ViaCAD® 17 Pro - Term License

Note: The availability of new features may vary across different model variants. For a detailed overview of feature distribution, please consult the Feature Comparison Chart. This will help you identify which features are included in the variant you are interested in.                               

User Interface & Performance

Multi-Language Support

Support for English, French, and German languages ensures broader accessibility for international users.

Customization

SharkCAD® supports flexible customization options that allow users to tailor tool organization and workspace layout to their preferred workflow.

The custom tools interface allows users to build and organize tool palettes using a wide range of m×n icon layouts, such as 3×20, 10×10, and other configurations suited to different screen sizes and workflows. A dedicated edit dialog provides straightforward access to modifying existing tools, supporting efficient customization and workspace management.

Tool palettes can be arranged, grouped, and resized to match individual preferences, enabling a personalized environment for both 2D drafting and 3D modeling tasks.

Performance

SharkCAD^® is designed to maintain smooth interaction and reliable responsiveness when working with large drawings and complex geometry.

The redraw engine efficiently handles high-entity-count files, supporting fast on-screen updates during navigation and editing. Zooming, panning, and general display refreshes remain responsive across a wide range of file sizes, supporting a smooth workflow in both 2D and 3D environments.

PDF and DWG files with detailed geometry and annotations can be imported efficiently, supporting smooth integration of external design data into ongoing projects. Large and complex drawings can be processed and printed with minimal delay, enabling quick output while preserving visual accuracy and detail.

Core Design & Modeling

Design & Editing

ViaCAD^® is engineered for precision and ease of use. The LogiCursor™ smartly anticipates your next move, guiding you to potential point selections. The Gripper tool simplifies design edits with its drag-and-drop capabilities, while customizable grids offer precision in various layouts, including rectangular, polar, and isometric.

• LogiCursor™ Technology: Anticipates your next move, guiding your cursor for optimal point selection.
• Gripper Tool: Provides drag-and-drop capabilities, simplifying design edits.

Drafting & Annotations

As a robust documentation tool, ViaCAD^® includes over 20 customizable dimension styles to match industry standards. Enhance your project documentation with features like:

• Customizable Grids: Offer precision in various layouts, including rectangular, polar, and isometric.
• Wide range of Dimension Styles: Cater to various documentation needs with a diverse range of dimension styles.
• Bitmap Import: Incorporate logos and reference images seamlessly into your designs.
• Spell Check: Ensure accuracy in your annotations with integrated spell checking.
• Single Click Fills and Hatch: Apply fills and hatches to your designs with a single click for efficient detailing.

3D Modeling

ViaCAD^® offers a comprehensive suite of 3D modeling tools tailored to meet the needs of professionals and hobbyists alike. Key capabilities include:

• ACIS^® Solid Modeling Kernel: Available in ViaCAD Pro and 2D/3D for precision solid modeling and Boolean operations.
• Basic Solids: Create foundational shapes (cubes, cylinders, spheres).
• Mesh Booleans: Combine or subtract mesh objects.
• Shelling & Blending: Hollow solids or add smooth transitions between surfaces.
• Advanced Surface Tools: Subdivision, Surface Booleans, Surface Extent, Surface Analysis, Surface Lofting, Surface Utilities – including Cut Section, Curved Surface and Explode Curve, Tangent covers.
• Feature-Based Modeling: Track and edit modeling steps via a history tree (Pro only).

Visualization & Animation

Photorealistic Rendering

While ViaCAD^® 2D/3D supports basic rendering features, ViaCAD^® Pro offers advanced capabilities, including Physically Based Rendering (PBR). PBR is a sophisticated technique that simulates the interaction of light with materials to produce realistic graphics. It uses parameters like roughness and reflectivity to calculate light reflection, ensuring materials look consistent under various lighting conditions. PBR is ideal for applications demanding high photorealism, such as architectural visualization and game development.

• Camera Creation and Rendering: Define camera positions, perspectives, and field of view.
• View Rendering: Render from the current view orientation to the drawing window or a file.
• Recent Render Display: Show the most recent rendered image.
• Render Settings Control: Adjust HDRI, backgrounds, textures, and post effects.
• Post-Processing Effects: Improve image quality, including tone mapping and denoising.
• Laser Light Simulation: Add a simulated focused beam of light to renders.

Animation Tools

ViaCAD^® provides a suite of animation tools for generating QuickTime movies by adjusting camera positions. Users can create animations using Walk Through, Fly By, Paths, Object VR, Panoramic VR, and Object-Based Animations. These features enable dynamic visualization of designs, whether following a predefined path or capturing a full 380-degree view. Additionally, Animation Rebound, available exclusively in ViaCAD^® Pro, allows animations to trace a path and return to their starting point, creating smooth, looping motion perfect for polished presentations and continuous demonstrations.

Recording & Publishing

ViaCAD^® includes recording and publishing capabilities, allowing you to capture your screen with QuickTime, including audio, for creating videos and tutorials.

Productivity & Automation

Punch!CAD™ Copilot: The Ultimate AI-Powered Design Partner

Unlock the full potential of your design process with Copilot, the AI-driven companion seamlessly integrated into ViaCAD^®. This integrated AI tool streamlines navigation, expedites your project's progress, and enhances your design endeavors with insightful analysis.

Copilot supports two levels: Copilot Help and Copilot Professional*.

All variants of ViaCAD^® include a complimentary 1-year subscription to Copilot Help, powered by Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) technology, providing contextually relevant answers through trusted documentation, FAQs, video tutorials, and more.

Copilot Professional includes Talk to your CAD Data, general AI access, Text to Image, Copilot Render, and more. Copilot Professional is adept at handling diverse multilingual requests, from guiding you through the initial steps of using ViaCAD® to sharing intriguing details about your file or providing insights on design trends and principles.

*Flexible Term Plans: Choose between a 1-year or 3-year TurboCAD® Copilot Term Plan to best suit your needs.

Organization

Layer Sets

Enhance your ViaCAD^® experience with the Layer Sets feature, a powerful tool designed to optimize your design space. Layer Sets enable you to effortlessly save and manage your layers, view orientations, and zoom levels, ensuring a seamless transition between different phases of your project.

Symbol Manager

Improve your design efficiency with the Symbol Manager in ViaCAD^®. This tool helps you organize, store, and quickly access reusable symbols, making it easier to manage frequently used components and maintain consistency across projects. With intuitive functionality, it simplifies complex designs and saves time by keeping essential elements readily available.

Fastener Library

Enhance your ViaCAD^® designs with the ANSI Fastener Library, a comprehensive collection of nuts, bolts, and washers. Easily accessible within the Symbol tab in the Concept Explorer, this library simplifies the insertion of fastening components into your projects.

ISO Part Library

ViaCAD^® Explorer Symbols now includes a 3D ISO part library, allowing designers to access standardized components directly within their projects.

Texture Import

Enhance your ViaCAD^® experience with the Imported Textures feature, which conveniently copies any imported textures directly into your custom texture folder. This integration allows for easy access and management of your textures.

Batch Export Single Parts from Multi-Part Files

A new batch export option lets users save each individual part in a multi-part file as a separate file, simplifying file management and sharing.

SketchUp Import

SharkCAD® supports reliable SketchUp file import with accurate handling of geometry and materials, including automatic assignment of a glass shader to transparent surfaces, helping maintain realistic visual results with minimal manual adjustment during rendering.

3D Printing & Manufacturing

Prepare and validate your designs for 3D printing with ViaCAD^®’s suite of 3D printing tools:

• 3D Print Check: Verify the print viability of your models.
• Surface Normals Check: Ensure the correct orientation of facet normals for successful printing.
• Overhang and Wall Thickness Analysis: Inspect models for structural support requirements and adequate wall thickness.
• Preview Slices: Slice models to check for closed, non-overlapping sections, essential for 3D printing.
• Auto Position: Automatically position your model within the positive coordinate system for printing.
• Support Structure: Add manual support geometry for 3D printing.
• Printer Volume Display: Visualize the printing boundary as defined in the Printer Definitions dialog box.
• Printer Definitions: Set key parameters of the 3D printer to ensure compatibility with your designs.

Architectural & Woodworking Design

Architectural Tools

ViaCAD^® comes equipped with all the necessary tools for professional architectural planning, enabling teams to draft, print, and collaborate effectively*:

• Architectural Wall Tools: Design walls with precision and flexibility.
• Composite Walls: Visually represent different materials within wall structures.
• Parametric Doors and Windows: Insert doors and windows dynamically into your designs.
• Instant 3D Walls, Roofs, and Floor Slabs: Generate architectural elements in 3D with ease.
• AutoCAD^® DWG File Compatibility: Work seamlessly with files from other popular CAD software.
• ACIS^®-Based Geometry: Create with the same advanced technology used in high-end software.

*ViaCAD^® 2D only supports Doors, Windows, Walls, Multi-Walls.

Woodworking Tools

ViaCAD^® accelerates woodworking projects with specialized tools that simplify the creation of complex joints, including:

• Joints: Apply precision Rabbet, Miter, and Dovetail joints with parametric adjustments for perfect fit and strength.
• Dado Joints: Choose from through, stopped, or blind options for added versatility.
• Edge Treatments: Apply various edge treatments like cove, round, bullnose, and custom profiles.
• Tongue & Groove: Efficiently create tongue and groove joints for woodworking projects.

Advanced Modeling & Editing

Surface Cover from Points

Transform your design process with ViaCAD^®’s Surface Cover from Points feature. This feature empowers you to craft surfaces directly from designated point locations, offering unparalleled precision and customization.

Convert Text to Surface

This feature supports converting text to ACIS surface faces. It is a testament to our commitment to providing versatile and powerful tools for designers to express their creativity without limitations.

Arc Slot Polygon Tool

This new drawing tool enables users to create polygons using arcs as defining edges, providing increased design flexibility and creative control.

Blend Version

ViaCAD^® offers the flexibility to revert the ACIS blend version to a previous setting, providing an alternative solution when the default blend doesn’t meet your needs. This feature ensures that you have more control over your design process, allowing for precision and customization in your blending operations.

Select Faces Same Plane

Discover the power of precision with ViaCAD^®’s Select Faces Same Plane feature. This tool streamlines your modeling process by intelligently selecting all faces of a solid that reside on the same plane, ensuring uniformity and accuracy in your designs. s Same

Shear Transform

The Shear Transform feature in ViaCAD^® is a dynamic addition to the Transform Utilities palette. This option allows you to apply shear transformations to curves, surfaces, and solids with precision and ease.

Verify Clearance

Elevate your design precision with ViaCAD^®’s Verify Clearance feature. This innovative tool includes the capability to accurately calculate the spatial clearance between two solids, ensuring your components fit together perfectly.

Interoperability

ViaCAD^® offers compatibility with a wide range of industry-standard file formats, including DXF/DWG, 3MD, ACIS SAT, PDF, STL, SVG, STEP, 3MF, VRML 2.0, OBJ, and many more. It enhances its versatility with the File Options tools, catering to a variety of user needs. The Collada (DAE) Import feature in ViaCAD^® is an addition that allows users to seamlessly integrate Collada files into their workflow. The Save For Review option is a convenient tool for users to save their work in a format that is optimized for reviewing and sharing with others. Reference Files are supported to streamline collaboration and ensure consistency across different project files. ViaCAD^® also supports SketchUp import/export and integrates with Adobe Illustrator^® for graphic design applications, ensuring broad interoperability across disciplines. For those requiring STEP file import/export, this feature is available only in ViaCAD^® Pro, ensuring high-precision 3D data exchange for engineering and manufacturing.

Note: File format support may vary across different model variants. For a detailed overview of supported file formats, please consult the File Format Comparison Chart. This will help you identify which features are included in the variant you are interested in.     

Tool Icon Interface

The tool icons have been updated to scalable SVG graphics, delivering crisp, high‑resolution visuals on modern displays. In addition, the interface now supports separate icon sets for light and dark theme modes.

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Tool Icon Interface

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Dark/Light Mode

The Dark and Light mode graphics have been updated throughout the interface, improving the appearance of dialogs, menus, and tool palettes. These updates provide clearer contrast, better readability, and a more consistent visual experience across both themes, ensuring that the interface remains comfortable to use in a wide range of lighting conditions.

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Light Mode -> Dark Mode

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Copilot Render

Copilot Professional required

Copilot Render transforms CAD drawings into expressive visual concepts using simple natural‑language prompts. By describing the desired style, lighting, or environment, designers can generate concept renderings that appear directly on top of the existing drawing—without altering the underlying geometry.

Rendered images display directly inside the active drawing view, making it easy to explore visual ideas while continuing to work in the CAD environment. Multiple variations can be generated and compared, enabling rapid experimentation with materials, lighting moods, and different architectural or mechanical styles.

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Copilot Render

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Before and After using Copilot Render

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Copilot Render can also be used to add, remove, or modify shapes within a design, allowing users to explore alternative concepts quickly and intuitively. It supports both 3D models and 2D drawings and can incorporate reference files to guide materials, textures, and overall visual style.

This makes Copilot Render ideal for early‑stage visualization, design reviews, and presentation‑ready concept imagery—bringing fast, integrated, AI‑powered ideation directly into the TurboCAD workflow.

Copilot Part Finder

Copilot Professional required

Copilot’s Part Finder is an intelligent CAD parts search agent that enables engineers to quickly find and reuse CAD components from a library of over 770,000 parts, covering major standards and suppliers including ANSI, ISO, and DIN. Users can search in natural language, and the assistant automatically selects the appropriate mode based on the request.   Users have four modes to query Part Finder:

Search Parts
Find specific CAD components by describing the standard or supplier, part family, and key dimensions. This mode supports precise queries (for example, ISO 4017 M6x20 hex bolts) as well as practical requests such as matching bolt–nut–washer sets.

Company Catalog
Browse the part families offered by a specific standard or supplier. This mode provides a catalog-style view (such as hex bolts, bearings, profiles, or bars) with part counts to help you understand what is available.

List Companies
View all standards and manufacturers included in the CAD parts library, along with approximate numbers of parts for each. This is useful for understanding library coverage and deciding where to focus your search.

Help
Learn how to describe parts so search works more effectively. This mode explains which descriptors matter most—such as size, length, pitch, and standard—and provides example queries you can reuse.

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Copilot Part Finder

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Skin Solid with Center Line

A Skin Solid with Center Line creates a 3D solid by sweeping a sequence of closed 2D profiles along a center‑line path. The profiles must be selected in the order in which they form the solid (use Shift‑Select to pick them sequentially). If a profile consists of multiple curves, the curves must be grouped before use.

This tool is ideal for creating smooth, blended shapes—such as pipes, rails, housings, or mechanical transitions—where the geometry changes along a defined path.

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Center Line Skin

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Pipe Cross Sections

The Pipe tool has been extended to support three additional cross‑section types: Rounded Rectangle, N‑Sided, and Coils. Each pipe is generated along a selected curve path, and the resulting solid remains linked to the path—so any edits to the path automatically regenerate the pipe.

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Pipe Cross Section

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Pipe Rounded Rectangle

Creates a rectangular pipe profile with rounded corners along a selected curve path. The solid stays associative to the path, ensuring that modifications to the curve update the pipe geometry.

Pipe N-Sided

Generates an N‑sided pipe profile (polygonal cross section) along a selected curve path. As with other pipe types, the resulting solid remains linked to the path for automatic regeneration.

Pipe Coils

Creates a twisted, coil‑style pipe along a selected curve path. The coil geometry updates dynamically whenever the underlying path is edited.

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Rounded Rectangle, N-Sided, Twisted Coils

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Studio Backgrounds

Six new studio backgrounds have been added and are now available in both the Render Library and the Render Settings dialog. These backgrounds provide ready‑to‑use studio environments that enhance product visualization, lighting tests, and presentation‑quality renders.

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Studio Backgrounds

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Carbon Fiber Textures

Six new carbon‑fiber textures have been added to the material library, including Twill Weave, Spread Tow, Plain Weave, Honeycomb Hexagonal, Forged, and Harness Satin. These textures provide a wider range of realistic composite‑material appearances for product visualization, mechanical design, and high‑quality rendering workflows.

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Carbon Fiiber Textures

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New Wood Materials

Eight new wood materials have been added to the Photo Render Settings → Materials → Wood tab. These additions provide a broader range of realistic wood finishes for product visualization, architectural rendering, and presentation‑quality scenes.

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Wood Materials

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BOM Notes

The new BOM Note attribute provides a set of general‑purpose fields that Copilot can interpret during AI‑assisted operations. These fields allow objects in your drawing to carry semantic information that Copilot can use as contextual input.

Available Fields

• Notes — string
• Description — string
• Function — string
• Requirements — string
• Manufacturing — string
• Materials — string
• Misc — string
• References — URL

The URL field allows you to associate objects with external web resources, which Copilot can use as additional context for AI queries.

Example: BOM Notes with Copilot Rendering Agent*

*Copilot Professional required

A query such as:

Render my drawing of a 2D house plan. [context=notes]

instructs Copilot to use the BOM Notes attached to objects as part of the rendering context.

This enables richer, more accurate visual output—especially when multiple objects include descriptive or functional metadata.

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BOM Notes with Copilot Rendering Agent

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Note: For demonstration purposes, a BOM table was added to the example drawing to show how many Notes attributes were used. However, you do not need to create a table for Copilot to use the Notes context. Copilot reads the attributes directly from the objects.

Example BOM Notes and Copilot CAD Agent

*Copilot Professional required

A query such as:

What materials and colors are used in my file of a house. [context=notes]

instructs Copilot to read the BOM Notes attached to objects in the drawing and use them as semantic context.

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BOM Notes and Copilot CADAgent

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This allows Copilot to identify materials, finishes, colors, and other descriptive attributes directly from the metadata you’ve assigned.

This example demonstrates how BOM Notes can enrich AI‑assisted analysis, enabling Copilot to provide more accurate and meaningful responses based on the information embedded in your CAD model.

Minor Corrections and Bug Fixes

Since the release of the prior version of ViaCAD^®, hundreds of minor corrections have been implemented to enhance stability and accuracy.

Windows System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows^® 7, 8, 10, or 11 ¹
• Processor: Intel Pentium IV or AMD Athlon64™ class 64-bit processor
• RAM: 8 GB or greater
• Hard Disk Space: 3 GB of free disk space for installation
• Pointing Device: Mouse with wheel button (recommended)
• Graphics: OpenGL/DirectX9-compliant video card with 256MB of dedicated RAM
• Internet Connection: Required for activation, updates, online features, and term licenses (if applicable)²

Additional Notes

• Operating System: ¹ Program compatibility is not guaranteed for earlier operating systems (pre-Windows 7) or future unreleased Windows versions.
• Optimal Performance: 16 GB RAM and SSD disk for improved handling of large files.
• Internet: ² User responsible for all associated ISP fees and charges.

Mac System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements

• Operating System: macOS 11.0 (Big Sur) through macOS 26.0 (Tahoe) ¹
• Processor: Apple Mac with Intel^® (x64 architecture) or Apple Silicon (ARM-based M1, M2, M3, or newer)
• RAM: 8 GB or greater
• Hard Disk Space: 4 GB of free disk space for installation
• Pointing Device: Mouse with wheel button (recommended) or 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse
• Internet Connection: Required for activation, updates, and term licenses (if applicable)

Additional Notes

• Operating System: ¹ Program compatibility is not guaranteed for earlier operating systems (pre-macOS 11.0) or future unreleased macOS versions.
• Optimal Performance: 16 GB RAM and SSD disk for improved handling of large files.
• Internet: ² User responsible for all associated ISP fees and charges.

Our products provide versatile licensing options designed to meet the needs of individuals, businesses, and educational institutions. Choose from Perpetual, Term Licenses, and Companion Licenses to suit your workflow and budget.

Stay up to date with the latest tools and enhancements through our Upgrade Policy, which allows users to upgrade from product versions up to five years old. Every commercial license includes a full year of Maintenance & Support, providing access to technical assistance, software updates, and performance improvements. Licenses within the five-year window remain eligible for Maintenance & Support Renewal, ensuring continued reliability and productivity.

Enjoy a 30-day refund policy* (see terms here) and exclusive discounts during new releases and major holidays.

*Please note that bank fees will be deducted from the refund amount and there is no refund if the product has been activated.

License Comparison Table

¹Triennial Term Licenses are available for selected products only.

²Trial Licenses are not available for all product variants.

Need assistance? Our Sales Team is here to help at [email protected]!