FreeShape 1.8.4 — Smarter selection, planes and sketching

Selection, planes and sketching all get a big upgrade, plus a way to search for any tool and new tools for cleaning up imported STEP parts.

New

• Box selection (3D view and sketcher): drag left-to-right (blue, solid) to select what's fully inside; right-to-left (green, dashed) to also select what the box touches. Shift / Ctrl adds to the selection.
• Select menu: choose whether clicks and boxes pick vertices, edges, faces, solids, sketches or planes. Vertices can now be selected.
• Search tools (Ctrl+Space, Alt+C, or the top-bar box): type to filter tools and commands, Enter to start, Esc to close.
• Space deselects everything. Arrow keys turn the view 15° per tap.
• Plane types: Offset, Plane + point, Line + angle, Point + edge normal, Three points, Mid plane, Curve + point, Tangent. "Automatic" picks the type from your selection, and Sketch does the same.
• Delete face (heal, cap or leave the void open), Move face and Offset surface for editing imported parts.
• Sketch inference: yellow dotted guides when you line up horizontally / vertically with a hovered point or midpoint, and tangent snapping for lines on circles and arcs.
• Resizable feature windows: drag the edge or corner of any feature or sketch panel.

Changed

• A 3-point arc now keeps its three points instead of becoming a 2-point arc with a radius.
• Version numbering is just 1.8.4 — the "r8" revision label is gone from the app, installers and file names.

Downloads

• Windows: FreeShape-Setup-1.8.4.exe
• Mac (Apple Silicon): FreeShape-1.8.4-mac-arm64.dmg
• Linux: FreeShape-1.8.4-x86_64.AppImage
• Source: FreeShape-1.8.4.zip

FreeShape 1.8.3

FreeShape 1.8.3 — free, offline, Onshape-style parametric CAD for Windows, Mac and Linux.

What's new

• Linux fix: the 3D view no longer breaks on Wayland desktops (most modern Ubuntu / Fedora / KDE setups). Sketches and models used to vanish with "Attempt to retrieve context when no valid context". Thanks to the Reddit user who sent the error log.
• Pick sketches from the feature list for Loft, Extrude and other features, like Onshape — also works for hidden sketches.
• Fillets and chamfers that are too big now give an error saying the largest size that fits, instead of making a broken, overlapping part.

Download

Windows: FreeShape-Setup-r8.exe below — run it to install or update. SmartScreen may warn the first time: click More info → Run anyway.

Mac (Apple Silicon): FreeShape-r8-mac-arm64.dmg below — drag FreeShape into Applications. First time: right-click it → Open → Open.

Linux: FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage below: chmod +x FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage && ./FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage (if it complains about FUSE, add --appimage-extract-and-run).

Known limits

No sub-assemblies, configurations, section views on drawings, hems or surface modelling yet. Found a bug? Please open an Issue, with the file if you can.

Licensed under GPL-3.0. Built on Open CASCADE Technology and Qt.

FreeShape 1.8.2

FreeShape 1.8.2 — free, offline, Onshape-style parametric CAD for Windows, Mac and Linux.

What's new

• Show / hide eyes in the feature and parts lists, like Onshape — hover a sketch, plane or part and click the eye. Hidden items keep a faint crossed-out eye so you can see what's hidden.
• Easier profile picking — for Extrude, Loft and other features that use a sketch's area, you can now click the sketch's line as well as inside it. If a sketch isn't a closed shape, FreeShape tells you instead of silently doing nothing.
• Sketches come back when you delete a feature — sketches are hidden while a feature uses them; deleting that feature now shows them again (unless another feature still uses them). Undo puts everything back.

Thanks to everyone on Reddit who tried it and reported problems.

Download

Windows: FreeShape-Setup-r8.exe below — run it to install or update (no Python needed). Windows SmartScreen may warn the first time because the installer isn't code-signed yet: click More info → Run anyway.

Mac (Apple Silicon): FreeShape-r8-mac-arm64.dmg below — open it and drag FreeShape into Applications. It isn't signed by Apple yet, so the first time: right-click FreeShape in Applications → Open → Open.

Linux: FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage below (no Python needed):
chmod +x FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage && ./FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage
If it complains about FUSE, run it with --appimage-extract-and-run.

Prefer to run from source? Clone the repo and run run_freeshape.bat (Windows) or ./run_freeshape.sh (Linux / Mac).

Known limits

No sub-assemblies, configurations, section views on drawings, hems or surface modelling yet. Found a bug? Please open an Issue, with the file if you can.

Licensed under GPL-3.0. Built on Open CASCADE Technology and Qt.

FreeShape 1.8.1

FreeShape 1.8.1 — free, offline, Onshape-style parametric CAD for Windows, Linux and Mac.

What's new

• Mac version (Apple Silicon M1–M4)
• Linux AppImage — one file, no Python needed
• Dimension to bend lines on flat-pattern drawings — from an edge, a corner or another bend line. The dimensions follow the model when you change the part.

Download

Windows: FreeShape-Setup-r8.exe below — run it and follow the installer (no Python needed).
Windows SmartScreen may warn the first time because the installer isn't code-signed yet: click More info → Run anyway.

Mac (Apple Silicon): FreeShape-r8-mac-arm64.dmg below — open it and drag FreeShape into Applications.
It isn't signed by Apple yet, so the first time: right-click FreeShape in Applications → Open → Open.
New on Mac — please report anything odd in Issues.

Linux: FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage below (no Python needed):
chmod +x FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage && ./FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage
(or right-click → Properties → Allow executing as program, then double-click).
Needs a 2024-or-newer distro (Ubuntu 24.04+, Fedora 40+, Mint 22+, Arch…). If it complains about FUSE, run it with --appimage-extract-and-run.

Prefer to run from source? Clone the repo and run run_freeshape.bat (Windows) or ./run_freeshape.sh (Linux / Mac).

What's in FreeShape

• Part Studios — constrained sketches, extrude, revolve, sweep, loft, fillet, chamfer, shell, draft, holes (ISO clearance / tapped / counterbore / countersink), real ISO threads, patterns, mirror, booleans, variables, rollback bar, STEP import with colours
• Assemblies — fastened / revolute / slider / cylindrical / planar / ball mates, drag through mates, move / rotate triad, interference check, bill of materials, STEP export
• Drawings — first or third angle, hidden-line views, dimensions that follow the model, title block; export DXF with real AutoCAD dimensions and PDF
• Sheet metal — flanges, exact flat patterns (K-factor), automatic corner reliefs, flat-pattern DXF with bend lines

Known limits

No sub-assemblies, configurations, section views on drawings, hems or surface modelling yet. Found a bug? Please open an Issue, with the file if you can.

Licensed under GPL-3.0. Built on Open CASCADE Technology and Qt.

FreeShape 1.8.0 — first public release

The first public release of FreeShape — free, offline, Onshape-style parametric CAD for Windows and Linux.

Download

Windows: FreeShape-Setup-r8.exe under Assets below — run it and follow the installer (no Python needed).
Windows SmartScreen may warn the first time because the installer isn't code-signed yet: click More info → Run anyway.

Linux: FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage under Assets below (no Python needed):
chmod +x FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage && ./FreeShape-r8-x86_64.AppImage
(or right-click → Properties → Allow executing as program, then double-click).
Needs a 2024-or-newer distro (Ubuntu 24.04+, Fedora 40+, Mint 22+, Arch…). If it complains about FUSE, run it with --appimage-extract-and-run.

Prefer to run from source? Clone the repo and double-click run_freeshape.bat (Windows) or run ./run_freeshape.sh (Linux / Mac) — it sets itself up on first run.

What's in it

• Part Studios — constrained sketches, extrude, revolve, sweep, loft, fillet, chamfer, shell, draft, holes (ISO clearance / tapped / counterbore / countersink), real ISO threads, patterns, mirror, booleans, variables, rollback bar, STEP import with colours
• Assemblies — linked parts, fastened / revolute / slider / cylindrical / planar / ball mates, drag through mates, move / rotate triad, interference check, bill of materials, STEP export
• Drawings — first or third angle, hidden-line views, projected & isometric views, dimensions that follow the model, notes, title block; export DXF with real AutoCAD dimensions and PDF
• Sheet metal — flanges, exact flat patterns (K-factor), automatic corner reliefs, flat-pattern DXF with bend lines for laser cutting
• Onshape-style view cube, home page with recent projects, autosave & crash recovery, light / dark theme

Known limits

No sub-assemblies, configurations, section views on drawings, hems or surface modelling yet. Found a bug? Please open an Issue — with the file if you can.

Licensed under GPL-3.0. Built on Open CASCADE Technology and Qt.