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cDraw
A Java desktop editor for creating publication-quality 2D chemical structures and reaction schemes.
Open source. 32 of 65 checklist features confirmed.
Main canvas
Dark titlebar and menus; canvas and toolbars remain light.
Default drawings
We could not finish testing this tool: Automation lost keyboard and canvas input focus; complex export and file round-trips remain unverified.
Caffeine
Paclitaxel
No 3D view
Cholesterol in 3D
- Default heteroatom labels are blue for nitrogen and red for oxygen.
- Generated structures appear near the upper-left canvas corner at 200% zoom.
- Paclitaxel default layout contains overlapping bonds and atom labels.
- Isomeric SMILES import warns users to check chiral-centre depiction.
- Default SVG exports a 215.9 by 279.4 mm page.
- Redraw successfully saved both current Kekule-SMILES fixtures as default SVG exports; paclitaxel overlaps remain.
Facts
- Latest version
- 1.4.1
- Version we tested
- 1.4.1
- Runs on
- macOS, Windows, Linux
- License
- GNU Affero General Public License version 3.
- Price
- Free
- Relies on
- MCDL, CDK, InChI, Beam. Custom Java2D canvas; MCDL supplies coordinates, with CDK-derived chemistry and identifier toolkits.
- Draws with
- Java2D in ChemPanel; custom SVG/PostScript generators; Ghostscript converts PostScript to PDF.
- Chemistry from
- In-house PCSB code with CDK modules, MCDL, JNI-InChI and Beam.
- Interface
- Java Swing
- Main language
- Java
- Other languages
- C: Native InChI and Ghostscript libraries
- Renderer
- Original: cDraw ChemPanel/drawingobjects (Java2D)
- Third-party licenses
- LGPL copyleft CDK code, JNI-InChI and ghost4j; proprietary Sun-licensed JAI; BSD Beam, Apache components and SIL-OFL Liberation Sans font.
- Download
- 9.6 MB
- Installed
- 9.8 MB
- Requires Java; bundled InChI native binaries do not include macOS ARM64.
- Website groups MOL/SDF exchange together; source exports SDF only.
- EPS/PDF export supports only Latin and Greek character sets.
In use
Screenshots from our test of this version.
Single, double and triple bonds
Single, double and triple bond tools above a structure.
Wedge, hash and wavy bonds
A molecular drawing with solid and hashed wedge bonds.
Ring tools
Ring tools above benzene and cyclohexane chair drawings.
Chair and Haworth rings
Chair presets and a cyclohexane chair on the canvas.
Template library
Ring and chair presets above two drawings.
Features
- Tested by running it
- Seen in the app
- The manual says yes
- Partly, with the reason shown
- Not supported
- Not established, which is not the same as no
Select a mark for its proof. A filled mark opens our screenshot, or the manual if the check left nothing to picture. A ring opens the manual.
Drawing structures
- Partly: Tools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation. Opens the screenshot.Single, double and triple bondsTools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation.zenodo.org
- Partly: Tools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation. Opens the screenshot.Wedge, hash and wavy bondsTools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation.zenodo.org
- Not establishedDative, hydrogen and quadruple bonds
- Yes, according to the manual: Cycles both offset positions and a symmetric double bond. Opens the cited page.Choose double-bond sideCycles both offset positions and a symmetric double bond.zenodo.org
- Partly: Tools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation. Opens the screenshot.Ring toolsTools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: Two cyclohexane chair templates. Opens the cited page.Chair and Haworth ringsTwo cyclohexane chair templates.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: Drag to draw an alkane chain with 120-degree angles. Opens the cited page.Chain toolDrag to draw an alkane chain with 120-degree angles.zenodo.org
- Partly: Ring and chair presets; insertion attempt produced no visible drawing. Opens the screenshot.Template libraryRing and chair presets; insertion attempt produced no visible drawing.zenodo.org
- Not establishedSave your own templates
- Not establishedGroup abbreviations
- Partly: Labels and charges supported; isotope metadata is not saved or copied. Opens the cited page.Charges, isotopes and atom labelsLabels and charges supported; isotope metadata is not saved or copied.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: Radical dots and atom-localized, rotatable electron pairs. Opens the cited page.Radicals and lone pairsRadical dots and atom-localized, rotatable electron pairs.zenodo.org
- Not establishedKeyboard drawing
- Partly: Freehand Select and Rotation Mode tools; resizing unverified. Opens the cited page.Lasso select and transformsFreehand Select and Rotation Mode tools; resizing unverified.
- Not establishedTilt drawings in perspective
Reactions and mechanisms
- Partly: Tools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation. Opens the cited page.Reaction arrowsTools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation.zenodo.org
- Partly: Tools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation. Opens the cited page.Curved mechanism arrowsTools selected; canvas input produced no visible marks during automation.zenodo.org
- Partly: Reaction SMILES imports as molecules and graphics, without retained reaction roles. Opens the cited page.Machine-readable reactionsReaction SMILES imports as molecules and graphics, without retained reaction roles.zenodo.org
- No: Manual explicitly states atom mapping is unsupported. Opens the cited page.Atom mappingManual explicitly states atom mapping is unsupported.zenodo.org
- Not establishedOrbitals and symbols
Figures and layout
- Yes, according to the manual: TextInputDialog provides subscripts, superscripts, font sizing and text formatting. Opens the cited page.Rich text captionsTextInputDialog provides subscripts, superscripts, font sizing and text formatting.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: Editable lines, rectangles, ellipses and bracket pairs. Opens the cited page.Shapes, brackets and curvesEditable lines, rectangles, ellipses and bracket pairs.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: Alignment and equal-spacing commands for selected objects. Opens the cited page.Align and distributeAlignment and equal-spacing commands for selected objects.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: Grouped components translate and align as a fixed assembly. Opens the cited page.Group and ungroupGrouped components translate and align as a fixed assembly.zenodo.org
- Not established2D structure cleanup
- Yes, according to the manual: ACS and RSC presets. Opens the cited page.Journal drawing stylesACS and RSC presets.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: Save and load bond, font and page settings. Opens the cited page.Reusable custom stylesSave and load bond, font and page settings.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: Right-click objects to edit their individual colors. Opens the cited page.Color controlRight-click objects to edit their individual colors.zenodo.org
- Partly: Only temporary blue hover halos around individual atoms. Opens the cited page.Color highlightingOnly temporary blue hover halos around individual atoms.zenodo.org
- Partly: Custom page dimensions on a single-page drawing canvas. Opens the cited page.Page layout and multipageCustom page dimensions on a single-page drawing canvas.zenodo.org
- Not establishedImported pictures
- Not establishedTLC plates and tables
Chemistry intelligence
- Not establishedStructure checking
- Yes, according to the manual: R/S labels for tetrahedral carbons require four explicit substituents. Opens the cited page.R/S and E/Z labelsR/S labels for tetrahedral carbons require four explicit substituents.zenodo.org
- No: No formula or molecular mass command found. Opens the cited page.Formula and massNo formula or molecular mass command found.
- Not establishedProperty estimates
- No: Insert menu offers SMILES, InChI, MCDL; no chemical-name entry. Opens the cited page.Name to structureInsert menu offers SMILES, InChI, MCDL; no chemical-name entry.
- No: Get IUPAC Name failed: missing jniinchi-1.03_1-UNKNOWN library. Opens the cited page.Structure to nameGet IUPAC Name failed: missing jniinchi-1.03_1-UNKNOWN library.zenodo.org
- Not establishedNMR prediction
- Not establishedR-groups and query structures
- Not establishedPolymers and repeat units
- Not establishedPeptides and nucleic acids
- Yes, according to the manual: Experimental optical recognition of GIF, PNG and TIFF structure images. Opens the cited page.Image to structureExperimental optical recognition of GIF, PNG and TIFF structure images.zenodo.org
- Partly: Opens matching PubChem pages instead of importing structures into the editor. Opens the cited page.Online structure lookupOpens matching PubChem pages instead of importing structures into the editor.zenodo.org
- No: No 3D view command in menus or toolbars. Opens the cited page.3D model viewNo 3D view command in menus or toolbars.
- Not establishedCrystal structures
Files and exchange
- Yes, according to the manual: Basic CDXML import and export. Opens the cited page.CDXML import and exportBasic CDXML import and export.zenodo.org
- Not establishedCDX import and export
- Partly: MOL selection blocked by automation; Save offers SDF only. Opens the cited page.MOL and SDFMOL selection blocked by automation; Save offers SDF only.zenodo.org
- Partly: Both fixtures imported; output failed because JNI-InChI library was missing. Opens the cited page.SMILESBoth fixtures imported; output failed because JNI-InChI library was missing.zenodo.org
- Yes, according to the manual: InChI input and InChI/InChIKey output through JNI-InChI. Opens the cited page.InChIInChI input and InChI/InChIKey output through JNI-InChI.zenodo.org
- Not establishedRXN files
- Yes, tested by running it: Caffeine SVG exported successfully with default settings. Opens the cited page.SVG exportCaffeine SVG exported successfully with default settings.zenodo.org
- Partly: Export opened Save panel; automation could not enter filename. Opens the cited page.PDF exportExport opened Save panel; automation could not enter filename.zenodo.org
- Partly: Command invoked on empty canvas; no PNG produced; meaningful export unverified. Opens the cited page.High-resolution PNGCommand invoked on empty canvas; no PNG produced; meaningful export unverified.zenodo.org
- No: External clipboard exposes imageFlavor only, without ChemDraw structure data. Opens the cited page.Paste to and from ChemDrawExternal clipboard exposes imageFlavor only, without ChemDraw structure data.zenodo.org
- Not establishedEditable in Word or PowerPoint
- Not establishedWindows Office OLE
APIs and automation
- Not establishedPython API
- Not establishedJavaScript or TypeScript API
- Not establishedCommand-line tool
- Not establishedAI agent control
- Not establishedBuilt-in AI assistant
Embedding and extension
- Not establishedPlugins
- Not established: Standalone Java editor; no project-offered embedding component confirmed.Embed in your own appStandalone Java editor; no project-offered embedding component confirmed.structuralchemistry.org