CrystalMaker 10.7

Major Update Features Pair Distribution Functions

8 December 2021

We are pleased to announce the release of a major new software update, CrystalMaker 10.7: our 39^th free update to this program in four years. This new version focuses on the Distance Explorer, but we've also added a handy new "Sync" toolbar button - and substantially revised our online help & User's Guide.

The Distance Explorer has a sleek new design, with an elegant button bar replacing the former "Inspector" pane, and an always-visible Sidebar offering easy customization of distance searches. The Mac version uses Apple's new "integrated" toolbar design and features a tabbed selector button to switch between a conventional distance display, and a new Pair Distribution Function capability... Video

CrystalMaker can now calculate full x-ray and neutron pair distribution functions - D ( r ) - as well as "partial" P.D.F.s - g_mn( r ) - for specific element pairs. CrystalMaker will automatically generate the requisite range of atoms and ensure that all potential element pair combinations are searched (including "duplicate" pairs such as A → B and B → A, as required under the definition of the PDF).

A new Sync button can be added to the toolbar via the Customize Toolbar command. Clicking this button brings up the usual Synchronize sheet, but holding down the shift key bypasses the sheet and allow you to quickly apply the last-set options to all structures in your document. If you regularly find yourself making changes to sequences and needing to re-synchronize, this shift-click technique should prove convenient.

CrystalMaker 10.7 is a free update for all licensed CrystalMaker X users and can be downloaded directly from the product download page.

Exhibition in Boston

Materials Research Society Fall Exposition

8 December 2021

After a two-year break from in-person expositions (and after the debacle of EU-imposed travel restrictions on the IUCr convention), we were delighted to participate in person at the MRS Fall Meeting.

We exhibited at Booth 709 in Hall C of the Hynes Convention Center - in the heart of Boston's elegant Back Bay district. This was a smaller, more-intimate meeting than in previous years, but we still had a full team this year and were able to preview the new CrystalMaker 10.7 with its powerful Pair Distribution Functions, as well as the many other new features introduced since our last visit to Boston two years ago.

We Support Monterey!

Latest Software Runs Seamlessly on macOS 12

26 October 2021

We are pleased to confirm that all our latest software runs seamlessly on macOS 12 "Monterey".

Our 64-bit Mac programs are designed to support the widest range of Mac operating systems, from "Sierra" (10.12), through "High Sierra", "Mojave", "Catalina", "Big Sur" and on to "Monterey".

Not only does our Mac software run on the latest operating systems, it runs natively: all our programs - CrystalMaker X, CrystalDiffract 6, SingleCrystal 4 and CrystalViewer 11 - are UNIVERSAL BINARY applications: containing both Intel and ARM code to support the widest range of Macs with older Intel processors and the newer Apple Silicon (M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max) designs.

IUCr 2021, Prague

Entry Ban Scuppers Physical Booth; Virtual 3D Exhibition Booth Emerges

15 August 2021

For the past two years we have been a sponsor of the International Union of Crystallography's 25th meeting. Originally scheduled for last year and postponed because of the pandemic, the event is finally in progress - albeit on a much-smaller scale.

Frustratingly, whilst Czech citizens resident in the UK can travel to Prague, British citizens based in the UK are banned from entry. Consequently, the entire IUCr staff (based here in England) have been prevented from entering their own meeting - and we, at CrystalMaker Software Ltd, have had to cancel all our travel arrangements and abandon the physical exhibition booth we'd booked two years ago.

Not to be deterred by petty politics, we have designed and set up a 3D Virtual booth, which curious onlookers can explore. We have also added some new videos to our collection, including a company overview, a gallery of rotating structures, animations and a 3D Theatre (somewhat compromised by video compression, alas). We wish the organisers and delegates the very best - and look forward to the time when we can all meet up in person.

CrystalViewer 11

New Teaching Software Lets Students Learn Through Play

1 January 2021

We are pleased to announce the launch of a brand new teaching program, designed to introduce students of all ages to nano-scale structures of crystals and molecules. CrystalViewer 11 is designed around a "photo-album" browser interface, with a comprehensive collection of crystal & molecular structures organised by structure/composition, and with powerful search and indexing capabilities. Structures can be visualized in 3D, with interactive rotation, scaling and measurement. An optional Red/Blue stereo viewing mode brings structures "out of the screen" in high-resolution detail.

CrystalViewer - a version of which is also included with CrystalMaker, via that program's "Library Browser" interface - is an ideal teaching tool for university departments which don't already have a CrystalMaker Software site licence. We're providing low-cost departmental licences which allow the software to be installed on individual student machines, so they can "learn through play" in their own time, wherever they happen to be: ideal for "lockdown learning"! Learn More...

We Support Apple Silicon

Universal Binaries Run Natively on New ARM-Based Macs

8 December 2020

We are delighted to announce that all our current Mac software runs natively on the new Apple Silicon Macs. CrystalMaker 10.6 (released today), CrystalDiffract 6.9 (released last week) and SingleCrystal 4.1 (released two weeks ago) are all Universal Binaries - single applications which include native code for both Apple Silicon and Intel processors. All programs run natively on the new M1 (ARM-based) Apple Silicon processors, as well as on older Macs with legacy Intel processors.

These major new updates are available free-of-charge to registered customers - and include a host of other new features. Learn more about the changes in the release notes for CrystalMaker, CrystalDiffract and SingleCrystal. Download the latest software from our Updates page.

Printed User's Guides

Deluxe, Colour-Printed Guides Now Available for Purchase

26 October 2021

We include full user's guides with all our products—these are in searchable PDF format, and can be accessed via each application's Help menu. However, many users prefer printed documentation. There's nothing like the tactile sensation of thumbing through real printed pages—and now you can do this for all our software products...

So instead of wasting precious printer ink or toner, why not order a professionally printed-and-bound book? Our printed guides are the correct size, use full-colour printing, have lovely matte laminated covers—and are perfect bound for durability. The new guides include:

• CrystalMaker 10 (360 pages)
• CrystalDiffract 6 (136 pages)
• SingleCrystal 4 (200 pages)

You can order these books with a credit card, through our online store. Prices start from just $30 (SingleCrystal or CrystalDiffract) - including shipping worldwide!