What’s New
The latest release of Signals brings significant improvements to the ChemDraw+ application. Users can now enjoy an enhanced drawing experience with the ability to customize structure appearances using 'Drawing Settings'. Additionally, a new 'Analysis' panel has been introduced, allowing users to analyze structures and biopolymers and obtain basic chemical properties based on their selection. The auto-pair tool has been expanded with new capabilities, and a new selection behavior provides clearer visualization of selections on the ChemDraw canvas. Export options within the application have also been expanded. This release also includes several bug fixes, further improving the overall user experience.
The following improvements are available for users of Signals ChemDraw. Certain features may only be available with enablement by an administrator.
ChemDraw+
- Drawing settings are now customizable
- Basic properties are now accessible in the Analysis panel
- Auto-pair tool now accepts RNA/DNA strands with pendant Chem or peptide monomers
- Enhanced selection behavior for atoms, bonds and structures
- Attach Data can now be added as chemically significant
- Drawings can now be exported as molfile and SDfile (v3000)
ChemDraw+
Drawing Settings are now customizable
Users can now customize drawing settings in ChemDraw+, providing enhanced control to create drawings tailored to specific formatting needs. These settings are accessible from a new 'Drawing Settings' tool in the top right of the toolbar, which opens a dialog with tabbed sections that allow for customization of structure and HELM settings, as well as text and color settings. Each section contains a preview of a structure or biopolymer that reflects the current settings. When changes are made, the preview dynamically updates to display these changes.
In the "Structure" tab, users can adjust various drawing settings to change how a structure looks on the canvas. They can modify bond lengths and widths, as well as chain angles. Users can also set other preferences to match their preferred drawing style, such as showing stereochemistry or atom numbers.
In the 'HELM' tab, users can adjust various drawing settings that change how biopolymers are displayed on the canvas. These settings include the option to limit the number of residues per line and showing or hiding termini, bonds, unlinked branches, residue IDs and the 5' and 3' ends of oligonucleotides.
In the 'Text' tab, users can modify text properties such as font, text size and style to ensure text captions and atom labels are presented exactly as required.
In the 'Colors' tab, users can customize the foreground and background colors of the drawing, creating visually distinct drawings that align with their preferences and needs.
Basic chemical properties are now accessible in the Analysis panel
A new 'Analysis' panel in the ChemDraw editor now displays basic chemical properties for structures and biopolymers. These properties are context-sensitive, based on the selection on the canvas, and include information such as chemical name, molecular weight, molecular formula, and exact mass. Users can also add a selection of these properties directly to their drawing by using the 'Add to Drawing' button located at the bottom of the panel.
Auto-pair tool now accepts RNA/DNA strands with pendant Chem or peptide monomers
The auto-pair tool has been improved to work with a wider range of RNA and DNA strands. This enhancement allows strands that include additional Chem or peptide monomers when finding the complementarity between strands and placing hydrogen bonds between them.
Enhanced selection behavior for atoms, bonds and structures
There is now enhanced visualization in ChemDraw when atoms, bonds and structures are selected on the canvas. ChemDraw now individually highlights all the atoms, bonds and structures that are part of the selection, in addition to the selection box that appears upon selection on the canvas. This new behavior provides a clear distinction between selected and unselected elements on the canvas.
Attach Data can now be added as chemically significant
When annotating a molecule or stereocenter in ChemDraw using the 'Attach Data' capability, annotations can now be specified as 'chemically significant'. When this option is selected, annotations become chemically significant and are recognized and honored in chemical searches. Additionally, users can now edit existing annotations by selecting them and reopening the 'Attach Data' dialog in ChemDraw.
Drawings can now be exported as molfile and SDfile (v3000)
ChemDraw+ now offers more ways to export drawings. Users can now save their work as V3000 molfiles and sdfiles.
