ARCAD Documentation

Overview

Work in Progress

ARCAD is in active beta and these docs will keep growing. If something is missing or unclear, let us know!

Introduction

ARCAD is a browser-based parametric CAD app that runs on PC, Android tablets, and iPad. It builds real solid models you can export to STEP, with a focus on staying simple to use.

Getting Started

Open app.arcad.studio and start a new project or reopen a recent one. Your work saves automatically.

The Workspace

The tools float at the edges of the 3D viewport, each centred along its side, so the model stays centre stage.

Create

Tools

Selection mode

History

Scene settings

Parameters

Create · top

Adds new geometry: primitives like boxes and cylinders, a fresh 2D sketch, or extruded text. Anything that introduces a new body starts here.

Tools · bottom

A searchable palette of every modelling and editing tool. Your favourites and recently used tools sit up front, and each tool has its own help popup.

Selection mode · left

Sets what your clicks pick: whole objects, faces, edges, or vertices. The active mode decides which tools apply and what the smart-selection commands act on.

Feature history · left

The parametric tree of your model, grouped under each body. Select any feature to change its parameters — the model rebuilds from that step onward.

Scene settings · right

The rail of view panels: Scene, Shading, Materials, Lights, and Camera. This is where you change how the model looks rather than its geometry.

Parameters · right

The inspector for the current selection. Edit dimensions, position, and options here and the change applies live.

Feature history

The left pane lists your model as a tree, grouped under each body. Click a feature to edit its parameters.

Objects (3)

Box

Cylinder

Sphere

Parameters

The right pane shows the parameters of whatever you select, edited live.

Parameters

Wmm

The right rail

Each icon on the right rail opens a settings panel:

Scene & grid

Snapping

Shading

Transform

Material

Lights

Camera

Parametric history

Every operation is a feature in a tree. Select one to change its parameters and the model rebuilds.

The Right-click Menu

Right-click the model for the most useful actions for what you’re doing — a quick way to work faster without hunting through menus. It is context-aware: the options change with your selection mode. Here it is for a face and for an edge:

Face mode

Extrude faceE

Shell (open this face)

Inset face

Hole

Select similar

Select all faces

Edge mode

Fillet corner

Chamfer corner

Select similar

Grow selection

Select edge loop

Select edge ring

Select all edges

Pick a face and you get face tools; pick an edge and you get edge tools; in object mode you get object actions.

Finding Tools

Open the search in the Tools bar and start typing to find any tool by name. Star a tool to pin it as a favourite, and your most-used tools also show up under Recent. Every tool carries a ? help popup that explains what it does and how to use it.

UnionQ?

SubtractShift+E?

IntersectShift+I?

ExtrudeE?

Fillet?

Chamfer?

Tip

Not sure what a tool does? Click its ? for a short popup with a description and a quick example.

Selecting

Click to select a body, face, edge, or vertex (set the mode in the rail). Smart selection helps with the rest:

Select Similar — everything like what you picked.
Grow / Loop — expand or follow an edge loop.
Select All — every face or edge on the body.

Object

Face

Edge

Vertex

Box select

Reference Geometry

Import a mesh (scan or photogrammetry) as a view-only reference and place it with the gizmo. Build parametric geometry on top — it never affects your solids.

Units, Saving & Export

ARCAD works in millimetres but lets you display and type in mm, cm, or inches. You can download a .arcad project file or export STEP for any other CAD package.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
`B`	New box
`C`	New cylinder
`S`	New sphere
`E`	Push / pull the selected face
`F`	Fit the model to the view
`Ctrl/⌘ + S`	Save project
`Ctrl/⌘ + Z`	Undo (Shift to redo)
`Esc`	Cancel the tool / clear selection

ARCAD Documentation

Overview

Work in Progress

ARCAD is in active beta and these docs will keep growing. If something is missing or unclear, let us know!

Introduction

ARCAD is a browser-based parametric CAD app that runs on PC, Android tablets, and iPad. It builds real solid models you can export to STEP, with a focus on staying simple to use.

Getting Started

Open app.arcad.studio and start a new project or reopen a recent one. Your work saves automatically.

The Workspace

The tools float at the edges of the 3D viewport, each centred along its side, so the model stays centre stage.

Create

Tools

Selection mode

History

Scene settings

Parameters

Create · top

Adds new geometry: primitives like boxes and cylinders, a fresh 2D sketch, or extruded text. Anything that introduces a new body starts here.

Tools · bottom

A searchable palette of every modelling and editing tool. Your favourites and recently used tools sit up front, and each tool has its own help popup.

Selection mode · left

Sets what your clicks pick: whole objects, faces, edges, or vertices. The active mode decides which tools apply and what the smart-selection commands act on.

Feature history · left

The parametric tree of your model, grouped under each body. Select any feature to change its parameters — the model rebuilds from that step onward.

Scene settings · right

The rail of view panels: Scene, Shading, Materials, Lights, and Camera. This is where you change how the model looks rather than its geometry.

Parameters · right

The inspector for the current selection. Edit dimensions, position, and options here and the change applies live.

Feature history

The left pane lists your model as a tree, grouped under each body. Click a feature to edit its parameters.

Objects (3)

Box

Cylinder

Sphere

Parameters

The right pane shows the parameters of whatever you select, edited live.

Parameters

Wmm

The right rail

Each icon on the right rail opens a settings panel:

Scene & grid

Snapping

Shading

Transform

Material

Lights

Camera

Parametric history

Every operation is a feature in a tree. Select one to change its parameters and the model rebuilds.

The Right-click Menu

Right-click the model for the most useful actions for what you’re doing — a quick way to work faster without hunting through menus. It is context-aware: the options change with your selection mode. Here it is for a face and for an edge:

Face mode

Extrude faceE

Shell (open this face)

Inset face

Hole

Select similar

Select all faces

Edge mode

Fillet corner

Chamfer corner

Select similar

Grow selection

Select edge loop

Select edge ring

Select all edges

Pick a face and you get face tools; pick an edge and you get edge tools; in object mode you get object actions.

Finding Tools

Open the search in the Tools bar and start typing to find any tool by name. Star a tool to pin it as a favourite, and your most-used tools also show up under Recent. Every tool carries a ? help popup that explains what it does and how to use it.

UnionQ?

SubtractShift+E?

IntersectShift+I?

ExtrudeE?

Fillet?

Chamfer?

Tip

Not sure what a tool does? Click its ? for a short popup with a description and a quick example.

Selecting

Click to select a body, face, edge, or vertex (set the mode in the rail). Smart selection helps with the rest:

Select Similar — everything like what you picked.
Grow / Loop — expand or follow an edge loop.
Select All — every face or edge on the body.

Object

Face

Edge

Vertex

Box select

Reference Geometry

Import a mesh (scan or photogrammetry) as a view-only reference and place it with the gizmo. Build parametric geometry on top — it never affects your solids.

Units, Saving & Export

ARCAD works in millimetres but lets you display and type in mm, cm, or inches. You can download a .arcad project file or export STEP for any other CAD package.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
`B`	New box
`C`	New cylinder
`S`	New sphere
`E`	Push / pull the selected face
`F`	Fit the model to the view
`Ctrl/⌘ + S`	Save project
`Ctrl/⌘ + Z`	Undo (Shift to redo)
`Esc`	Cancel the tool / clear selection

ARCAD Documentation

Overview

Work in Progress

ARCAD is in active beta and these docs will keep growing. If something is missing or unclear, let us know!

Introduction

ARCAD is a browser-based parametric CAD app that runs on PC, Android tablets, and iPad. It builds real solid models you can export to STEP, with a focus on staying simple to use.

Getting Started

Open app.arcad.studio and start a new project or reopen a recent one. Your work saves automatically.

The Workspace

The tools float at the edges of the 3D viewport, each centred along its side, so the model stays centre stage.

Create

Tools

Selection mode

History

Scene settings

Parameters

Create · top

Adds new geometry: primitives like boxes and cylinders, a fresh 2D sketch, or extruded text. Anything that introduces a new body starts here.

Tools · bottom

A searchable palette of every modelling and editing tool. Your favourites and recently used tools sit up front, and each tool has its own help popup.

Selection mode · left

Sets what your clicks pick: whole objects, faces, edges, or vertices. The active mode decides which tools apply and what the smart-selection commands act on.

Feature history · left

The parametric tree of your model, grouped under each body. Select any feature to change its parameters — the model rebuilds from that step onward.

Scene settings · right

The rail of view panels: Scene, Shading, Materials, Lights, and Camera. This is where you change how the model looks rather than its geometry.

Parameters · right

The inspector for the current selection. Edit dimensions, position, and options here and the change applies live.

Feature history

The left pane lists your model as a tree, grouped under each body. Click a feature to edit its parameters.

Objects (3)

Box

Cylinder

Sphere

Parameters

The right pane shows the parameters of whatever you select, edited live.

Parameters

Wmm

The right rail

Each icon on the right rail opens a settings panel:

Scene & grid

Snapping

Shading

Transform

Material

Lights

Camera

Parametric history

Every operation is a feature in a tree. Select one to change its parameters and the model rebuilds.

The Right-click Menu

Right-click the model for the most useful actions for what you’re doing — a quick way to work faster without hunting through menus. It is context-aware: the options change with your selection mode. Here it is for a face and for an edge:

Face mode

Extrude faceE

Shell (open this face)

Inset face

Hole

Select similar

Select all faces

Edge mode

Fillet corner

Chamfer corner

Select similar

Grow selection

Select edge loop

Select edge ring

Select all edges

Pick a face and you get face tools; pick an edge and you get edge tools; in object mode you get object actions.

Finding Tools

Open the search in the Tools bar and start typing to find any tool by name. Star a tool to pin it as a favourite, and your most-used tools also show up under Recent. Every tool carries a ? help popup that explains what it does and how to use it.

UnionQ?

SubtractShift+E?

IntersectShift+I?

ExtrudeE?

Fillet?

Chamfer?

Tip

Not sure what a tool does? Click its ? for a short popup with a description and a quick example.

Selecting

Click to select a body, face, edge, or vertex (set the mode in the rail). Smart selection helps with the rest:

Select Similar — everything like what you picked.
Grow / Loop — expand or follow an edge loop.
Select All — every face or edge on the body.

Object

Face

Edge

Vertex

Box select

Reference Geometry

Import a mesh (scan or photogrammetry) as a view-only reference and place it with the gizmo. Build parametric geometry on top — it never affects your solids.

Units, Saving & Export

ARCAD works in millimetres but lets you display and type in mm, cm, or inches. You can download a .arcad project file or export STEP for any other CAD package.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Key	Action
`B`	New box
`C`	New cylinder
`S`	New sphere
`E`	Push / pull the selected face
`F`	Fit the model to the view
`Ctrl/⌘ + S`	Save project
`Ctrl/⌘ + Z`	Undo (Shift to redo)
`Esc`	Cancel the tool / clear selection