CAD SoftwareBlogFeaturedNew Features in ARES 2026 Modernize CAD Workflows

New Features in ARES 2026 Modernize CAD Workflows

No Comments
New Features if ARES CAD Software 2026

Graebert has launched ARES Commander 2026, the newest version of the No. 1 alternative to AutoCAD. Here, we’ll share some highlights from the many new features in ARES Commander, as well as ARES Kudo and ARES Touch. For more detailed information about the latest updates and improvements in the ARES Trinity of CAD software, we invite you to: 

And to try the new features yourself, start your free trial today!

Desktop CAD: ARES Commander

Transition to a New Program — and New Ways of Working — with the Start Tab

ARES Commander has been carefully designed to help new users feel right at home, whether they are coming from another CAD program, such as AutoCAD, or starting from scratch. 

When you open ARES Commander, you will be greeted with the new Start tab, which centralizes key operations and replaces dialogs with a streamlined, welcoming interface. The Start tab is organized into three sections — Home, My Setup, and Learn — making it easy for users of any experience level to quickly find what they need. 

And the CAD General workspace, now enabled by default, provides a familiar environment for users transitioning from AutoCAD or similar CAD software. 

Apply the Power of AI to Your Everyday Tasks

First introduced in the previous version of ARES Commander, ARES AI Assist (A3) now features the following enhancements:

  • The MText editor has been enhanced with AI-driven tools to translate, refine writing, check spelling, and summarize text. In addition, users can now format text within MText entities into columns, improving readability and layout flexibility. 
  • Using natural language, such as “Select all the polylines,” users can request AI assistance to make selections and modifications. This intuitive approach eliminates complex command sequences, especially for tasks involving multiple adjustments or intricate selection criteria. 

2D and 3D CAD Features That Boost Efficiency

Better Ways to Work with Blocks

ARES Commander 2026 offers an array of improved tools for working with blocks, dynamic

blocks, and custom blocks. These include:

  • The ability to attach multiple visibility elements to a single custom block and efficiently control the visibility of individual entities within blocks — which means custom blocks are now functionally equivalent to dynamic blocks created in AutoCAD.
  • Advanced management of the Trinity Block Library, which now supports uploading DWG files containing multiple blocks while enabling individual block insertion. 
  • The upgraded Trinity Block Library interface, which now allows users to add and edit blocks directly from the same UI used for block insertion. 

Expanded Format Support

ARES Commander has added support for:

  • The ECW image format, which is known for its efficient compression, and is ideal for large-scale images such as aerial and satellite photography. 
  • Importing 3D models from STEP files, a widely used format for CAD data exchange.
  • Exporting directly to the SketchUp format (SKP), with the option to export a 2D plan view or 3D elements of drawings.
  • Exporting DWG content to the Datasmith format. Users can open this format in such applications as Twinmotion, a real-time rendering tool with extensive options for lighting, materials, and video creation (a free version of Twinmotion is available for certain types of users).

Freeing Data from the Silo: CAD for BIM in DWG 

ARES Commander’s ability to harvest rich BIM data for use in DWG-format CAD drawings saves users from the drudgery of recreating existing work. And BIM Drawings Automation reduces repetitive labor still further, generating consistent project documentation from BIM projects through customizable scripts. This year, the technology becomes even more powerful, helping users to: 

  • Work more effectively with imported BIM models.
  • Clearly represent drawing elements with automatically applied symbols.
  • Split drawings into tiles.

In addition, an improved user interface (UI) for customizing the Materials Library gives users greater control over their designs, so they can easily modify colors, hatch patterns, boundary edges, and other properties for both cut elements and projected elements.

And the BIM Material Mapper allows users to customize BIM material representations in 2D drawings and save multiple configurations as JSON files for easy sharing and reuse. 

Faster Performance and Greater Stability

If CAD software is at the core of your workday, then its performance and stability have an impact on everything you do. At Graebert, we are devoted to delivering a faster, smoother software experience — and the numbers prove we’re doing exactly that. 

Year over year, ARES Commander now delivers 10% faster file opening, 55% faster zooming, and 38% faster panning. And our dedication to continually improving stability and reliability is yielding concrete results: 94% of users had zero crashes with version 2025 (vs. 91% with version 2024), and more than 99% of sessions had zero crashes with version 2025 (vs. more than 97% with version 2024).

What’s New in ARES Kudo?

ARES Kudo, the cloud-based version of the ARES CAD software, is a modern CAD application that runs directly inside your Internet browser. It includes a complete set of 300+ features to create, modify, and annotate 2D drawings in DWG — and even visualize 3D files. 

Recent enhancements include:

  • In the Version Compare feature, users can now compare versions directly from their cloud storage.
  • Users can name saved versions for better organization in the Version History Manager.
  • In the Trinity Block Library, users can now extract blocks from any DWG file to enrich their library or create new libraries directly from the palette — without leaving the current drawing.
  • The Multifunctional Grips feature has been extended to Polylines, providing an intuitive way to modify geometry directly. 

ARES AI Assist (A3) in ARES Kudo

Now, ARES Kudo also has ARES AI Assist (A3), just like ARES Commander does. A3, an artificial intelligence powered by OpenAI technology, is specially trained to help ARES users. It can answer questions, explain how to locate and use features, provide industry-specific advice, and perform conversions and translations — making learning and using the software much easier and more enjoyable.

ARES Online Drawings Automation and Batch Processing

The new ARES Online Drawings Automation service enables ARES Kudo users to schedule, automate, and batch process CAD tasks in the cloud, offloading processing tasks to a server-based version of ARES Commander. This powerful, flexible technology eliminates the user effort needed to perform repetitive small tasks for a batch of files (when exporting files, for example), and removes the load on the local system when running a long and demanding task.

Online BIM Drawings Automation

The new Automation features extend Graebert’s BIM-to-DWG drawings automation to the cloud. ARES Kudo users can now automatically generate 2D floorplans, sections, and elevations from Revit or IFC files, with tasks processed seamlessly on a server-based system.

It is now possible to convert a BIM model to DWG or PDF quickly and easily, using predefined settings. Later, if the BIM model is updated, the documentation can simply be refreshed, instead of recreated from scratch. 

What’s New in ARES Touch?

ARES Touch is the Mobile version of the ARES CAD software, created specifically for Android smartphone/tablet and iOS iPhone/iPad devices. In addition to a full set of 2D editing features to create, modify, and annotate drawings on the go, it provides visualization of 3D files, and all the collaboration tools offered by our Trinity concept. 

Recent additions to ARES Touch include:

  • The Area Note command, a new annotation tool that can help users to calculate areas — of rooms or fields, for example — and represent them with colors and names. The area is created as an anonymous block with block attributes, so users can change the labels, color, and more via the Properties palette.
  • The Centerline command, which enables users to construct Centerlines and set the extension for them to exceed the entities which define the contour. Centerlines are created between pairs of Lines, Arcs, and Polyline segments.
  • Hatch pattern style preview. See a list of all available hatch pattern styles for every supported pattern type. What you see is what you get — so it’s easy to choose the right pattern for your needs.
  • Quick access to recent commands. Now the most recent commands are saved at the top of the menu, and users can easily repeat them from the run command list feature.

What’s New in the Customer Portal for Company Admins?

The redesigned Admin Space merges the Products and Permissions pages from the previous UI into a unified menu, providing a simplified workflow and quicker access to frequently used options. The revamped Admin Space also introduces new layouts, advanced filters, modal dialogs, and ARES AI Assist (A3), which helps Graebert users get immediate answers to their questions. 

What’s Next for CAD in DWG?

Graebert neXt 2025 was an online event designed for all kinds of 2D/3D CAD users — whether they use ARES or other CAD software, such as AutoCAD — as well as CAD managers and developers, engineers, and IT professionals. It’s not too late to learn from the experts and see the new features in action. Watch the keynote sessions, product demonstrations, and commentary from industry thought leaders now!

Watch Keynote Sessions