What's New in Easel

Outline Bits (Beta)

More control over your cutouts — no workarounds needed. You can now assign a dedicated bit just for outline cuts in multi-stage carves.

Watch the feature video!

Previously, Easel always used your detail bit for outline cuts – including final cutouts – even if it was a small V-bit or 1/32" bit. That often led to slow carves, broken bits, or complex workarounds.

Now, with Outline Bit, you can:

• Choose a separate, sturdier bit (like a 1/8" or 1/4" end mill) just for the outline
• Skip duplicating workpieces or manually hiding shapes
• Keep everything in one carve with three distinct toolpaths: Roughing, Detail, and Outline

After you select an Outline Bit, Easel will assign it to shapes where the Cut Path is set to “on shape path”, “outside shape path”, or “inside shape path”:

Pockets will be carved by the Roughing and Detail Bits

Outlines will be carved by the new Outline Bit

How to use it:

• Opt-in to use the new Outline Bits feature in beta
• Load or create a project in Easel with a roughing and detail pass
• Click the “+” next to your Detail Bit and select an Outline Bit
• Simulate your carve — the outline pass will appear as a separate orange toolpath
• During carving or downloading G-code, you'll now see a new “Outline Pass” option when selecting toolpaths

This feature is currently in beta — and available to all Easel users. Try it out, share your feedback, and help us shape the final version.

Opt in on the top, right hand side of this page and try it out today!

Copy/Paste from the Clipboard

We’re excited to announce that Easel now integrates with the system clipboard for copy and paste. Any app or website that copies SVG data to the clipboard can now be pasted directly into Easel and vice versa.

This happens automatically via the existing Edit menu actions or the keyboard shortcuts.

See the launch video for more details and examples.

Text Alignment

Easel now supports center, left, and right aligned multiline text. The new Text Alignment buttons are located in the Shape panel.

Mesh Optimizer

We’re removing the 100MB file limit when importing a 3D STL mesh. Going forward, Easel will automatically simplify the file if it’s above 100MB to meet the limit. Otherwise, most files will import as-is.

The simplification process eliminates minor geometrical details that don't have a major impact on the overall shape. This results in reduced file sizes and faster project load times without affecting the final carved outcome.

If you happen to use large STL files that don’t turn out well after import, please let us know below. You’ll know it was simplified if you see this notification after the import.

Measurement Input Upgrades

We’re excited to announce several upgrades to our measurement input controls.

• Addition and subtraction of measurement terms
• Improved fraction support
• More units and formatting options

The goal is to more naturally support how we write measurements and lengths. To give a sense of what’s possible, all of the following are valid input expressions for 2 ¾ inches.

• 2 3/4"
• 2.75in
• 11/4"
• 3 inches - 1/4 inch
• 1 1/4" + 1.5 in
• 2+3/4"
• 0'2 3/4"
• 0ft 2.75in
• 25.4mm + 1.75in
• 2.54cm + 1 3/4"
• 1' - 9 1/4"

Most inputs in Easel and Cabinetmaker have been updated to support these new features. Although, there are a few stragglers that you may run into. We plan to finish migrating the remaining inputs in the near term.

Publishing Easel Projects to the Project Gallery

Hi folks! You may have noticed recently that the ability to publish your projects from Easel was temporarily disabled while the Project Gallery was under maintenance. We're happy to inform everyone that this functionality has been restored!

If you have a project that you would like to share with the Easel community, you can do so directly from Easel. Simply load the Easel project that you want to share, click "Project" in the toolbar at the top of the page, and select "Publish" from the dropdown list. You can the add the title for the project, include a brief description, and attach images of the project to share on the Project Gallery.

To view all of the amazing projects published by other members of the Easel community, head on over to https://easel.com/gallery!

But wait, there's more! We're working on a variety of improvements to the Project Gallery, and we want your input! Please let us know below if you have any feedback, suggestions, or concerns when it comes to sharing and publishing your work, as well as finding inspiration for your next project.

Improved Toolpath Generation for Slow Projects

We are continuing to make improvements to Easel’s toolpath generation. We’re pleased to announce that we have recently introduced the latest improvements in this area which have delivered an average decrease in toolpath generation time of 10% for slow projects.

This means that projects which previously took 10-seconds or longer for toolpaths to generate will now see an average improvement in their toolpath generation times of 10%! This update is crafted for users with more complex and detailed projects, engineered to improve efficiency in Easel so you can spend more time carving!

We will continue to share updates as we make additional improvements to toolpath generation, and we appreciate your feedback and support in the meantime!

Easier Canvas Navigation

We're excited to announce that you can now pan your Easel canvas using a simple right-click and drag! This makes it faster and more intuitive to move around your designs, especially when working on larger projects.

Point Nudging

Edit Points now lets you move points with the arrow keys. Use the arrow keys for fine adjustments and Shift + arrow keys for coarse adjustments, making it faster and easier to perfect your designs in Easel.

Points can be moved individual or selected in groups and moved together.

Faster Toolpath Generation in Easel

We’re investing in improvements to toolpath generation and performance, and today we’re excited to introduce the first of many updates in this area.

This update leverages WebAssembly to reduce the time it takes to generate toolpaths and detailed previews, making Easel more responsive and efficient. In our testing, we’ve seen projects experience up to a 70% reduction in toolpath generation time.

This is just the beginning—our team is actively working on additional improvements to further optimize toolpath performance and user experience. We look forward to your feedback as we continue refining and enhancing toolpath generation in Easel!