HighDesign R8.2: beyond an ordinary update
Continuing on our roadmap, R8.2 includes new and enhanced design tools, better interoperability, more powerful layout features, native Windows ARM and macOS Sequoia support, and more translations.
When introducing a new software release, even a maintenance update, usually you read about the new features and the enhancements. What you get when you update to the new HighDesign R8.2 are true benefits that will make you appreciate the work hidden beneath the surface: working smoothly, cooperating with confidence, producing effective outputs.
We introduced a new Zones tool, enhanced walls, doors and windows, added new flip commands and greatly improved interoperability and performance.
What's more, these advantages are now available to a much wider community of users thanks to the Spanish and Portuguese translations and native support for ARM-based Windows computers.
Last but not least, HighDesign R8.2 is ready and optmized for macOS 15 Sequoia.
Now, let's have a look into the new features and improvements coming with this important release.
Ready for macOS 15 Sequoia
HighDesign R8.2 has been tested and optimised for mac OS 15 Sequoia, the latest release of their OS for the Mac.
One of the important new features in macOS Sequoia is window tiling. Basically, you can arrange windows on a grid by dragging them to the edges of the screen and you'll see a visual indicator on the location where the window can be tiled.
While Windows users have enjoyed a similar feature since the days of Windows 7, for macOS users this feature is relatively new, and is beautifully implemented.
HighDesign R8.2 is optimised to work well with window tiling on macOS Sequoia. The icons and menus on the main window of HighDesign R8.2 shrink, enlarge and reposition themselves to fit the window tiling layout, allowing you to benefit from this productivity-boosting feature.
The New Zones Tool
The new Zone Tool in HighDesign Pro with automatic numbering, stamp, color presets, and schedule support is part of the Design toolset that distinguishes HighDesign Pro from the other CAD competitors.
Zones are space subdivisions identified by their function or common technical features. Zones typically represent rooms in a floor, wings of a building, or areas in landscape design and urban planning. A zone is identified by a unique number, a name and a color.
Schedules and quantities are an important element of the CAD/BIM workflow that was introduced in R8. Now, zones are also computable entities and their properties like color, layer, name, id, area, etc. are available when you create a schedule that includes the zones of a project: the resulting schedule can also be used to represent the legend of the project's zones.
Enhanced Walls, Doors and Windows
We improved the connections between walls and the integration of doors and windows with their host wall. This results in a cleaner output, faster redraws and easier maintennce.
Walls can now be set to ignore joints to walls that are on other layers. While seemingly minor, this new option allows you to isolate a part of a floor plan, so as to create, for example, "existing" and "proposed" views, or detach a room marked for demolition.
Doors and windows have a new Alignment Side property that controls which side of the wall the opening aligns with. The alignment is set in the insertion phase and can be changed at any time to flip the window or door without having to modify the host wall.
Also, the surface of doors and windows is now a computable parameter that can be added to schedules so you can automatically have the calculation of the total surface of windows and doors by type.
New Flip Commands
The new Flip Horizontal and Flip Vertical commands for graphic objects allow quick transformations of the selection by mirroring the object relative to its own horizontal or vertical axis.
Flipping objects is a quick and easy transformation, and can inspire new design ideas and perspectives, helping you explore different visual possibilities.
Improved DXF/DWG Compatibility and PDF Export
We improved the conversion of layouts and viewports, and added support for color transparency of filled regions, which means a more faithful DXF/DWG conversion of the project. With the improved conversion of splines defined by control points (also known as NURBS) you can import the shape of the curves created by your collaborators with precision.
Among many other compatibility enhancements the DXF/DWG Export dialog has been updated as well: the new dialog features an improved menu to select the view to export. This is a very useful addition because HighDesign projects are made of several sheets and views and sometimes the ability to quickly select the current view or the visible drafting sheets in place of the whole project can be very time saving.
The Export to PDF feature has been largely tested and enhanced under Windows systems: the conversion of entities is now more accurate and it equals the same quality standard of the macOS version, much appreciated by professional users.
Native Windows ARM64 Support
ARM microchips on the Windows platform have grown in popularity in recent years, thanks to new, performant chips and the increasing adoption by notebook makers.
Windows for ARM has been around for some time and has been constantly improved. While the emulation of x86 software is very efficient and works seamlessly, still it imposes a 30% perfomance hit on the software.
The new ARM 64bit version of HighDesign R8.2 for Windows supports those ARM64 processors natively, bringing considerable advantages in terms of speed and overall performance. If you are considering upgrading your notebook, you can now confidently choose the best option for you, whether Intel, AMD or Qualcomm, without having to worry about the performance of HighDesign.
Faster Help and Documentation
The HighDesign Help & Documentation website has been enhanced to provide faster access and easier navigation: browsing the articles and consulting the online documentation has now a streamlined approach that enhances the overall HighDesign user experience.
The updated Help website also features automatic or custom light and dark themes and printer-friendly layouts.
The new Help window in HighDesign provides integrated access to the Help & Documentation website.
New Spanish and Portuguese Translations
The user interface, menus and dialogs are now available in Spanish and Portuguese languages, among English, German, French and Italian. A much broader community of users can now benefit of the advantages of designing with HighDesign.
HighDesign R8.2: continuing innovation
When years ago we embarked on this journey, we wanted to create a product that would feel as natural as possible to design professionals and "speak" the same language as they do. More and more users worldwide have understood our mission and contributed greatly to the development. We have been constantly worked to implement the new features that have been suggested and that contribute to the overall product.
R8.2 is an important release for us and definitely more than an ordinary update as it includes critical enhancements and optimizations, many of which are beneath the surface. All kinds of users will benefit from the improvements in this release
Check out our Public Roadmap if you're curious about what's next for HighDesign and if you wish to contribute with your feedback, you're welcome to do so by contacting us anytime!
A full list of new features, improvements and fixes is available on the Help website.
HighDesign is the architectural design software that bridges CAD and BIM. For Mac and Windows.