Learn how to get the latest updates: Deep dive - program updates.

Release Notes for Blockpad 1.8.0

January 2026

Version 1.8.0 is currently available on the beta channel for Windows. It will be available on Mac and web soon. Please get in touch with any feedback.

Summary

  • Document features
  • Spreadsheet features
  • Improved PDF exporting
  • Copy, cut, and paste improvements
  • New built-in functions and units
  • Other features
  • Account management
  • Bug fixes

Document features

  • Added option to continue page numbers across frames.
  • Added Page Numbers tool to Write menu for easier access. It remains in the Properties window as well.
  • Page number references to other frames are now shown properly, both in tables of contents and in other cross references.
  • If a page number format other than 1, 2, 3, ... is chosen, the page count is now shown in the same format as the page numbers themselves.
  • Added options to number pages "down, then over" and "over, then down", as well as to add additional numbers for page columns.
  • It is now possible to set left and right indent to extend into the page margins. To set this up, set Left Indent or Right Indent properties to negative numbers in the Properties window. Indent on each side is still constrained by the edge of page.
  • Refined behavior of tab stop dragging in rulers.
  • Added Alt Text property for images and drawings.
  • Improved insert options when running Table of Contents tool.
  • Added option whether or not to include frame titles in tables of contents (available as field in Table of Contents tool as well as through optional input to Headings function).
  • Added headings within multiline cells and textboxes to tables of contents and Navigation Tree.
  • When multiline cells wrap across pages, they are now extended to the bottom of the page area inside the margins.

Spreadsheet features

  • When cutting and pasting cells, formulas outside the moved range are now adjusted to point to the updated cell references. In addition, as in other spreadsheet software, cut and pasted cells update references internally within the moved cells, while references to other cells are kept the same.
  • Added Wrap Text property to table and spreadsheet value cells.
  • When cells in an embedded table are selected, the left ruler is now sized to show the row numbers adequately, as has already been the case for spreadsheets.
  • Improved left ruler to show reduced-size row numbers in spreadsheets and table when zoomed out.
  • When printing spreadsheets, the full grid of page columns is now printed across the used range of the spreadsheet; and fixed an issue where page columns to the right of the leftmost sometimes did not print.

Improved PDF exporting

  • Implemented links (both internal cross references and external URLs) in exported PDFs.
  • Added ability to save PDF/UA-compliant tagged PDFs.
  • Added heading navigation outlines to exported PDFs, pulling from headings in exported pages.
  • Added more options when saving to PDF, including whether to open the newly saved PDF in the default viewer program or not.
  • Fixed issue with control characters appearing in whitespace in exported PDFs.
  • Fixed UI for Save to PDF and Print tools on web app and Mac app to allow scrolling if there are many frames in a file.
  • When choosing page ranges when saving to PDF and printing, top-level blocks are now listed with the block title to be easier to identify.

Copy, cut, and paste improvements

  • Improved cut and paste in spreadsheets (see under Spreadsheet features above).
  • Improved copying and pasting from outside Blockpad, including handling of new lines, images, preservation of text whitespace, and some formatting.
  • Added Copy equations in Word format setting, for copying and pasting Blockpad equations to Microsoft Word in Word-format equations. When this is off, equations are copied as inline images of the equations instead. The setting is in the App menu > Settings, Options tab.

New built-in functions and units

  • Added Sequence function.
  • Added Arabic function.
  • Added SignificantFigureDigits function.
  • Added units station ft (shown as 0+00 ft), metric chainage (shown as 0+000 m ), and pci.

Other features

  • Improved Insert Chart tool. Same as before, insert the chart first, then edit it to select data and functions to plot.
  • Added support for imaginary numbers in Show Steps.
  • Added support for math layout with NthRoot function.
  • Added more aggressive unit cancellation before taking exponent of numbers.
  • Added automatic rounding of unit exponents if they are very close to a whole number.
  • Changed selection highlight for images and embedded drawings to show only outline when hovering.
  • Improved rendering of borders to show sharp corners.
  • Improved priority units area of the Value Format tool.
  • Added separate Text field (along with Address) when inserting and editing a hyperlink.
  • Added Edit Inside Hyperlink tool, available when right clicking a hyperlink.
  • Ctrl+PageUp and Ctrl+PageDown can now navigate across top-level block tabs, in addition to frame tabs as was already possible.
  • In notebooks, when typing Enter, Backspace, or Delete an empty caret point, all content below the caret is now adjusted up or down.
  • Refreshed About window.
  • Added filter to Properties window.
  • Added built-in Getting Started walkthrough file.
  • Added built-in PDF user manual.
  • Added more options to Help menu.
  • Added basic IME input support for Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc. text input.
  • Added IBM Plex Sans, IBM Plex Serif, IBM Plex Math, and IBM Plex Mono fonts as built-in fonts.
  • Set IBM Plex Mono as new font for monospace text (for script frames, etc.), and set IBM Plex Sans as font for formula and related value inputs.
  • Added default document font setting.
  • Added apostrophe (') as an option as a grouping symbol in Value Format.
  • Added All borders option to border editor.

Account management

  • Simplified and clarified account indicator in toolbar.
  • Added license check-in for updated floating license system.

Bug fixes

  • Fixed issue, in inline math programs, where an if statement ending in an assignment could show "unexpected error" message.
  • Fixed issue with decimal point not appearing with Show Steps for some value format options.
  • Fixed issue with grouping symbols shown in math layout with CrossProduct and DotProduct functions.
  • Fixed issue with math layout with non-calculating operators.
  • Fixed issue with subscripts not appearing properly (appearing with underscore) in equations in blocks defined with show formula off and show identifier on.
  • Fixed issue with element ids for headings and paragraphs being copied and pasted, which was resulting in cross reference links being misdirected.
  • Fixed issue with rotating rectangles and circles with the Rotate Objects tool.
  • Fixed issues with multiline cells spanning pages.
  • Fixed issue with floating point numbers in determination of end bound of linear series.
  • Fixed issue with leading and trailing spaces in value cells not being saved correctly.
  • Fixed issue with temp files not being cleaned up, or being locked and preventing writing, when saving files over a Windows network file share.
  • Fixed several bugs with document layout engine crashing.
  • Fixed issue where error message could appear when pressing Backspace or Delete to delete a paragraph.
  • Fixed issues with typing line breaks (Shift+Enter) and layout of line breaks.
  • Fixed issue with determination of dependencies between formulas when whole tables are referenced simply by name.
  • Fixed issue where embedded resources and external references referenced in formulas sometimes didn't load until first formula recalculation.

Page modified 2026-1-13

Release Notes for Blockpad 1.7.1

July 2025

Version 1.7.1 is a minor release with the following changes:

  • New built-in units are included:
    THz, mHz, MJ, GJ, mJ, μJ, uJ, nJ, hPa, mW, Wh, mWh, kWh, MWh, GWh, TWh, mV, μV, uV, nV, kV, MV, mA, μA, uA, nA, pA, kA, kΩ, kohm, mΩ, mohm, μΩ, μohm, uohm, MΩ, Mohm, GΩ, Gohm, mH, uH, nH, ‰
  • Number decimal symbol and grouping symbol specified in Value Format are now shown in numbers from equation formula (not just results).
  • If there is an error when loading a file, such as due to an interruption loading a file over a network, Blockpad now prevents changes by default, and it gives options to attempt to reload the file or to edit the partially loaded file anyway.
  • Fixed issues with deleting custom file templates that were created in previous versions.
  • Fixed issues with function form assignments (f(x, y) = ... syntax) in step-by-step sections and other scripts. Same as before, function form assignments define a new function if the name is not yet defined, otherwise they attempt to assign array values. This release fixes issues with array item assignment, and in the case of array item assignment also now correctly shows equation results and steps. Also fixed issues with showing result and steps for indexer form assignments (f[x, y] = ... syntax).
  • In the installer, there is now an option to choose recent old versions. As of this release, it is a specific option to choose version 1.6.1. After updating, if you prefer to roll back for any reason, you can do so easily by going to App menu > Manage Installation, choose 1.6.1 under Channel, and click Update. This option is to give you total control of what version you use, including after updating.
  • The installer, when launching Blockpad after finishing installation or updates, now launches Blockpad without elevated privileges, even if the installer was running as administrator. (Note that this will only apply when updating from version 1.7.1 or later, not to this version itself because that will use a prevous installer).
  • Fixed issue with file saving that led to intermittent "Unable to remove the file to be replaced" error messages.
  • Fixed placement red triangle error indicators for sections to align with section boundary.
  • Solver section results are now marked with the same light purple highlighting as equation results.
  • Fixed issue with conditional style rules where the condition could be mishandled after duplicating frames or copying and pasting.
  • Fixed issue with libraries where, in some cases, library resources did not load correctly when a file was opened.
  • Fixed issue with copying and pasting content that includes images with empty source formula.
  • Fixed issue with copying and pasting equations in a notebook, when pasting to a caret at empty point in the notebook.
  • Fixed issue with automatically sizing table columns. Now Blockpad takes the correct text style of each cell into account.
  • Fixed issues with keyboard shortcuts in the Mac version, along with several user interface improvements.
  • Fixes issues with images, PDFs, and external references in the web app.

Additional fixes for the Mac app build 3691:

  • Fixed issue in the Mac app where the close confirmation window would get stuck for a few seconds on clicking Save All.
  • Fixed issue in the Mac app where sometimes files could get marked hidden when saving.

Page modified 2025-7-22

Release Notes for Blockpad 1.7.0

May 2025

Summary

Changes with version 1.7.0 include:

  • Language support
  • Special symbols in formulas (breaking change)
  • New installer and auto-update process
  • Features and improvements
  • Bug fixes
Language support

The following languages are now supported with translations in the user interface:

  • English
  • Spanish
  • French
  • German
  • Dutch
  • Italian
  • Czech
  • Norwegian
  • Polish
  • Swedish
  • Danish
  • Portuguese
  • Turkish
  • Greek
  • Ukrainian
  • Russian
  • Finnish
  • Lithuanian
  • Latvian
  • Estonian
  • Icelandic
  • Romanian
  • Hungarian
  • Catalan
  • Hindi
  • Bengali
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Bulgarian
  • Khmer
  • Tagalog
  • Indonesian
  • Malay

By default, Blockpad will use your operating system's installed language. To choose another language, select the language when installing Blockpad, or go to the app menu > Manage Installation and re-install.

Other improvements to language support:

  • Improved auto selecting of items in formula input dropdown list for variable names with diacritics
  • Improved default fallback fonts, so now Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Bengali, Hindi, and other types of text now appear without needed to select a special font first.
Special symbols in formulas (breaking change):

Added ability to parse math symbols as operators, even those that do not directly calculate in the Blockpad formula language. This can be used to show static equations with any math operators from the Symbol tool. These symbol operators cannot be used in a raw formula variable name anymore - to use in a name would now require wrapping in Latex bounds.

If you have used these symbols in formulas as part of variable names, you will now see an error message "Cannot evaluate non-calculating operator". To fix this, you can tweak those formulas to put \( ... \) around the variable name. For example, you can change A → B = 5 to \(A → B\) = 5.

When using operators for calculating, make sure to use the actual calculation operators.

New installer and auto-update process
  • New Manage Installation tool (in the app menu) that helps switch between beta and stable install channels and change UI language
  • Improved auto update process, for updates from version 1.7 to later versions, or for installs using the new installer
Features and improvements
  • Optimizations to style rules, where files with many style rules will now be much faster, including spreadsheets with a lot of formatting
  • Removed limits on number of style rules, including table range formatting
  • Organized Objects of Type list in style rule manager into a hierarchy
  • Added new style rule targets for any equation, any frame, and paragraphs by outline level
  • Added Equation Body, Equation Step, and Equation Result types to style manager, for creating special styles (including for printing and saving to PDF) for individual parts of equations.
  • When subtracting date time values, the context of the specific date values being subtracted is now preserved when converting to a time unit
  • When displaying complex numbers, the greatest number of digits for the applied value format is now used for both real and imaginary components, as opposed to greatest possible number of digits previously.
  • Reorganized settings page into tabs
  • For blocks defined over a table range, styles inside the block are defined by the block itself, for styles applied by table range.
  • Added support for .json files as external references.
  • Added support for tab-separated data files (.tsv files) for import.
  • Added new documentation to functions in toolbar and in formula input.
  • Improved library menus in toolbar, to help with exploring library functions.
  • Added general support for emojis in Blockpad files. Emojis will work in formulas and in other text. They will only appear in black and white (or whatever text color and highlight are set), except currently in the Save to PDF tool, which renders them in full color. There is no tool to insert them directly, but you could copy and paste emojis from other programs.
  • Individual formulas may now take more than 10 seconds to calculate, and it is also possible to cancel ongoing formula updates.
  • Improved array layouts of linear series to show accurate array dimensions and to use better formatted numbers.
  • Added new overload to Reduce function with initial value parameter.
  • Added support for adding style rules to blocks and embedded frames.
  • Added new input for table of contents to specify leader before page numbers.
  • Added support for specifying padding for paragraph (within border and background box) when applied as style rule.
  • Added MN unit to built-in units.
  • When browsing a library of blocks in the Insert Block tool, the subcomponents of a block are now listed on the right along with a library's blocks.
  • Libraries are now cached on your local computer as they are used. This ensures you will have uninterrupted access to them locally, even if there is an internet disruption. This also improves the performance of the block system. The program will automatically sync changes with cached libraries if it detects changes. (Note that caching does not yet work for the data of library data tables.)
  • Added a Rename tool to the External References and Resources tools, to give items new names to use in formulas.
  • Added a new tool ReloadResourceTool in Library.Tools.File that can be used to automate reloading external references in macros. For example, Library.Tools.File.ReloadResourceTool({Target: [nodeof(xref1)]});
  • Improved SMath file import to work better with newer SMath versions.
  • For Python integration, made several robustness improvements.
Bug fixes
  • Fixed issue with floating point arithmetic in determining last item of linear series
  • Fixed issue where linear series was sometimes shown with extra ### values
  • Fixed issue with using Formulas > Update Selected to update blocks, to ensure block inputs update in addition to block itself
  • Fixed issue with formula refactoring in block inputs, where if an object is renamed, the block input formulas will update correctly now
  • For style rules applied to type or by name, borders are now applied correctly to table cells
  • Fix to issue with sudden unwanted scrolling after inputting an equation
  • Fix to reference values not being displayed correctly in scenario blocks
  • Fix to issues with applying value definitions to table ranges
  • Improved keystrokes while inputting option lists specified by value definition, as well as other dropdown boxes in the application. Now, the space bar always opens a dropdown list, typing into a dropdown box correctly starts selecting items, and tab or enter key selects the item and moves the input to the next cell or control, if applicable.
  • Fixed issue with copying and pasting from Excel to Blockpad, where now basic pasting works again. Now, copying and pasting merged cells also works.
  • Fixed LCM function to support numbers with units.
  • Fixed issues with SignificantFigures function.
  • Fixed issue with multiplying and dividing numbers with custom base units.
  • Improved consistency of error messages being shown when there is an error with a block or its inputs.
  • Fixed several issues with scenario blocks defined over a table range.
  • Fixed issue where Suggest Equations option was always active, whether chosen or not.
  • Cleaned up and clarified error messages if there is a problem when a file is opened.
  • Improved reliability of pasting images from websites.
  • Fixed issue where sometimes table columns did not fit exactly to page width.
  • Fix to issues with increase and decrease digits tools and related tools.
  • Fix to issue with using single-parameter built-in functions directly with Each function.
  • Fixed issue where section backgrounds and borders could overlap page header and footer.
  • Fixed insert hyperlink tool to preserve selected text when creating a link.
  • Fixed issue where a heading 2 could incorrectly become a heading 1 when turning off outline numbering for the heading.
  • Fixed issue with Duplicate tool for frames removing page break properties and embedded frame titles in duplicated content.
  • Fixed issue with setting some properties when paragraphs are selected in multiple selections.
  • Fixed several issues with editing blocks.
  • Improved the value format toggle tools (commas, percentage, etc.).
  • Fixed issues with excessive warnings with saving files on network file shares.
  • Fixed issues in math layout with show steps with negative numbers.
  • Fixed issues with Alt keypad combinations to insert symbols.
  • Fixed issues with justified alignment in the web app, Mac app, and when saving to PDF.
  • Fixed issues with Latex layouts when Show Formula is off.
  • Fixed issue with array formulas overriding properties of individual cells when updating.
  • Fixed issue with image resources being removed incorrectly when inside step-by-step sections and solver sections.

Further fixes in build 3620:

  • Fixed performance issue with libraries added with Include Libraries tool.
  • Fixed issue with double clicking empty cells with a value definition option list.
  • Fixed issue with layouts hanging in rare cases.
  • Tweaked file saving on networks to reduce chance of file handles being left open by Windows.

Page modified 2025-6-16

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