What's new in 0.3

This is what changed in ModelCraft 0.3, compared with 0.2, the version Try ran before.

New

• The Dimension tool. Press DD, or click Dimension. Click two corners, or click one edge to measure all of it. Then click where the dimension line goes, or type its offset. See Dimension and resize.
• Resize the model by typing a length. Right after you place a dimension, type a new length and press ReturnEnter. The model stretches or moves to match. Later, select the dimension and type the length into the value box or into Length in Entity info. See Dimension and resize.
• Choose which end moves. Select a dimension and set Moves in Entity info to Second end, First end or Both ends (centered).
• Retype sizes in Entity info. An edge's Length is now a box you can type into. So are a group's or component's Width (red), Depth (green) and Height (blue). See Retype a size in Entity info.
• Dimensions follow the model. Move, push/pull or group the geometry, and the dimension stays on its corners and shows the new length. Dimensions are saved in the .modelcraft file.
• The view cube. It sits at the top right of the 3D view. Click a face, edge or corner to look from there, drag it to orbit, or drag the compass ring to turn the model. The house button goes back to Iso. It works from the keyboard too. See The view cube.
• Corner indicator setting. In Settings, on the ModelCraft tab, choose View cube, Axis icon or None. See ModelCraft settings.
• Movable panels. The two side panels have a grip at the top. Dock them left, right or at the bottom, float them over the view, or put them in their own window on a second monitor. Reset layout in Settings puts them back. See Arrange the panels.

Improved

• DWG import uses ModelCraft's own reader. It is part of ModelCraft, written in plain JavaScript, so there is no separate download the first time you import a DWG. It works offline whenever ModelCraft does. See Model on a site plan.
• More of each DWG is read. Polylines in AutoCAD 2000 DWG files keep their last point, so short ones no longer go missing. Objects the old reader dropped without a word, such as regions, lights and custom objects, are now named in the "Not imported" list.
• Clearer DWG errors. When a drawing cannot be read, the message says why in brackets, for example the DWG version.
• The Eraser and fn DeleteDelete remove dimensions, and Delete all dimensions in Entity info clears them all.

Files and compatibility

• DWG: AutoCAD R13 up to the 2018 format (AC1012 to AC1032). R12 and older are refused; save those as DXF. See File formats.
• DWG and DXF still come in as lines on the ground. Lines, polylines, circles, arcs and blocks are drawn. Text, dimensions, hatches, 3D solids, surfaces, meshes, tables and multileaders are counted and left out.
• Native files: a .modelcraft file with dimensions still opens in ModelCraft 0.2, without the dimensions. If 0.2 saves it again, the dimensions are gone.
• Exports (GLB, Collada, OBJ, STL, IFC) carry only the 3D model. Dimensions are not exported.

Known gaps

• Only straight-line dimensions. There are no angle, radius or diameter dimensions.
• A resize that would bend a face out of its plane, or shrink or flip one, is refused, and nothing changes. Dimension along an edge, or along red, green or blue.
• A dimension end placed on a face or in empty space only measures. It cannot drive a resize from that end.
• Dimensions do not print and do not appear in exported files.
• The view cube has no roll: side views always keep up on the screen as up in the model.
• What is not built yet