What’s New in SOLIDWORKS xDesign R2025x FD02

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We value your opinion, and to make it easier than ever for you to share your ideas, we’ve added a new Feedback button directly in xDesign. That’s just one of many great enhancements in the Spring update: R2025x functional delivery (FD) 02. You can also visualize and interact with your designs in virtual or real-world settings, drive changes to subdivision models with the ability to link to curves or lines, include bend information in your sheet metal exports, and much more. Let’s have a look at what’s new in SOLIDWORKS xDesign.

 

 

USER EXPERIENCE

New Feedback Button – quickly submit ideas or provide feedback.

Help shape the future of the xDesign by quickly sharing your ideas and providing input on features directly from the user interface with a new Feedback button. Easily access the Feedback button through the Action Bar under the Help menu to provide any feedback, whether it’s a rating of your overall experience using the app or feedback on a particular command.

In addition, feel free to make requests for future functionality you would like to see in the software, and be sure to include your contact information for follow-up. The input goes directly to the product management team. It’s that simple.

 

PART & ASSEMBLY DESIGN

Gear Ratio Calculation for Advanced Mates

As you know, Advanced Mates allows you to define motion relations in an assembly. To accelerate this, there is a new button for automatic gear ratio calculations for some of the Advanced Mates, including the Gear Joint, the Rack and Pinion Joint, and the Cable Joint.

So when you’re in the Gear Joint menu, for example, you’ll see a calculator icon that you can click on in the Ratio settings that will automatically calculate the gear ratio based off your selected geometry, so you don’t have to calculate it yourself.

Save time and reduce errors by automatically computing gear ratios based on selected component geometry and ensure precise motion control.

 

Improved Move Face

The Move Face command is a valuable direct edit tool that lets you move a face without adding additional parametric features. You just move the face, and the geometry adjusts accordingly. You’ll be happy to know we’ve simplified the manipulator. Now, the system will only display manipulators for the directions in which the face can actually be moved. With this redesign, you’ll no longer be able to get into a situation where you drag a manipulator only to receive a message that the face cannot be moved in that direction.

The redesigned Move Face workflow reduces complexity, removes unnecessary controls, and improves overall clarity for precise face manipulation.

 

Create Closed Contours with End Caps for Offsets

This enhancement is inspired by an option that is included in the SOLIDWORKS sketch offset tool.

Similarly, in xDesign we’ve added a new option in the Sketch Offset command to add linear or circular end caps to internal offsets, automatically closing the sketch contour.

 

Experience Designs in Virtual Reality (VR) or Augmented Reality (AR)

Get a better understanding of how your models will fit in the real world with the new Extender Reality (XR) environment that enables you to visualize your product in a virtual or real-world with the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) settings. Launch an immersive VR or AR experience directly from xDesign from the View tab on the Action bar to view and interact with your models at scale using a headset, tablet, or phone.

You can move around your model and hold different components of an assembly to enhance your spatial understanding and see how your product will fit in its working environment.

 

SUBDIVISION DESIGN

Link Feature

Quickly drive changes to the subdivision (Sub-D) model with the ability to link to an external curve or line. When changes are made to the linked curve or line, the subdivision geometry also changes to maintain the same proportions to the curve.

This is useful if you want to quickly test out a different design, use sketches to drive the subdivision geometry, or if you want to maintain the relationship between the subdivision and another entity, you can link that geometry. Linking upstream geometry to subdivision entities will speed up iterative subdivision design processes and product redesign.

 

Reselect Last Mesh Selection

Speed up repetitive design workflows by automatically reselecting the last used mesh entities. With the new Recover Selection functionality, you can quickly reselect your last mesh selection. Pressing the R key will automatically reselect the mesh entities used in your previous drag mesh changes or alternate robot mesh modifications.

 

Selection Tool Flyout Menu

Reduce clutter and easily access your selection modes and tools with the new Selection Tool Flyout menu. The menu includes specific selection modes, and tools like the Lasso and Box Select, in addition to a new Selection Counter tool that tells you how many mesh entities you have selected.

 

 

SHEET METAL DESIGN

Export Bend Annotations

We continue to improve on the DXF export capabilities for sheet metal design to help you better convey design intent for downstream manufacturing processes. In the last release, we added the ability to include bend lines on your flat patterns, and this update adds the option to include bend information, such as bend angle, radius, during exports.

This crucial bend information data is annotated directly on the 2D layout, providing clear instructions for forming the part during manufacturing.

You can find these settings in the Save as DXF menu.

 

Drawings & MBD

Centermark Annotations

There’s a new annotation command for creating centermarks, enabling you to easily dimension to the center of cylindrical geometry, such as holes and arcs.

With a simple command, you can instantly add crosshairs and extension lines to holes, arcs, and fillets, keeping your designs clean, clear, and professional. Customizable options like size, gap, and extension styles let you work smarter, not harder, while 3D MBD centermarks take clarity and communication to the next level.

You can create them on the drawing itself or in 3D as xDrawing has both 2D and Model-Based Definition (MBD) capabilities.

 

Enhanced Flat Pattern Display & Export

Make your sheet metal drawings clearer and easier to read with the new merge face option for flat patterns. Flat patterns can now be communicated with only bend lines, and no extra clutter from bend edges, enabling manufacturers to quickly interpret designs without confusion. With support for bend lines in xSheetMetal and xDrawing, plus the ability to merge flat pattern faces for a cleaner look, your drawings and MBD views stay sharp and precise. Need to share your design? Easily output to a 2D PDF, which can now include both flattened and folded state views on the same sheet. Previously flat patterns needed to be on separate sheets.

 

RENDERING

Fit to Image

As for rendering, this update adds a new Fit-to-Image feature to help you set up your camera canvas to the size of your image, saving time from having to manually crop it. When you drag and drop your image, you can use the Fit-to-Image feature, which automatically adjusts the camera’s aspect ratio, and rendering resolution to match the backplate dimensions.

Detect Focal Length

Selecting the “Auto” button next in the Focal Length tool will instantly capture the focal length based on your backplate to produce realistic renderings faster.

That is a glimpse of what’s new, in addition to the following enhancements:

  • xDesign will block the selection of geometry that would create circular references, ensuring fewer errors in the design process
  • Ability to select sketches from different components when creating features in xDesign, with external references automatically created for easier operations like adding holes
  • Ability to offset external sketch geometry chains, including geometry from inactive sketches or other components
  • The standard materials library now installs automatically upon first use of xDesign, eliminating the need for manual installation
  • Auto-scrolling behavior in the Design Manager is improved for enhanced ease of use
  • Mate solver calculations are now executed on the client side to provide better performance when dragging components in an assembly
  • Improvements for maintaining sketch relations to endpoints that exist on features such as the helix, through-point-curve, and projected curve
  • Rebuild now stops at the rollback bar in the Design Manager, reducing rebuild times and making it easier to create design iterations

On another quick note, we are renaming the maker and student offers to be consistent with the commercial offer, SOLIDWORKS xDesign to SOLIDWORKS xDesign for Makers and SOLIDWORKS xDesign for Students. Stay tuned for my next blog on new student enhancements as well, coming soon!

To learn about other enhancements from this year, see the last blog on R2025x FD01.

To learn more about the xDesign tools in this blog, check out the SOLIDWORKS Cloud Offer.

 

Daniel McGinn

Daniel McGinn

Dan McGinn is a Product Portfolio Manager for SOLIDWORKS. Dan has been working with CAD for 10 years and has experience with structure design, machine design, and robotics. When he’s not at work, you might find him out on the ski slopes or hiking and camping.