  • Improved the previews of styles and types.

User Interface

  • Redesigned many UI elements and buttons and improved usability, readability and light theme support.
  • Redesigned the Styles popup panel.
  • Improved the visibility of the drafting grid with better contrast between major and minor grids.
  • Improved readability of the Guided Tour.
  • The Text style toolbar now adjusts its position when the text input area resizes.
  • Redesigned the Save as Previous HighDesign project window.

Interoperability

  • The Export image tool now allows to include construction points in the exported image.
  • New Export as PDF Image option in the Export Image tool.

Resolved issues

  • Schedules: some parameters of building elements were not localised properly.
  • Linear dimensions did not always draw the selection handles correctly.
  • Openings did not draw the selection handles properly when off-screen.
  • Fixed the layout of the Drawing Scale dialog in HighDesign LT.
  • Fixed the layout of the Annotation settings panel in HighDesign LT.
  • Improved data integrity: corrected an issue with objects that were not properly preserved during prolonged drawing operations.
  • Doors are now rendered properly when the sill is disabled.
  • Undo and Redo commands applied to edited doors now correctly rebuild the host wall.
  • On Windows, greatly improved the refresh speed when drawing or editing objects.
  • macOS: exported PDF drawings now set the correct line caps.
  • macOS: zone labels are exported correctly to PDF.
  • Miscellaneous internal fixes.
  • Title blocks: resizing an attribute during the creation of a title block did not work as expected.
  • The main canvas on the Project window did not resize correctly when the side bar was reduced.
  • Optimized the redraw of selected splines.
  • Trim applied to circular arcs now works correctly with all angles.
  • Break applied to arcs now works correctly.
  • Arc with certain angles could not be snapped properly.
  • Duplicate, Linear Multiply and Polar Multiply commands now preserve the display order of the original objects.
  • Newly saved custom paper sizes are now listed correctly in menus.
  • Custom paper sizes are now listed in alphabetical order.
  • Floating and embedeed panels are updated correctly when multiple documents are open.
  • Line-types manager: it is no longer possible to duplicate the Continuous line type.
  • The text input area now resizes correctly during the insertion and edit of text.
  • The Object Info panel now correctly detects arc objects instead of reporting “circle”.
  • The Repair Document command now correctly rebuilds the internal indexes of objects and preserves the existing data as much as possible.
  • Compound walls that have multiple structural layers now create intersections using the thickest structural layer as the “main” layer.
  • Resolved issues caused by the geometric editing of polylines.
  • The shortcuts table now uses the correct colors when the app theme differs from the system theme.
  • The list of recent documents no longer gets reset when a new version is launched.
  • The tool settings window now restores its original position when opened to insert a viewport.
  • Fixed the appearance of Pen Size and Line Cap buttons in the Settings window.
  • The North field in the Project Units window now follows the specified decimal precision.
  • Copy and paste of objects between projects now includes styles and tyeps.
  • Improved the preview of swinging door types.
  • The preview of the frame in the Door/Window settings panel did not update correctly.
  • Styles now correcty indentify modified graphic properties.
  • Fixed delete, duplicate and edit actions in the Styles and Types manager of the Resource Manager.