Download Plasticity for macOS

Plasticity is a 3D modeller that blends the precision of solid CAD with a workflow artists actually enjoy.

Good for

• Jumping straight into precise solid and surface modelling without weeks of setup
• Experimenting with live dimensions — change a number and the geometry reshapes immediately
• Adding crisp, accurate fillets to edges you select
• Working on Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 10.14 or later

Keep in mind

• Updates don't arrive on their own; you download and install each one manually
• The modelling kernels under the hood are Parasolid and xNURBS, so the math is serious — but the interface stays approachable
• It's built by a solo developer, Nick Kallen, not a big team

Double-click a dimension to edit it inline

Plasticity hides a few shortcuts that speed things up once they become habit. Most people find them by accident after a week or two.

• Double-click a dimension to edit it inline. No panel hunting — just type a new value and watch the model shift.
• Middle-mouse drag rotates the view, and Shift + middle-mouse pans. On a trackpad, two-finger scroll does the same.
• Spacebar repeats the last command. When you're filleting a run of edges, this alone saves dozens of clicks per session.
• Hold Alt while dragging a face to duplicate it instead of moving it. Useful for quick extrusions that share a profile.
• The pie menu appears on right-click and changes with context. Most commands you reach for live there, so you rarely need the top toolbar.

One less obvious trick: you can type values with units inside any dimension field. 12mm, 0.5in or 3cm all work — the app converts them for you. It's a small touch that saves a lot of mental arithmetic.

Push and pull surfaces without parametric constraints

Plasticity sits well with people who design physical things but don't want a full parametric CAD system breathing down their neck.

Industrial designers tend to like the direct editing. You push and pull surfaces, add fillets late in the process, and change proportions without rebuilding a feature tree. The xNURBS blending handles organic transitions between hard-edged parts, which suits product concepts that mix machined and sculpted forms.

Engineers who prototype quickly appreciate the booleans. Cuts, joins and intersections come out watertight, which matters when a model heads to 3D printing or CNC. The live dimension system also keeps critical measurements visible while you tweak surrounding geometry.

3D artists moving from mesh tools find the workflow familiar enough to start fast. There's no sculpting mode and no texture painting — Plasticity is not a replacement for Blender or ZBrush — but for hard-surface pieces, props and product visualisation, it's quick and clean. You export to OBJ or STEP and keep working elsewhere.

If you've bounced off Fusion 360 or SolidWorks because of history-based constraints, Plasticity's direct approach will feel like a weight lifted.

Recreate a familiar object for your first model

Start with a simple object you already know well — a bottle, a bracket, a phone stand. Recreating something familiar teaches you where the tools live without inventing a design at the same time.

1. Do the built-in starter files first. They show how fillets, booleans and surface blends are meant to be used together.
2. Turn on grid snapping early. You'll place points and edges with far less cleanup later.
3. Save versions as you go. Direct editing means there's no history to roll back. A duplicate file every 15–20 minutes is cheap insurance while you learn.
4. Try the XNURBS surface blend on two simple curves. Watch how the continuity handles itself — it's the quickest way to understand what the tool is good at.
5. Export a test model in your final format (STEP, OBJ, STL) before committing to a big project. Check it in your slicer or renderer so there are no surprises later.

If you're coming from mesh modelling, the hardest habit to break is thinking in polygons. Plasticity works in smooth, exact geometry — fillets are true arcs, booleans are calculated, not approximated. Give yourself a few evenings to adjust.

• macOS 10.14 or later
• Apple Silicon