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Review of OCAD Development in 2021

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Let’s take a look back at the three most important developments of the past year. Did you get them all?

#01: Sketch Layer

The Sketch Layer and it’s tools are designed for orienteering map field work with a tablet computer and a pen. The main approach is to make field work drawing as ergonomic as possible.

Learn more about it in our Video on YouTube and in the OCAD Wiki and and give it a try!

#02: Fill Bounded Area mode

Thanks to the Fill Bounded Area mode you can draw your map even more efficiently. This function fills empty areas that are bounded by various objects from line or area symbols.

#03: Improved Live Preview

The Live Preview of objects makes their dimension visible already during drawing. Live preview is no longer limited to line objects, but is now also available for point objects.

In addition, a so-called Legibility Halo can be displayed for point objects. The distance of this legibility halo is based on the IOF specifications for orienteering maps and supports the cartographer to draw objects with enough distance to each other.

These were the biggest milestones last year, but stay tuned: We have great innovations in the pipeline this year as well!

Freehand Mode for Tablets

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The OCAD Sketch Layer is designed for sketching objects on a tablet.

Of course, objects can also be drawn directly with a drawing mode such as Curve, Straigth line or Freehand mode.

However, the Freehand mode was not very intuitive until now. Fortunately this has improved since the last OCAD update.

The Freehand mode for tablets now feels as intuitive and natural as drawing with the Sketch Layer, as you can see in this video.

For that, you need to select the option  Freehand mode: Adapted for tablet with pen in the OCAD preferences.

Improved Live Preview

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Thanks to the live preview of objects, their dimension is already visible during drawing.

Since the latest OCAD Update 2020.5.12, the live preview is no more only limited to line objects, but is also available for point objects.

In addition, a so-called legibility halo can be displayed for point objects. The distance of this legibility halo is based on the IOF specifications for orienteering maps and supports the cartographer to draw objects with enough distance to each other.

More information can be found in our OCAD Wiki.