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For those who don’t know the tool: Plasticity sits between DCC blocking and CAD cleanup, with bridges into Blender and Cinema 4D, plus exports for pipelines that like solids more than wiggles.
Plasticity 2026.1 focuses on two areas production artists actually feel: getting clean drawings out of 3D, and getting cleaner surfaces into CAD. It also tightens a bunch of everyday operations, from object management to numeric input, so the app stops fighting you over small stuff.
The release introduces three new commands: Export Hidden Line, PolySplines, and Slot. Export Hidden Line generates technical drawings as SVG. PolySplines converts mesh objects into editable NURBS surfaces with G2 continuity. Slot generates a closed slot profile from an open curve by offsetting it symmetrically and capping the ends.
Export Hidden Line turns the viewport into deliverables
Export Hidden Line generates technical SVG drawings from 3D objects. It supports hidden edge display, line styling, line colouring, and a grid view template that automatically positions objects. It also supports hatching with multiple methods and can export an object shader.
In practic,e that means you can pull a clean vector drawing directly from the model and keep it editable downstream, whether the next stop is a layout app, a documentation pass, or just a quick client PDF where crisp lines matter more than render noise.
Export Hidden Line also taps into the reality that line drawings are rarely only about engineering orthos. The command supports stylistic control through line styling and hatching, letting you steer the result toward either strict drafting or something more presentation friendly, without leaving the CAD context.
PolySplines aims for smooth surfacing from meshes
PolySplines converts mesh objects into editable NURBS surfaces in Plasticity, generating clean single and multi-span surfaces with G2 continuity. This matters because it draws a hard line between two worlds: polygon modeling and surface quality.
PolySplines is explicitly about turning mesh objects into NURBS surfaces you can keep editing as CAD geometry, rather than freezing the result into a one-way conversion. That makes it relevant for workflows where a mesh starts the shape exploration, but a solid or surfacing stage needs continuity you can inspect and work with.
Slot is small, mechanical, and welcome
Slot creates a closed slot shape by offsetting an open curve symmetrically on both sides with capped ends. The release notes call out mechanical parts like bolt slots and ventilation cutouts as examples.
This is the kind of command that saves time because it removes the little ritual steps everyone does manually. When a profile has a predictable structure, a single-purpose tool beats a pile of offsets, trims, and cleanups. Slot exists to make that predictable structure boring again.
Sketching and transforms get less fiddly
A set of changes in 2026.1 targets precision input and interaction consistency. Commands that share the Gizmo now accept Tab to enter a precise distance value. The release notes list Move, Rotate, Scale, Push Face, Extrude, and Thicken as supporting this behavior. That makes numeric input less modal, and it keeps precision work closer to the manipulator where you already are.
Numerical precision also increases for commands using the input function equals sign. Copying values can now include up to 8 decimal places with Ctrl plus C, with an example value copying as 30.34587689. That kind of detail sounds niche until you hit a tolerance edge case.
There is also a new 2D Snapping option in the Planes menu. When enabled and an active construction plane is set, all picked points project onto that plane. Dragging points moves them along the plane rather than in 3D space, and related interactions follow the plane orientation. If you ever looked at a sketch and realized it is technically three dimensional when you thought it was flat, this switch exists for you and for teh rest of us who want fewer surprises.
Outliner quality of life: search and active collections
The Outliner now includes a search field accessible via Ctrl plus F or the search icon, intended to make it easier to find specific objects in crowded scenes. Groups in the Outliner also pick up a new behavior: double clicking a group sets it as the Active Collection. Newly modeled, imported, or created objects will automatically be placed into that group, and a visual highlight indicates which collection is currently active.
Materials gain preservation and density
Copying and pasting objects with inherited materials into a newly opened scene window now preserves those materials correctly.
The Material menu also gains a Density field. Units can be adjusted in the Units section, and final mass calculations display in the Selection menu. If you ever needed a rough mass check without leaving the app, this puts the information close.And you don’t wast filament on your 3d printer.
Core commands get meaningful updates
Several existing commands gain new capabilities. Place now supports placing both Mesh and Instance objects. For instances, only Face and Edge snap points are supported. For Mesh objects, Vertex and Face snap points are supported. Place also supports creating instances directly when placing objects.
Mirror can now create instances when the Make instances option is enabled, and it can be invoked with “I”. Extrude now allows extruding surface edges directly. Extrude also adds a mode toggle: Individual mode extrudes each surface along its own normal, while Direction mode extrudes all selected surfaces along a single unified direction. Patch now accepts Regions as valid input, which was previously unsupported.
Tangent Circle now shows an inline radius input during creation, making it easier to see and round the value, and to enter a precise value within the allowed range. All of this reads like a release aimed at modleing speed and predictability rather than novelty for novelty’s sake. Even the instancing hooks in Place and Mirror suggest the tool wants you to iterate without duplicating yourself into a corner.
Hardware navigation and interface polish
Also, if you rely on a SpaceMouse to stay sane in CAD navigation, refinements tend to be the kind of improvement you notice immediately and then never want to give back. Since I do have a Spacemouse and a CADMouse in my hand all day, this is relevant :)
Formats, licensing, and pricing
Plasticity offers a 30-day free trial with essential 3D modeling tools, STEP import, and low resolution OBJ and STL export, with no commercial use allowed.
The Indie license is priced at 175 USD plus local taxes and includes commercial use for an individual license, node-locked up to 2 machines, essential tools, STEP, OBJ, STL, and Parasolid import and export, FBX import, and version updates for 12 months. It also includes the Blender bridge.
The Studio license is priced at 299 USD plus local taxes and includes commercial use for an individual license, node-locked up to 4 machines, essential tools plus professional and expert-level solid and surfacing tools, more import and export formats including IGES and ACIS , Rhino import, plus DXF and DWG import on Windows only, and version updates for 12 months. It includes access to a beta program for 12 months, Blender bridge, and xNURBS on Windows and Mac only. The release notes name PolySplines as a Studio only feature.
Production reality check
New tools and innovations should be tested before use in production, especially when they touch surfacing, continuity, and export formats that can ripple through downstream steps.
If you want the safest first step, try Export Hidden Line on a few representative models and confirm your SVG consumers interpret strokes, dashes, and hatching the way your team expects. For PolySplines, validate the surface editability and continuity inspection on shapes that normally break conversions, not on the easy hero demo mesh.
