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materializr

★ 106 Open GitHub ↗

Open-source parametric 3D CAD for makers — constraint sketches, solid modeling, threads, SVG & text engraving, STL/STEP export. Linux + Windows. Vibe coded.

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# Materializr

**Open-source parametric 3D CAD for makers** — constraint sketches, solid
modeling, threads, SVG & text engraving, STEP/STL/SVG/DXF/OBJ/3MF exchange.

> **📱 Now on Android and iPad:** Materializr runs on Android (arm64-v8a) and
> **iPad — [get it on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/materializr/id6787741207)** —
> reusing the entire geometry codebase via an SDL2 + OpenGL ES 3.0 backend and
> cross-compiled OpenCASCADE, with a runtime *touch mode* that adapts gestures
> and hit targets. **Designed for tablets** — a phone screen will be cramped.
> On Android, get it on **[Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ravenhold.materializr)**,
> grab the APK from the [latest release](https://github.com/materializr-cad/materializr/releases/latest),
> or see [`android/README.md`](android/README.md) to build it yourself.
> Also on [F-Droid](https://f-droid.org/packages/com.materializr.app/).

![Materializr modeling a coffee mug with filleted rim, handle, and embossed logo wrapped around the cylindrical face](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/materializr-cad/materializr/main/docs/hero-mug.png)

## Download

**[⬇ Get the latest release](https://github.com/materializr-cad/materializr/releases/latest)**

| Platform | File | How |
|---|---|---|
| Linux (x86_64 / aarch64) | `Materializr-*.AppImage` | `chmod +x` it and run — no install |
| Windows | `Materializr-Setup.exe` | run the installer |
| Windows (portable) | `Materializr-windows-x64.zip` | unzip anywhere, run `materializr.exe` |
| iPad | [on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/materializr/id6787741207) | install from the App Store |
| Android (Google Play) | [on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ravenhold.materializr) | install + auto-update from the Play Store; tablets recommended |
| Android (F-Droid) | [on F-Droid](https://f-droid.org/packages/com.materializr.app/) | install + auto-update from the F-Droid app; tablets recommended |
| Android (latest APK) | `Materializr-*-arm64-v8a.apk` | sideload (enable "install unknown apps") for the freshest fixes; tablets recommended |
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | `Materializr-*-arm64.dmg` | open the `.dmg`, drag **Materializr** to Applications — see the first-launch note below |

> **Linux glibc requirement:** the AppImage is built on a current toolchain, so
> it needs **glibc 2.38 or newer** (Ubuntu 24.04+, Fedora 39+, Zorin 18+ — any
> 2024-or-later distro). On older systems it won't start, failing with
> `GLIBC_2.38 not found` / `GLIBCXX_3.4.32 not found`. If you're on an older
> distro, either [build from source](docs/building.md) — it compiles against
> your own libraries, so there's no version floor — or run the AppImage inside
> an `ubuntu:24.04` [Distrobox](https://distrobox.it/) / Toolbox container.

> **Prefer F-Droid?** It builds each release from source on its own
> roughly-weekly cadence, so a brand-new bug fix can take a few days to reach it.
> If you're chasing a fix we just shipped, the GitHub APK above will have it
> first. One caveat: F-Droid signs its build with its own key, so you can't
> install the GitHub APK over an F-Droid install (or vice-versa) — Android
> rejects the signature change. Switching sources means uninstalling first,
> which clears the app's on-device files, so export any projects you want to
> keep beforehand. Easiest is to pick one source and stick with it.

> **macOS first launch:** the app is Apple-Silicon only (M1 or newer) and is
> ad-hoc signed, not notarized — so the first time you open it, macOS
> Gatekeeper will say it "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be
> verified." Right-click (or Control-click) the app in Applications and choose
> **Open**, then **Open** again in the dialog — this is a one-time approval.
> (Equivalently: System Settings → Privacy & Security → **Open Anyway**.)

![C++17](https://img.shields.io/badge/C%2B%2B-17-blue)
![CMake](https://img.shields.io/badge/CMake-3.20%2B-blue)
![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-GPLv3-blue)
[![Discord](https://img.shields.io/badge/Discord-join-5865F2?logo=discord&logoColor=white)](https://discord.gg/BRjzbMGZvE)
[![App Store](https://img.shields.io/badge/App_Store-iPad-0D96F6?logo=apple&logoColor=white)](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/materializr/id6787741207)
[![Google Play](https://img.shields.io/badge/Google_Play-Android-414141?logo=googleplay&logoColor=white)](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.ravenhold.materializr)

Built on the [OpenCASCADE](https://dev.opencascade.org/) geometry kernel —
real B-rep solids, not meshes — with a Dear ImGui interface. Sketch on any
face or construction plane, pull it into a solid, keep editing any step of
the history later (even after closing the project).

## What it is (and isn't)

Materializr **isn't trying to replace** SolidWorks, Fusion 360, FreeCAD, or any
other CAD program. It aims for the **middle ground between dead-simple and
fully-featured** — enough genuine parametric solid modeling to make real parts,
without a steep learning curve, a subscription, or an account. If you've ever
found beginner tools too limiting and pro tools too heavy, that gap is what
this is for.

It's also **young software built quickly, so expect rough edges — there are
bugs we haven't found yet.** The good news: operations validate their results
and *refuse* rather than silently produce garbage, so a failed action leaves
your model untouched instead of corrupting it. Still: **save often**, and if
something behaves oddly, a bug report is the most useful thing you can send.

## What it does

**Sketch** — lines, circles, arcs, splines, polygons, rectangles with
SketchUp-style inference snapping (endpoints, midpoints, perpendicular,
tangent, 15° increments) and opt-in dimensions & constraints. **Text** as
real outline geometry (ten bundled fonts) and **SVG import** with live
placement preview — both become ordinary closed regions you can extrude.
Drop a **reference image** into the viewport and model against it.

**Model** — push/pull, extrude, **lathe** (spin a sketch profile around an
axis into a solid), **revolve** (rotate a body around an axis — watch a fan
spin or a hinge open), loft (N sections, plus **guided loft** steered by
guide curves), **boundary fill**, booleans, fillet/chamfer, shell, mirror,
linear & circular patterns, split, and **separate** (break a body's
disconnected solids into individual bodies). Drop in a **primitive** (box,
cylinder, sphere, cone, torus) when that's the faster start. Direct face
editing: **draft** (moulding draft angle, several faces at one angle, and it
works on curved walls — a cylinder drafts into a cone), **scale face** (pinch a
wing tip into a winglet),
**twist a face** about its normal to spiral the walls, edit a hole or boss to
an exact diameter.

**Detail** — validated **screw threads** (internal & external, standard
coarse defaults from the diameter — and fast: a full rod threads in a
fraction of a second), and **Projection**: engrave or emboss any sketch
onto a flat *or curved* face — wrap a logo around a cylinder in three
clicks.

**Unfold** — flatten a 3D body into a 2D cut pattern (bends, cones and even
doubly-curved surfaces) and export it as 1:1 SVG or tiled, printable PDF
with registration marks — sheet-metal and EVA-foam workflows without
leaving the app.

**Stay in control** — every operation is an editable history step, and
projects reload with the FULL history editable: open a saved part, change
step 1, and everything downstream replays. Fillets and chamfers placed on
boolean seam edges follow upstream edits (topological naming). Construction
planes & axes, **Section View** with any cutting plane, version snapshots
with auto-save, crash/hang recovery, undo everywhere.

**Fits you** — three interface layouts (Classic desktop, Modern rail, and
the near-zero-chrome im-touch for tablets), chosen on first launch with a
live preview and a tour that teaches the app in the layout you picked.
Select any face, edge or vertex for instant measurement readouts (area,
radius, length, centre — with totals across a multi-selection).

**Exchange** — STEP, IGES and **BREP** import/export, **STL import** (with
accuracy control — sketch directly on a scanned part's flat faces),
STL/glTF/**OBJ**/**3MF** export (Z-up corrected for printing), **sketch →
SVG and DXF export** (1:1 mm, for laser cutters and 2.5D CNC) that
round-trip cleanly back into sketches, SVG and **DXF import**, and a
compact native **`.mzr`** format (`.materializr` still opens) that stores
bodies, sketches, and the full history.

## Known limitations

A few rough edges are deliberate trade-offs for now, not bugs — worth knowing
up front:

- **Editing a body *after* you move it can drop the sketch link.** Move a
  plain extruded body and its sketch stays linked, so you can keep tweaking
  dimensions; a heavily-featured body may de-link on move (the move itself is
  always fine). *Why:* re-deriving means re-applying every feature to the
  moved shape. 1.4.0's topological-naming layer already keeps fillets,
  chamfers and boolean-seam features following upstream *sketch* edits — the
  move case is the remaining frontier and keeps narrowing.

- **Threads are re-applied after every change to a threaded body.** You can
  keep modeling on a threaded part — new operations are automatically
  reordered to happen before the thread in the body's history, and the
  thread is then re-cut on top (a progress prompt lets you cancel). *Why:*
  threads are dense geometry; running cuts or fillets across them directly
  is unreliable, so the app applies your change to the unthreaded shape and
  threads it again last. Re-threading is near-instant for standard profiles;
  the cost is only noticeable on long angular threads (square/ACME/buttress).

- **Chamfering an edge that meets a fillet can still fail.** 1.5.0 added a
  **cut-based fallback** (the blend's cross-section is swept along the edge
  and subtracted) that rescues many cases OpenCASCADE's native chamfer
  builder refuses — including edges crossed by holes and pockets — but it
  covers straight, convex, planar-walled edges; where it doesn't apply the
  operation is still refused rather than producing garbage. *Workaround
  when refused:* cut the chamfer with a sketch, or chamfer the edge before
  you fillet its neighbour.

Topological naming landed in 1.4.0 (and 1.5.0's face lineage extends it
through boolean splits), which keeps shrinking the first case. All three are
on the roadmap.

## Documentation

- **[Getting Started](docs/getting-started.md)** — install + your first sketch in five minutes.
- **[Features](docs/features.md)** — full list of what every tool does.
- **[Usage Guide](docs/usage.md)** — workflow recipes and keyboard shortcuts.
- **[Building from Source](docs/building.md)** — native Linux, Docker AppImage, Windows (MSVC + vcpkg).
- **[Architecture](docs/architecture.md)** — code layout, design patterns, tech stack.
- **[Changelog](docs/changelog.md)** — release notes and known issues.

The app ships an in-app **Help → User Guide**, a **Keyboard Shortcuts**
panel, and **Help → Check for Updates**.

## Video Tutorial

A walkthrough from a first sketch to a printable part:

[![Watch the Materializr tutorial](https://img.youtube.com/vi/nwSwxCH3Ne0/maxresdefault.jpg)](https://youtu.be/nwSwxCH3Ne0)

## License

GNU GPLv3 — see [LICENSE](LICENSE) — with additional permissions under GPLv3
section 7 covering app-store distribution and platform-SDK linking; see
[LICENSE-EXCEPTIONS.md](LICENSE-EXCEPTIONS.md). (Releases through 0.9.7.1
were MIT; the project is GPLv3 from here on, and code first published in
those releases also remains available under MIT.)

## Contributing

Contributions welcome — bug reports and missing-workflow notes especially;
real-world dogfooding is what hardens each release. Open an issue first for
substantial changes; small fixes can go straight to a PR.

Join the community on **[Discord](https://discord.gg/BRjzbMGZvE)** for questions, show-and-tell, and development chat.

## Credits

- **R4stl1n** — original project.
- **stevebushwa** — design, testing, direction.
- **TechHQUSA** — macOS port, dimension tool, security hardening.
- **Claude (Anthropic)** — pair-coding collaborator.

## Acknowledgments

Materializr is built on a stack of excellent open-source projects — none of
this would exist without them.

**Geometry & math**

- [OpenCASCADE Technology](https://dev.opencascade.org/) — B-rep solid
  modelling kernel (LGPL with Open CASCADE exception).
- [GLM](https://github.com/g-truc/glm) — OpenGL-friendly C++ math (MIT).

**Graphics & windowing**

- [Dear ImGui](https://github.com/ocornut/imgui) — immediate-mode GUI,
  used for every panel and overlay (MIT).
- [SDL2](https://www.libsdl.org/) — window, input, and OpenGL context
  creation on every platform, desktop and mobile alike (zlib).
- [GLEW](https://glew.sourceforge.net/) — OpenGL extension loading on
  Windows (modified BSD / MIT).

**File I/O & exchange**

- [nanosvg](https://github.com/memononen/nanosvg) — SVG parser for the
  sketch SVG-import tool (zlib).
- [libcurl](https://curl.se/libcurl/) — HTTPS GET for Help → Check for
  Updates (curl license).
- [zlib](https://zlib.net/) — gzip stream for the v3 `.materializr`
  project format (zlib license).
- [portable-file-dialogs](https://github.com/samhocevar/portable-file-dialogs)
  — single-header bridge to the host's native Open / Save dialog
  (WTFPL). Lets you save to SMB / NFS / cloud mounts the OS file manager
  already knows about.

**Bundled fonts**

Ten typefaces ship for the sketch Text tool (JetBrains Mono, DejaVu Sans &
Serif, Liberation Sans & Serif, Ubuntu, Comic Neue, Black Ops One, Anton,
Pacifico), plus the Iconoir icon font for the UI. Full credits, copyrights
and license texts: [`assets/fonts/FONT-CREDITS.md`](assets/fonts/FONT-CREDITS.md).

materializr

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