Onshape’s Top 10 Features of 2024

6. Dark Mode

A widely requested feature, Dark Mode provides a sleek, eye-friendly interface option that users can enable permanently across their Onshape experience, including in Render Studio. Additionally, Dark Mode offers several benefits:

• Reduced Eye Strain: The contrast between light text and a dark background is less harsh on the eyes, especially in low-light environments.

• Improved Visibility for Certain Conditions: Dark mode provides a gentler visual experience, which may be more comfortable for individuals with certain visual impairments, such as sensitivity to bright light or photophobia.

• Battery Saving: On devices with OLED screens, Dark Mode can save battery life because black pixels consume less power than white ones.

7. Thickness Analysis

Taking the top spot is the highly requested Thickness Analysis feature. This powerful tool leverages Onshape's cloud computing architecture to deliver rapid results for complex injection-molded parts – often in just seconds rather than the minutes required by traditional systems. Users can choose between quick ray method analysis for simple geometry or the industry-standard rolling ball method for more complex parts. The tool offers interactive capabilities including custom bounds definition, real-time section views, and the ability to continue working while analysis runs. This makes it particularly valuable for injection molding manufacturers who need to quickly validate wall thickness for manufacturability, helping prevent costly production issues before they arise.

8. Flatten Surface

This powerful addition to the surfacing toolkit enables users to flatten complex curved surfaces into 2D patterns with precise control over rips and distortion analysis. The feature provides real-time visualization of areas that will experience stretching or compression during flattening, helping users optimize their designs for manufacturability. It supports multiple export formats, including SVG and DXF, for laser and waterjet operations. 

9. Git-Inspired PDM Features

Bringing modern software development workflows to hardware design, these features include workspace protections, merge lines, and selective restore capabilities. Workspace protection allows teams to lock down main branches, ensuring changes only come through approved merges – crucial for maintaining design integrity in large teams. The addition of merge lines provides clear visual tracking of design changes and their origins, while selective restore gives users the flexibility to roll back specific elements without affecting the entire design. Together, these tools enable more controlled yet collaborative development processes, particularly beneficial for teams transitioning from traditional file-based PDM systems to more agile, modern workflows.

10. Decals

This long-requested feature enables users to easily add logos, warning labels, and other graphics to their models. Decals automatically conform to the selected surfaces and show up across assemblies and shaded drawing views without additional setup. The tool provides intuitive controls for positioning, scaling, and rotating decals, with the ability to adjust UV mapping for precise placement. Beyond aesthetic applications, users have found creative uses for decals as visual reminders and annotations during the design process, making it a versatile tool for both the final presentation and design development stages. As an added bonus, Decals also automatically show up in Render Studio for photorealistic presentations of your next great product.

Notable Nominees

The year saw numerous impressive improvements across various categories. Here are some standout nominees that didn't make the top 10 but deserve recognition:

Core CAD Enhancements

• Lock Subassembly: Improves performance in large assemblies while maintaining the ability to capture important positions.
  
  

• Exclude from Properties: Solves a common configuration challenge by allowing users to maintain the same part number across different states of a component (like compressed/expanded springs or O-rings), streamlining BOMs and part management.
  
  

• Body Draft: A powerful feature for creating complex draft angles with symmetric capabilities.
  
  

• Pause Regeneration: Enhances performance by allowing users to control regeneration timing.

Surfacing Innovations

• Isoparametric Curve: Enables clean surface splitting using the underlying mathematics of the surface.

• G3 Bridging Curve: Provides enhanced control over curve continuity for aesthetic designs.

• Edit Curve: Powerful tool for cleaning up imported curves and improving surface quality.

Sheet Metal Capabilities

• Sheet Metal Bend: Streamlines the process of creating bent features from flat patterns.
  
  

• Corner Break Improvements: Enhanced control over corner treatments.
  
  

User Experience Updates

• Sketch Expression Display: Improved visibility of expressions and variables in sketches.

• Under-Constrained Sketch Icon: Quick visual feedback on sketch status.
  
  

• Mate Connector Improvements: Enhanced positioning capabilities with automatic origin placement.

The breadth and depth of these improvements demonstrate Onshape's commitment to continuous innovation and user-driven development. With releases every three weeks and hundreds of improvements throughout the year, Onshape continues to push the boundaries of what's possible in cloud-based CAD software.