Valley Oak Design Manager v1.1.1

Valley Oak Customs Design Manager V1.1.1

Maintenance release

This release uses application version 1.1.1.0. The intended release tag is v1.1.1.

Refresh responsiveness

• Library Refresh now performs expensive index rebuilding away from the WinForms UI thread.
• Only one Refresh runs at a time, and overlapping requests are safely coalesced.
• Index publication remains atomic so the application never exposes a partially written index.
• Structured stage timings are retained for diagnosing future environmental delays.

Multi-select regression fix

• Fixes a public-build regression that prevented Ctrl-click and Shift-click multi-selection.
• Ctrl-click adds or removes individual designs from the selected set.
• Shift-click selects a contiguous range from the current selection anchor.
• Batch Select allows the whole design card to toggle selection.
• Batch checkboxes are separated from Favorite controls and accurately reflect the selected set.
• Selected-card styling is clear in both Light and Dark modes.
• Batch tags, status, and other batch operations use the exact selected set.

Compatibility and safety

• No licensing, file-format, Preview Studio, or user-data semantics changed.
• Existing SVG, DXF, JOB, and image files remain unchanged.
• Existing settings, metadata, favorites, tags, status, collections, shop data, backups, and licensing state remain compatible.
• The installer retains the existing product identity for an in-place upgrade and still requires acceptance of the Valley Oak Customs Software License Agreement.

Distribution

The five-file Windows x64 release package contains the installer, README.txt, LICENSE.txt, the Quick Start Guide PDF, and the User Manual PDF. The installer is self-contained and excludes PDBs, source, tests, caches, settings, databases, design files, and personal data.

The installer is not digitally signed. Windows SmartScreen may display Unknown publisher; continue only with a package obtained from the official Valley Oak Customs release source.

Valley Oak Design Manager v1.1.0

Valley Oak Customs Design Manager V1.1.0

Stable V1.1 release

This release uses application version 1.1.0.0 and the canonical tag v1.1.0.

Licensing

• New installations receive a 30-day full-feature trial.
• A purchased or complimentary perpetual license covers Design Manager 1.x on up to two activated Windows PCs.
• Activation requires a brief connection to the Valley Oak licensing service. After activation, the Valley Oak-signed machine certificate verifies locally and the purchased version continues working permanently without an internet connection.
• A licensed PC can be deactivated normally before moving the activation to another computer. If a PC is dead or unavailable, Valley Oak Customs support can review and reset the selected activation.
• Initial license delivery, replacement-PC assistance, and dead-PC recovery are handled manually by Valley Oak Customs for this release. Public checkout and automated email delivery are not enabled.

Trial and Viewer Mode

• During the 30-day trial, all normal Design Manager features are available.
• When an unlicensed trial expires, Design Manager enters Viewer Mode instead of locking the user out.
• Viewer Mode retains safe access to existing design libraries, source-file opening and copying, metadata export, backups, diagnostics, and feedback.
• Viewer Mode blocks editing and other paid mutations until the application is licensed.
• Trial expiration or licensing changes never delete, encrypt, move, or withhold design files, tags, notes, status, collections, shop settings, metadata, backups, or exports.

Activation and offline behavior

• Settings shows Trial, Licensed, or Expired Trial/Viewer Mode status, Licensed To information when available, and activation usage such as 1 of 2.
• Successful activation stores the signed certificate locally without retaining the license credential.
• Licensed startup and paid features continue working offline indefinitely from the local certificate.
• A certificate is bound to its activated PC and cannot be copied to a different machine.
• Deactivation removes the local active certificate only after the licensing server confirms that the slot was freed.
• Because certificates are intentionally permanent offline credentials, resetting a server activation cannot revoke a certificate on a PC that never reconnects.

Data and upgrade safety

• The installer upgrades V1.0.0 as the same Windows product and preserves existing Design Manager information.
• Active settings and metadata remain under %LocalAppData%\Valley Oak Customs\Design Manager.
• Backups and exports remain under Documents\Valley Oak Design Manager.
• Source SVG, DXF, JOB, and image files remain in the user-selected library folders.
• Uninstall retains user information by default unless the user explicitly chooses to remove it.

Distribution

The intended five-file release package contains the installer, README.txt, LICENSE.txt, Quick Start Guide PDF, and User Manual PDF. The Windows x64 installer is self-contained, excludes source, tests, and PDB files, and requires acceptance of the Software License Agreement.

The installer is not digitally signed. Windows SmartScreen may display Unknown publisher; continue only with a package obtained from the official Valley Oak Customs release source.

Valley Oak Design Manager v1.0.0

Valley Oak Customs Design Manager V1.0.0

First public V1 release

This release uses application version 1.0.0.0 and is the first stable V1 release of Valley Oak Customs Design Manager.

V1 highlights

• Desktop File, View, Tools, and Help menus backed by a shared command registry.
• System, Light, and Dark appearance modes with a readable charcoal Dark theme.
• Fast local SVG and DXF library browsing, search, sorting, favorites, Recent Files, Hidden, collections, notes, tags, and status.
• Preview Studio SVG/DXF customer-proof export with material textures, photo backgrounds, shadows, branding, and proof text.
• Integrated Settings and About interfaces with final Help documentation.
• Protected JSON persistence and corruption recovery.
• Single-instance ownership and close-time save flushing.
• Verified automatic backups with retention.
• Validated transactional restore and offline-safe Repair with rollback.
• Active runtime data under Local AppData; backups and exports remain under Documents.

Distribution

The five-file release ZIP contains the installer, README.txt, LICENSE.txt, Quick Start Guide PDF, and User Manual PDF. The installer is self-contained for Windows x64, excludes PDB files, and requires acceptance of the Software License Agreement.

The installer is not digitally signed. Windows SmartScreen may display Unknown publisher; continue only with a package obtained from the official Valley Oak Customs release source.

Safety

Installer and application validation use isolated generated data. Original SVG and DXF files are not modified by Preview Studio. Normal user data is preserved during upgrade and is retained by default during uninstall unless the user explicitly chooses to remove it.

Valley Oak Customs Design Manager v0.9.6.0

Valley Oak Customs Design Manager v0.9.6.0

Private Preview — V1 stabilization release

This release focuses on reliability, data protection, backups, and safer recovery while keeping the existing Design Manager workflow intact.

What’s improved

• Safer application-data saving with automatic recovery protection.
• Pending tags, notes, and shop changes are saved before closing.
• Prevents multiple copies of Design Manager from writing to the same data.
• Automatic verified backups with retention of the newest 20 backups.
• Safer backup restore with validation and rollback if something goes wrong.
• Repair Library now previews changes before removing anything.
• Offline or unavailable design libraries are protected during Repair.
• Existing v0.9.5.19 settings, metadata, favorites, tags, notes, and design identities remain compatible.
• Continued reliability improvements for Preview Studio and Dashboard integration.

Upgrade

Existing v0.9.5.19 users can install v0.9.6.0 over the current installation. Existing application data and settings are preserved.

Download

Download the ZIP below, extract it, and run:

Valley_Oak_Customs_Design_Manager_Setup_v0.9.6.0.exe

This remains a Private Preview / Pre-release build.

Documentation included

• Quick Start Guide
• Full User Manual

Both are also included in the Windows ZIP.

Valley Oak Customs Design Manager v0.9.5.19

Private Preview release of Valley Oak Customs Design Manager.
Includes the current license/copyright implementation and all features through v0.9.5.19.