Welcome to the Onshape forum! Ask questions and join in the discussions about everything Onshape.
First time visiting? Here are some places to start:- Looking for a certain topic? Check out the categories filter or use Search (upper right).
- Need support? Ask a question to our Community Support category.
- Please submit support tickets for bugs but you can request improvements in the Product Feedback category.
- Be respectful, on topic and if you see a problem, Flag it.
If you would like to contact our Community Manager personally, feel free to send a private message or an email.
Best Of
Re: Improvements to Onshape - May 16th, 2025
"Focusing on stability and performance" but somehow also still a total banger!
Query Finder (A new way to automate Onshape!) 🆕
.
CADSharp is introducing a new way to automate Onshape!
Actually, this isn't new, but it has never really been easily available for all users. (no coding required)
.
Query Finder
Save and use selections across features and even across part studios.
Use this functionality to automate your downstream selection process.
.
Query Finder compatible features (More features to be added to this list!) (Note for developers)Feel free to put the query finder in your own custom features. See (this example) of how to do it.
- Composite+
- Compare (New!)
- Laser Measure
- Logic Driven Feature (New!) (Included sub features: Extrude, Revolve, Mirror, Transform, Boolean, And more…)
- Property / Attribute
- Set Query Attribute (New!)
- Zone Delete
.
How to use the Query Finder:
(Step 1) Use the
Set query attribute feature to make a selection that you want to save for later.
This will create a variable with the name of your attribute which you can use downstream.
Note: Query Finder doesn't require you to set an attribute, you can change the QF search type to the following types of searches.
Supported search types include:
Everything: Searches the entire part studio.Attribute: Searches only entities with the specified attribute attached to them. Easily set with the Set query attribute feature.Feature: Searches selected features in the tree for specified entities.Property: Searches only entities with the specified property and property value.Identity: Searches entities that have had their identity set.Transient ID: Searches for a specific transient id.
(Step 2) Click on the
Query Finder button to enable the query finder.
(Step 3) Input the selection variable that you created earlier in the tree. You could also type this attribute name manually like this: "toColor"
.
Rainbow Faces Custom Feature
I have found Rainbow Faces from Smart Bench Software to be a great Custom Feature!
Not only do kids love the pretty parts, but it also helps with understanding of drawings and how features show up in different views.
Thanks @Caden_Armstrong!
Re: Shaded view in break view
Custom Feature: Heat Set Insert (Threaded inserts for 3D Printed Parts)
Custom Feature: Heat Set Insert
I wanted to learn FeatureScript, so I created a new custom feature to place cavities for heat set inserts into 3d Printed parts quickly and easily. I have been really happy with it and have found that it really speeds up my designs, so I wanted to share it out!
Right now, it includes dimensions for 3 different brands of inserts: McMaster, CNC Kitchen, and Ktehloy on Amazon.
The featurescript creates a cavity that is the correct diameter for the insert selected from the drop down menu and the correct depth to allow the melted plastic to have somewhere to go when the insert melted in.
My preferred workflow is to use the normal Hole tool to make tapped holes and set the location of the heat set insert using mate connectors in the Heat Set Insert tool. Let me know if you want any features added to make it even better!
Re: Improvements to Onshape - May 16th, 2025
Neil, Cody and Roy do an excellent job showing off the new capabilities. That said, they only have a hot-minute to explain/show what the new capabilities can do. This is NOT a marketing video, this is simply testing out the code before it was released, but it gives you a sense of the much richer visual experience possible. There is more work to be done yet, but even now, you can use section along with the new transparent graphics, measure in section and remember, just like Neil said, 'Select Other' is your friend. The graphics teams killed it with this project.
Improvements to Onshape - May 16th, 2025
VISUALIZATION
ISOLATE AND MAKE TRANSPARENT
The Isolate and Make transparent tools now include a slider to adjust transparency. An option to select transparent geometry enables both tools to be used effectively when interacting with both transparent and opaque geometry.PART STUDIOS
REPLACE FACE
The Replace face feature now accepts more than one face as a replacement, enabling more complex results with a single feature.PUBLICATIONS
INSERT RELEASED PARTS
Released parts can now be added individually to a Publication. This removes any other parts in the Part Studio, reduces clutter and ambiguity, and protects intellectual property.GENERAL
RESUME LAST LOCATION
After a period of inactivity, the current Onshape session may be signed out. Signing back in will resume the last session, either opening the last active Document, navigating to the last open folder, or showing the last search results.SORT FOLDERS IN "MOVE TO..." DIALOG
When moving Documents, Publications and Folders using the "Move to..." context menu, the list of Projects and Folders can now be sorted alphabetically or by Last modified for easier navigation.
ONSHAPE VISION
CONNECT MULTIPLE DOCUMENT TABS
Multiple Onshape Document tabs can now be shared from the Onshape mobile app on an iOS device to the Onshape Vision app on Apple Vision Pro. After a Document is shared, return to the Documents page and all shared Documents will be listed in the dialog as shown below. The Document will still be viewable in Onshape Vision even though it has been closed on Onshape mobile. Open one or more further Documents and share with the Onshape Vision app. All Documents will be shown and available to view on the Onshape Vision Documents page.
Please take a moment to try out these new features and improvements and leave your comments below. For a detailed list of all the changes in this update, please see the changelog.
Re: I absolutely love Onshape!
We are a high end custom cabinet manufacturer. Interestingly enough, we have used Onshape since 2017 with the understanding that it is not suited for architecture. That being said, we swapped over from Vectorworks because we saw the benefit in being able to customize Onshape using FeatureScript and the API.
Onshape is definitely not built for architectural design, but you can customize it so that it can be used for it. What we essentially did was superimpose a cabinetry CAD system over top of Onshape by developing a large suite of custom features. Very few of our original team understood how to use mechanical CAD software, but because we were able to make our own UI and workflow, they are now making large kitchens without any assistance.
I'm not necessarily saying that anyone coming over from the architectural world needs to build their own CAD system, but if there are hurdles in using Onshape because of the paradigm shift, there might be some custom features that would close that gap enough for you to enjoy the benefits of Onshape.
