F/X CAD 2025: New Features
Year after year, F/X CAD keeps improving. Take a look at the most recent additions you might have missed if you skipped upgrading to the latest version.
New F/X CAD Features: F/X CAD 2025
Smart Blocks
Addition of the BCONVERT command. Select a shape in your drawing with the command active, and F/X CAD will convert every instance of that shape into the same block. Great for cleaning up an exploded DWG or PDFIMPORT before using the Land F/X–exclusive Mimic or Edit Object tools to convert them to smart plant or site amenity objects that calculate in Plant and RefNote schedules.
ArcGIS Basemaps
Quick concept plans just became faster with the addition of clearer ESRI aerial and map imagery. Turn it on, trace, and turn it off as needed to increase performance speed.
Enhanced Hatch Command
The HATCH command now includes the option for a path shape. Select a polyline for the path, then set the width and location along the line to place a hatch strip that bends with your polyline. This brand-new packs plenty of future potential exclusive to F/X CAD 2025 any new feature that we plan to introduce to the Land F/X hatch placement tools to automate more placement and smart object assignments.
Diagnosis Tab in Graphics Performance Dialog Box
If you're having performance issues or something simply doesn't look right in CAD, check whether it's related to a display setting with the help of this handy new diagnosis tool. It's a great companion to the Performance Analyzer, added with F/X CAD 2024.
File Open Performance
Who doesn't like going faster? F/X CAD 2025 saw another performance boost – this time with opening files. If you're upgrading from a few years back, they'll stack to a significant speed improvement overall.
Added Features for Previous F/X CAD Versions (F/X CAD 2020–2024)
F/X CAD 2024
Basic AutoLISP Support
Run basic AutoLISP macros using R14 version AutoLISP. Note that F/X CAD cannot support Dialog Boxes (DCL), ActiveX (vlax), ARX or other extensions. More information
New File and Layout Tab Menus
Enjoy quicker and easier access to these heavily used menus. The File menu is now located just to the left of the Start tab, allowing you to save or close all open files, create a new drawing, and see all opened files in a list with a dot for the currently open file without the need to go to the Start tab. Plus get all the options for managing your layout tabs, including Select All Layouts, in a new convenient spot just left of the Model Tab.
Performance Analyzer
Have a problem drawing that you think is dragging more than it should? This feature gives you a little more insight into potential causes of the slowdown by recording a little bit of time of you working in the drawing and running an automatic troubleshoot and diagnosis.
F/X CAD 2023
New Extend Vertex
Stretch a polyline at its start or end more easily than ever. Previously, you could not add a new vertex to the start of a polyline – only a new second vertex – which made it difficult to extend.
New Cut with Base Point (CUTBASE)
Grab an object to place in a new location while automatically removing the original from your drawing. It's like using >COPYBASE to cut and paste but without the extra step of deleting.
Enhanced Count Palette
While you’re using the Count Palette, you can also select a Work Area to limit the error checking to the Land F/X areas you’ve already drawn. Go even further and try the count palette selection tool!
Floating drawing windows improvement
The Command line now floats with your drawing window when anchored (instead of docked) – a further evolution of the ability to move a floating window to another monitor, added last year.
New Drawing shows the DWT name
On the Start tab, hover on the New button to see which drawing template is set to launch. Memory of the last template used in the current session is built in, and you can use your QNEW option to apply that memory to future sessions.
Options dialog box asks to save
How many times have you made extensive changes to the Options, only to lose them because you accidentally closed or canceled? Now you have a safeguard!
F/X CAD 2022
Floating Windows
You can now drag open drawing tabs out to turn them into floating windows. Float them side by side or on different monitors to enjoy the fantastic performance improvements of working in multiple drawings with only a single instance of F/X CAD running.
Count
Enhance your existing Land F/X counting tools with the Count palette. See real-time totals for each block type, and identify conflicts such as duplicate blocks placed on top of each other, or accidentally exploded blocks. Expand the block list by layer for the perfect companion tool when using layer suffixes for Work Areas.
Live Maps
You can now easily access live maps for use with the GEOGRAPHICLOCATION too by signing in to a free Autodesk account.
Multicore Support
As with every year’s version, the software gets a performance boost to keep up with the evolving hardware in your office. F/X CAD can now run faster and more efficiently on computers with multicore processors.
Updated Ribbons and Quick Access Toolbar
We also made the following additions:
- Copy with Base point and XLayer tools added to the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT)
- Layer Previous button added next to our SuperLayIso tool on the ribbon for a more convenient experience working with layers
F/X CAD 2021
Xref Compare
An improved Xref Compare tool shows you what's new and what's gone with easy-to-see toggle-hidden revision clouds. Edit the current drawing while comparing. Changes made to the current drawing are instantly applied to, and visible in, the compare.
Break at Point
Track along a line or input an exact length to break a line apart. Breaking lines is now more accurate than ever.
Quick Measure
Use the crosshair of the Quick Measure tool within enclosed areas. Move your mouse around to see the precise distances from the cursor to the boundary lines of that area. Calculate the area and perimeter of one space, or the sum areas and perimeters of multiple spaces.
Trim and Extend
Quick mode is now default. All lines in the drawing become trimming or extending edges, and you can simply click lines or click for a fence trimming line to remove or add what you need. Hold down Shift while using the Trim command to activate the Extend function.
Expanded Revcloud Options
Revision Clouds (Revclouds) are now their own objects rather than polylines, and will auto-size with your drawings. This feature now includes specific properties such as arc length,
Land F/X Tools Added to ACAD Ribbons
We added our SuperLayIso and SuperLayFreeze tools to the F/X CAD 2021 ACAD ribbons. These tools are more powerful versions of the native AutoCAD tools LayIso and LayFrz, respectively which they've replaced in the ribbon.
For more information on how these tools work, see our documentation on:
- SuperLayIso for isolating layers
- SuperLayFreeze for freezing layers
Enhanced Quick Access Toolbar
We expanded the Quick Access Toolbar with more useful tools by default, including several Land F/X tools.
F/X CAD 2020
Quick Measure
Use this crosshair measuring tool inside enclosed areas. Move your mouse around to see the precise horizontal and vertical distances to the nearest parallel lines.
DWG Compare Command
Let F/X CAD tell you what's different between two drawings! Use the COMPARE command, and see what's new and what's gone with easy-to-see revision clouds you can hop between. Then, either import the changes or export a snapshot of the changes for your records. This tool is accessible in the main F/X pull-down under Drawing Utilities.
See our F/X CAD 2020 webinar for the full rundown on what's new and improved.
Improved Purge Tool
It's easier to select the objects you want to purge out of your drawings. You can even view previews of blocks you're purging. It's also incredibly easier to find items you can't purge. See the reasons they can't purge – if they're placed, or referenced in an MLEADERSTYLE, for example. Want to select and zoom to those objects automatically? Just click the blue finder icon.
Dark Blue Theme
The dark theme is now a lot easier on the eyes for long days of drafting, and 2020 features crisper icons that have better contrasting colors and are faster to recognize at a glance. You can still switch to light theme if desired, with the same HI-DPI icons. Also, if a contextual tab opens itself, such as the Layout or Hatch contextual tab, it will be highlighted to clearly denote that it's active.
Faster Performance on your Most-Used Tasks
Each save is now 66% faster, and regenerating after layer properties changes, like changing colors, is 88% faster. Also, accessing items over a network, such as Xrefs, blocks, and support files is faster. These seconds will add up every day for you to bring less interruptions in your workflow.
Integration with Online Storage
Have an online folder service installed? When you go to Save, Save As, or Open from F/X CAD 2020, you'll see a shortcut to that service readily available.
Customized Ribbon
Our customized CAD ribbon interface features a complete reorganization of the ribbons to fit our users' needs. Aside from removing all the unnecessary icons, we've reordered the essential ones by usage frequency.
Land F/X Tools Added to ACAD Ribbons
We added a few Land F/X tools to the F/X CAD 2020 ACAD ribbons, some of which were previously only available as keyboard commands.
Added to Home ribbon, Draw panel:
- Land F/X P-Hatch (PHATCH) tool
Added to Home ribbon, Modify panel:
- Land F/X XCOPY tool More on our XCOPY tool
- Land F/X XCORO tool More on our XCORO tool
- Land F/X SUPERJOIN tool More on our SUPERJOIN tool
Added to Home ribbon, Layers panel:
- Land F/X XLAYER tool
Added to Annotate ribbon, Dimensions panel:
- Land F/X Save Dimension Style tool
More on our Save Dimension Style tool
Added to Annotate ribbon, Leaders panel:
- Land F/X F/X Leader With Text tool
- Land F/X F/X Line Leader tool
- Land F/X F/X Arc Leader tool
- Land F/X F/X Thick Leader tool
Contact
- Land F/X
Our software tailors AutoCAD®, Revit®, and SketchUp® to the needs of landscape architects, irrigation designers, and other professionals. We automate your most tedious tasks and ensure accuracy, giving you more time to design.