Release Notes for Blockpad 1.8.1

May 2026

Version 1.8.1 is a minor release with the following fixes and improvements:

• Fixed issue with value formats with comma as decimal place but with no grouping symbol.
• Fixed issue with emoji fallback fonts when saving to PDF.
• Fixed issue with updating cached libraries.
• Fixed issues with math layout in fields and value cells.

Release Notes for Blockpad 1.8.0

April 2026

Summary

• Document features
• Spreadsheet features
• Improved PDF exporting
• Solver section improvements
• 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.

Solver section improvements

• Implemented option to choose variable names manually to solve for in each solver section, as an alternative to automatic variables being chosen. To set variables manually, you can right click the popup label to the left of a solver section, or right click any result variable, and click Change Variables. You can still use the Solver Variables property if you select the section itself.
• Added easier way to set initial guesses. Now, you can right click a variable in the result section, and click Set Initial Guess. You can still use the Initial Guess property. Setting an initial guess is generally necessary to specify result units for a variable.
• Improved automatic variable determination, for solver sections where variables are not set manually. Previously, if multiple solver sections had overlapping variable names, the variable lists could change suddenly and cause confusing issues. With the improvements, automatic variables are consistent and predictable. If you get errors for duplicate variables, note that this is the expected behavior if multiple solver sections in the same namespace are trying to solve for the same variable name. You can fix this error by (1) using different variable names for different sections, (2) setting capture values to true for each solver section, or (3) putting the different solver sections inside separate sections.
• The iterative solver is now able to converge on solutions for many equations with less precise initial guesses. Setting an initial guess is still a valuable way to control result units (for linear or non-linear systems) and help iterative solver converge.
• Improved clarity of error messages in solver sections.

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 ), μm, 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.).
• The actual selected font is now applied to the input box when editing values and formulas.
• When dark mode is on but invert lightness for content is off, input boxes over file content are now shown with white background and black text, to match the file content.
• Added default document font setting.
• Added apostrophe (') as an option as a grouping symbol in Value Format.
• Added All borders option to border editor.
• Improved handling of errors in nodeof operator.
• In embedded resources window, added Extract and Replace tools.
• Style rules applied to Any Frame are now able to assign text properties.
• Improved auto-naming logic when copying and pasting and when duplicating objects.
• When inserting a block, the window no longer waits to check online for new libraries - it shows cached libraries instantly.
• Improved default result units when dividing a matrix by a scalar number.
• Improved handling of popup windows on multiple monitors, including a fix to an issue with input windows not being visible on some multi-monitor setups.
• Improved Mathcad file import.
• Improved built-in documentation.
• In Mac app, improve handling of multiple windows, added standard Window menu, and made other interface fixes.
• Linux app is now distributed as an AppImage.

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.
• Fix to issue with x_P_s function in steam tables.
• Fix to issue with math layout option to shrink array items size.
• Fixed issue with scatter plot with data using deg, rad, and some other units.

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.