Why Blockpad?

It may look funny that there is a new program taking on Excel and Mathcad. After all, those tools have been established since the 1980s.

Blockpad is rooted in the experience of engineers who saw the downsides of the older options and the opportunity for the engineering industry that was going unrealized.

On one hand, there is Excel. Engineers have long made expansive and clever spreadsheets. The problems are well-known — Excel is prone to formula mistakes and makes calculation checking almost impossible.

The alternative had been Mathcad, which can make clear calculations with more powerful math. Mathcad has its fans, but it is narrow, cumbersome, and less versatile.

Since 2018, there is now Blockpad, the best of all worlds. It works a lot like traditional word processing and spreadsheet software, infused with engineering math.

The benefits for engineering teams are clear:

• Save >20% time writing calculations
• Make >50% fewer mistakes
• Easy calculation checking
• Produce clean, well-presented calculations

Blockpad is solid, mature calculation software, and it is essential for engineering teams that do custom calculations.

Blockpad vs. Excel

Excel has a unique place in engineering culture. It is a ubiquitous tool that engineers use for endlessly clever calculations. It is often said that Excel is "powerful," and indeed Excel has many capabilities.

The reality is spreadsheet software was built with accountants, not engineers, in mind.

In your experience, you may have seen:

• If one person starts an Excel spreadsheet, likely no one else will be able to follow all the formulas.
• Calculations in Excel often contain typos and other mistakes.
• If someone else needs to continue an Excel calculation or check it, often that person will just start from scratch.

Blockpad is a familiar tool to Excel because it powers calculations with formulas. With Blockpad, however, no longer do engineers have to squeeze calculations into an accounting format.

With Blockpad:

• Formulas can appear automatically as clear equations in a word processing document, that recalculate just like in Excel.
• Formulas can track units, do unit conversions, and check units.
• Formulas can easily name variables.
• You can still integrate spreadsheets, whether in their own tabs or embedded in documents.
• You can make sketches and link them to your calculations.

In Blockpad, instead of your team being proud of the complexity of calculations, you can be proud of the clarity of presentation.

While engineers have made do with Excel for decades, Excel is a risky tool for engineering calculations. Finally, with Blockpad, there is a great alternative.

Blockpad vs. Mathcad

Faced with the limitations of spreadsheets, many engineering teams have used Mathcad. Others have heard "we should be using Mathcad."

In reality, the promises of Mathcad go mostly unrealized.

A few key factors prevent Mathcad from being used more:

• Mathcad is less versatile than spreadsheets.
• Mathcad is harder to use, and many engineers simply don't like it.
• Mathcad is expensive.
• Mathcad is poorly supported by the company that owns it.

Blockpad offers the best of Mathcad in a way that the benefits can actually come through.

A few key advantages of Blockpad:

• In addition to notebooks (like Mathcad), Blockpad has integrated word processing and spreadsheets.
• Blockpad has easy formula input like spreadsheets.
• Blockpad has simple, inexpensive pricing.
• Blockpad offers effective, timely customer support.

For engineers who wished they could have gotten the benefits of Mathcad but couldn't for various reasons, Blockpad offers a great alternative.

Frequently asked questions

Blockpad is a newer program - can we trust it for vital calculations?

Yes, Blockpad is reliable software that has been used in real-world engineering calculations for years. It is heavily-tested with intensive quality assurance.

Is Blockpad a desktop or web app?

Both — most engineers use the downloaded Windows or Mac version of Blockpad. You can also use it on the web without installing anything. We will never force our customers to use the cloud.

Does Blockpad really compare to the features of Excel or Mathcad?

Yes, Blockpad has a enormous depth of features. Blockpad has extensive capabilities for creating and formatting documents, equations, tables, sketches, and spreadsheets. For most engineering calculations, Blockpad is more powerful than Excel and comparable to Mathcad.

What kind of customer support does Blockpad offer?

Blockpad offers prompt, personal customer service to all customers. You will get more access to ask questions and request features than you could ever imagine with Excel or Mathcad. Our customers have described our support as "the best in the world."

What kind of file types does Blockpad work with?

Blockpad has its own file type (.bpad). It can also import Mathcad (.mcdx and .xmcd), CSV, and other types. Blockpad can easily save to PDF files to share.

How can we share work in Blockpad with others?

Most commonly, Blockpad users share files by saving to PDF, or by saving to the Blockpad web app and sharing links.

How do we know our Blockpad files will be around in the future?

Blockpad is a program you can download, install, and run offline. You will always have access to your files.

What improvements are planned in the future?

We are continuously working new features, especially as requested by customers. Specific plans include improved file compatibility, improved libraries, programming, and file sharing.