SolidCraft Files

SolidCraft is open-source parametric 3D CAD in Rust: sketch, constrain, extrude, and change a parameter to watch the timeline rebuild. Website · documentation · try it in the browser · Discord · issues.

Why 0.18.4: a patch release for a faster start, especially on Windows, and a more direct camera, on top of 0.18.3.

Faster start

• Fonts: the first window no longer waits for the system CJK, Hangul and Thai fonts; they're found in the background and added as soon as they're there (#4283).
• Start page: sample pictures and the check for recent files run in the background, so nothing on it waits on files or pictures (#4349).
• Windows: SolidCraft comes to the front when its window first appears (#4284), and a restored window keeps its title bar within the screen's work area (#4299).

Changed

• Camera: view changes apply at once instead of animating: the view cube, axis triad, Look At (including entering and leaving a sketch), Fit, Home, named views and arrow keys. Orbiting no longer lags behind the mouse after a view-cube click (#4296).
• Sketch tools (Rectangle, Circle, Arc, Slot, Polygon, Line, Spline) come back in the mode you used last, across designs and restarts, and their shortcuts start that mode too (#4308).
• 3D mouse: in Preferences › Navigation you can choose which motion of the cap drives each view axis; picking one another axis uses swaps the two. The view no longer drifts after you let go of the cap with spacenavd (#3523), and on Linux you can choose which 3D mouse driver to read (#2782).

Compatibility

0.18.4 writes design file format 29, like 0.18.3, and opens 0.18.3 designs. 0.18.2 and earlier don't open designs saved by 0.18.3 or 0.18.4.

Thanks

Thank you to @nomadsgalaxy for the 3D mouse work in this release.

Install

Upgrading from 0.7 or earlier. 0.8 changed the Linux app ID to ai.storyteller.solidcraft: flatpak update offers to replace the old app, and the .deb, .rpm and AppImage remove the old menu entry.

Upgrading from 0.5 or earlier. 0.6 renamed SolveCraft to SolidCraft and made the zip container the default save format. .solvecraft designs, old settings folders and SOLVECRAFT_* variables are still picked up, and solvecraft-cli still forwards to solidcraft-cli. Want plain JSON? Use File ▸ Save As JSON… or --save design.json. On macOS, replace SolveCraft.app with SolidCraft.app. Details: compatibility notes.

Documentation, the browser app and the Flatpak feed use the SolidCraft project Pages URLs.

Which file?

• Windows: SolidCraft-0.18.4-windows-x64.exe runs as is. Or install the .msi, or unzip the -portable.zip (x64, x86 and arm64).
• macOS 11+ (Apple silicon and Intel): open the .dmg and drag SolidCraft.app onto Applications. The CLI is in solidcraft-cli-0.18.4-macos-universal.zip.
• Linux (x86_64 and aarch64, glibc 2.35+): the .AppImage (chmod +x, then run it), the .deb or .rpm, the .flatpak (flatpak install --user <file>), the .snap (sudo snap install --dangerous <file>, or sudo snap install solidcraft from the Snap Store), or the .tar.gz.
• FreeBSD: tar -xzf solidcraft-0.18.4-freebsd-x86_64.tar.gz --strip-components 1 -C /usr/local.
• Web: solidcraft-web-0.18.4.zip is a static site to host yourself.
• SHA256SUMS.txt: sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing.
• Files without a version in the name (solidcraft-windows-x64.msi, solidcraft-linux-x86_64.AppImage, …) are the same packages under fixed names, for download links that always fetch the latest release.

For Flatpak feed installation and updates, add Flathub for the required runtime before installing SolidCraft; keep both remotes in the same user installation:

:::sh
flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak remote-add --user --if-not-exists solidcraft https://docs.solidcraft.io/flatpak/solidcraft.flatpakrepo
flatpak install --user solidcraft ai.storyteller.solidcraft
flatpak run ai.storyteller.solidcraft

A remote added from the old bherbruck.github.io address no longer finds updates: run flatpak remote-modify --user --url=https://docs.solidcraft.io/flatpak/repo/ solidcraft, then flatpak update --user.

Flatpak installs from 0.7 or earlier use the old ID ai.storyteller.solvecraft: flatpak update --user offers to replace it with ai.storyteller.solidcraft, and settings move along.

Single-file .flatpak bundles include the runtime repository address; missing runtimes still need an internet connection. Linux installation details.

The builds aren't signed yet. On macOS, right-click SolidCraft.app in Applications and choose Open the first time (or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/SolidCraft.app). On Windows, SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC": More info, then Run anyway. Licences are built in (Help ▸ About ▸ Licences, solidcraft-cli licences); the packages also install THIRD-PARTY-LICENSES.txt.