The questions people ask most about ParametrIQ, with short answers. Each answer links the help page that says more.

Buying and licensing

Can I try ParametrIQ CAD before buying?

Yes: free for 14 days, with everything a licence gives, on up to two computers and up to seven days offline. No card is needed. Start ParametrIQ CAD, click Start a Free Trial… and enter your email address; the link in the email starts the trial. Each email address, and each computer, can have one trial. See Free trial.

What happens when the trial ends?

ParametrIQ CAD works view only: you can still open and look at drawings, but not save or export them. Subscribe on the website with the same email address as the trial and the trial becomes your licence, with the same product key, on the same computers: there is nothing to activate again. See Buying after the trial.

What plans are there?

Two subscriptions, each paid monthly or yearly: Starter, which is ParametrIQ CAD, and Pro, which is ParametrIQ CAD and ParametrIQ SaaS (the API). The prices are on the plans page. Card payments are taken by Stripe. Manage Subscription in the program's licence panel opens your Licenses page, where you see or change your subscription. See Getting a licence.

On how many computers can I use a licence?

On two computers at once: an office computer and a laptop, say. Activating on a third lists the two it is on, so you can choose one to remove. You can also remove a computer from your Account › Licenses page, which is useful when one is lost or broken. See Two computers.

Can I work offline?

Yes, for up to seven days since the program last reached the licence server. After that, connect once to carry on. Activating needs the internet. See Working offline.

What happens when my licence can't be used?

When the licence isn't activated, has been removed from the computer, the subscription is cancelled or unpaid, a trial has ended, or the program has been more than seven days without reaching the licence server, ParametrIQ CAD says why when it starts and works view only: drawings can be opened, looked at and changed, but not saved, saved to the library or exported. See Without a licence that can be used.

What is free?

The Pack Designer, the Machine Emulator and the free apps (the Viewer, Box Maker, Sheet Yield Calculator, Die Estimator, Cut List Optimiser, Batch Converter, Mat and Frame Calculator, Pallet and Case Planner, Spooler, Box Strength, True-Shape Nesting, Seam Planner and Sign Quote) are free. Each needs a ParametrIQ account and its own licence, which costs nothing and covers every version: Get my free licence on your Account › Licenses page. On the website, the Playground runs PiQ Lang programs you type in your browser and the Dieline Check checks an uploaded dieline, with nothing to install.

Files and machines

Which file formats does ParametrIQ CAD read and write?

Drawings are saved in ParametrIQ's own .piq format, which is PiQ Lang text. ParametrIQ CAD imports and exports DXF (and reads DWG), CF2, DDES3, G-code, HP-GL and HP-GL/2, PDF, EPS and PostScript, Adobe Illustrator and SVG. It exports for particular machines and trades too: print-ready dieline PDFs, rule benders, LightBurn, SVG for lasers and for Cricut and Silhouette, GP-GL, DSTV NC, IFC, DXF with bend data, STEP, AAMA/ASTM DXF, mat cutter DXF and HP-GL, and more. 3D pages read and write glTF, OBJ, STL, COLLADA, PRC and U3D, and export 3D PDF, HTML proofs and USDZ. See File formats.

Can I open drawings from ArtiosCAD, EngView or Impact?

Yes, as CF2, DDES3 or DXF exported from those programs. Their own formats (ArtiosCAD's .ard and .mfg, say) aren't published, and aren't read. See Drawings from other programs.

Which machines can I send work to?

A machine profile writes a drawing in the format, options, layer names and pens a machine needs, in one click. Profiles come with the app for each trade: cutting tables (Zünd, Kongsberg), sample tables, rule benders, printers' dielines, plasma and waterjet tables, press brakes, CNC routers, glass cutting tables, vinyl and Graphtec cutters, pattern plotters, lasers (LightBurn), steel fabrication lines, mat cutters and cutting rooms. Make It writes your trade's usual files and lists in one step. See Export by industry and machine profiles.

Can I see a job run before it reaches the machine?

Yes, with the free Machine Emulator: it plays G-code, HP-GL and HP-GL/2, GP-GL, CF2, DDES3, DXF, LightBurn, laser SVG and DSTV NC jobs as the machine would run them, with its acceleration and jerk limits, so you see the order of the cuts, the tool changes and how long the job takes. ParametrIQ CAD's machine profiles send jobs to it. See What it plays.

The SaaS API

What does the API do?

Your own programs send it a template (a ParametrIQ drawing whose sizes are labelled variables) and values for those sizes, over HTTPS. Back comes the drawing as ParametrIQ drawing text, as a file (PDF, SVG, DXF, CF2, G-code, HP-GL and many more), worked out (its inputs, variables, cut and crease lengths, blank area and an estimate of its die), or folded in 3D. Templates are ordinary ParametrIQ drawings, made and tested in ParametrIQ CAD. See ParametrIQ SaaS.

What do I need to use the API?

A ParametrIQ SaaS subscription (the Pro plan), which gives you an API key: copy it from Account › Licenses and send it with each request. See Using your API key and, for examples in JavaScript, Python, C#, Go and more, Clients.

What are the API's limits?

Each request has 20 seconds to run its template and make what is asked for. Only so many requests are worked on at once; the rest wait their turn, and when too many are waiting, more are answered 429 Too Many Requests. A request is at most 8 MB, a template at most 2 million characters, and a picture at most 8000 pixels across. See Limits.

Privacy and data

Do my drawings leave my computer?

Drawings you make in ParametrIQ CAD stay on your own computer unless you send them to us. PiQ Lang code you run in the Playground, and what you send to the API, are processed on our servers to produce the result you asked for. See the privacy policy.

What does the program send when it checks its licence?

Your licence details and an identifier for the computer it is activated on, so the licence server can check the licence and limit how many computers use it. The activation belongs to the computer, not to the program's files. See Installation and activation.

What does a problem report send?

Only what you see before you click Send: what you write, and, unless you leave them out, screenshots of the program (parts you black out are removed before they leave your computer), its recent messages and information about the computer and the program. Your drawing is sent only if you choose to include it. See Reporting a problem.

Languages

Which languages is ParametrIQ in?

English, Spanish and Simplified Chinese: ParametrIQ CAD's menus, windows, messages, reports and help, the free apps, the website and the help. Choose the app's language in View › Language (or Preferences); the free apps follow your computer's. Drawings (PiQ Lang keywords and .piq files) stay in English whatever the language, so they open the same everywhere. See Language.

System requirements

Where do I download the programs?

From your Account › Licenses page: each licence there has a Download button (for ParametrIQ CAD, while the subscription is active). Install the program, then activate it with the licence's Product key. See Installing.

What does my computer need?

ParametrIQ CAD, the Pack Designer, the Machine Emulator and the free apps run on Windows, macOS and Linux. Each needs an internet connection to activate, and at least once every seven days after that. The 3D view draws with Direct3D 11 (on Windows), OpenGL or Vulkan, chosen in 3D › Display › Renderer; if the one chosen can't start on the computer, another is used. Each program's download is on your Account › Licenses page. See 3D pages.

Support

Where do I start?

The help covers every tool, command and file format, in three languages. In ParametrIQ CAD, a guided tour takes you through your first design, and the command palette (Ctrl+K) finds any command, tool, setting or help page.

How do I report a problem?

In ParametrIQ CAD, Help › Report a Problem… sends us a report, with what you choose to include, so we can find the problem and fix it. See Reporting a problem.

How do I contact you?

Through the contact page: your message goes to our team, and our reply comes back to your email address. For what has changed lately, see What's new.