The interface, briefly
Four tabs, one top bar, and a warnings panel that follows you between two of them.
The top bar
Section titled “The top bar”Left to right: the wordmark, Project, Settings, and the project name with its save state beside it. On the right, Present, Save, and links out to this wiki.
The dot beside the project name is the honest one: green and “Saved to …openchip” means it is on disk, and anything else means it is only in browser storage.
Where the design happens.
| Region | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Toolbar | Select / Draw / Dimension, undo and redo, the snapping toggles, grid and taper preview. |
| Rulers | Millimetres, with the origin at the chip’s bottom-left. |
| Canvas | The chip outline, the dashed edge-clearance line, and your channels. |
| Inspector (right) | Whatever is selected. Nothing selected shows the tool hints. |
| Design checks (bottom) | Collapsible. Follows you to CAD Preview. |
Tools are V, P, D. The full list is in Keyboard shortcuts.
CAD Preview
Section titled “CAD Preview”The solid, and the parameters that shape it.
| Region | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Toolbar | Solid / Wireframe / X-ray, Explode, Fit. |
| Viewport | Drag to orbit, scroll to zoom. The grid is the build plate. |
| Panel (right) | Chip dimensions, split type and height, and the export block. |
| Design checks (bottom) | The same panel as in Draw. |
X-ray is the mode to reach for when something is wrong — it shows the channel network through the block.
Explode separates the two halves of a two-piece chip so you can see the bonding faces. It is disabled on a monolithic chip, which has nothing to separate.
Fluid Dynamics
Section titled “Fluid Dynamics”Estimates, and the run you are estimating.
| Region | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Toolbar | The metric — Pressure, Reynolds, Temperature, Residence, Shear — plus the table toggle and heatmap export. |
| Canvas | The network, coloured by the chosen metric, with a legend. |
| Table (bottom) | Per-segment numbers, and the heat exchange table below it. |
| Panel (right) | Ports and fluids: which port is an inlet, what is flowing, how fast, how hot. |
The summary strip along the top of the toolbar carries the figures worth glancing at — segment count, peak Reynolds, maximum pressure, internal volume, transit time.
The note along the bottom states what the model is. It is there on every view of this tab on purpose.
Library
Section titled “Library”Seven starter templates with previews drawn from their real geometry. Search, filter by category, click one for a closer look, open it as a new project.
Each detail view carries the template’s caveat where it has one — what this recreation does and does not capture. Read it before you build on the template. See Templates.
The Design checks panel
Section titled “The Design checks panel”Docked to the bottom of Draw and CAD Preview, so the same list is there wherever you are working.
Collapsed, it shows counts by severity and the line “advisory only — nothing here blocks an export”. Expanded, it lists every finding with the measured value and the limit, plus a Thresholds sidebar for the three settings you control.
Clicking a warning selects what it is about and centres the view on it — in either tab, and the highlight persists when you switch.
Settings
Section titled “Settings”Settings → Printer for the printer profile. Settings → Take the tour to replay the first-run walkthrough. The guided tour marks itself seen the moment it starts rather than when it finishes, so leaving halfway is respected as a decision.