What's New?
Building & Editing Structures

CrystalMaker 3 makes it easier for you to
build crystals and molecules - and also
to edit individual atoms and bonds.

EDIT CRYSTAL DIALOG

New Spacegroups Symmetry Assistant. Allows easy selection of a spacegroup symbol, by choosing a crystal system and lattice type from popup menus. Allows use of rhombohedral axes for the trigonal system.

• New Constrain Unit Cell Parameters option, hides redundant unit cell parameter fields for high-symmetry crystal systems (e.g., only the a parameter is required for cubic crystals).
• Alert icon warns user if an unconventional space group symbol is entered.
• Edit Crystal dialog now retains a previously-set plot range, on replotting.
• Increased the maximum size of the asymmetric unit from 256 to 600 atoms.
• Increased the maximum number of polyhedra from 2000 to 2500.

MOLECULAR MODELLING

CrystalMaker 3 is not only a powerful crystal structures program, it is now a molecular modelling program too. New tools and menu commands allow you to edit atoms and bonds in much the same way that you would edit objects in a two-dimensional graphics program.

• New Edit Molecule dialog allows new molecules to be created directly within CrystalMaker, without having to import the data as a text file.
  
• New Crystal to Molecule menu command allows an existing crystal to be saved as a "molecule", to facilitate editing and customization.
  
• Place Molecule menu command allows an existing CrystalMaker molecule (binary) file to be imported into the current plot (e.g., to investigate putting organic molecules into a zeolite structure).
  
• New atomic manipulation tools (see below) and new menu commands, allow unprecedented flexibility in creating, sculpting and manipulating new molecular structures.

NEW TOOLS

CrystalMaker 3 now has a much larger toolbar than its predecessors. Not only are there more tools, but we've ensured that all tools are visible. (In previous versions, some tools could only be accessed using special side-palettes).

• New Arrow Tool allows selection of individual atoms, or groups of atoms. Selected atoms can then be hidden, deleted, or moved. Selected atoms are marked with yellow (or red) haloes, and can be saved in a CrystalMaker binary file.
• New Rotate Selection Tool allows part of a structure to be rotated, relative to the rest of the structure.
• New Rectangle Tool allows easy selection of a rectangular portion of the plot.
• New Add/Delete Bonds tool allows easy customization of bonding.
• New Walk Forwards/Backwards tools (perspective only)
• Option-clicking with the bond distance tool results in the vector between the two atoms being printed in the Output window.

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