Only new features are given here; bug fixes are described in the automatic update feature in Shadows.
Latest versions
Version 5.0
- 23/11/2022: Added an animated rotation of the 3D view (9457)
- 23/11/2022: Added copy-paste of 3D views as images and their export to a file (9457)
- 23/11/2022: Added other image formats to the Export the view to an image file (9457)
- 23/11/2022: Added shadow animation on 3D multiple sundials (9457)
- 23/11/2022: Improved support of UTF-8 format in data files (9457)
- 23/11/2022: Updated language file in Brazilian Portuguese (9457)
- 23/11/2022: Added 140 locations in the database: France (+90), USA (+28)... (9457)
- 14/07/2022: Added the moon distance and apparent diameter in the lunar ephemeris (9325)
- 14/07/2022: Added displacement of light during shadow animation in 3D (9325)
- 14/07/2022: Added a preference to display new sundial in 3D or 2D (9325)
- 14/07/2022: Added locations in the database: Japan (+53), Spain (+50), Ukraine (+36), England (+27), France (+9)... (9325)
- 14/07/2022: Added stars and constellations in the sky map and astrolabe rete (9325)
- 14/05/2022: Added a list of feature for each Shadows level (9264)
- 14/05/2022: Improved the light control in the 3D view (9264)
- 27/04/2022: Added a setting for light intensity in the 3D view (9247)
- 27/04/2022: Replacement of sundial bitmaps in the home screen and creation wizards (9247)
- 27/04/2022: Added an option to extend hour lines only on one side (9247)
- 27/04/2022: Deselection of frames before printing or copy-paste in BMP and EMF (9247)
- 27/04/2022: Iterative selection of frames using the TAB key (9247)
- 30/03/2022: New multiple sundial in 3D: two-face equatorial sundial (9219)
- 30/03/2022: Displacement of the 3D gnomon on the date line of an analemmatic sundial during shadow animation (9219)
- 30/03/2022: Rotation of the shepherd's dial during shadow animation (9219)
- 17/03/2022: Update of the language file in Italian (9206)
- 14/03/2022: Update of the language file in German, Spanish and Dutch (9203)
- 03/03/2022: 3D view of sundials, with rotation and zoom (9192)
- 03/03/2022: 3D view of multiple sundials: diptych, cube, hexagonal or octogonal polar (9192)
- 03/03/2022: Export of 3D models in OBJ format for 3D printing (9192)
- 03/03/2022: Analysis of horizontal sundials from hour line angles (9192)
- 03/03/2022: Export of ephemeris table in HTML (9192)
- 03/03/2022: Added 113 locations in the database: Italy (+57), France (+41), Luxembourg (+13), Tanzania (+5), Monaco (+4), Paraguay (+3), ... (9192)
- 03/03/2022: New on-line information feed (9192)
Version 4.5
- 07/10/2021: Added 303 locations in the location database : Poland (+86), Italy (+69), Canada (+44), Greece (+38), Russia (+19), Scotland (+16), Tunisia (+15), ... (9045)
- 07/10/2021: Detection of Windows 10 and Windows 11 21H2 (9045)
- 18/07/2021: Detection of Windows 10 updates 20H2 and 21H1 (8964)
- 18/07/2021: Possibility to use a language file located in a different folder (8964)
- 18/07/2021: Completed the Dutch translation, thanks to Franz Maes (8964)
- 02/08/2020: Improved the graph of sunrise and sunset (8614)
- 02/08/2020: Added curves of moonrise and moonset (8614)
- 02/08/2020: Improved twilight hours in the ephemeris (8614)
- 02/08/2020: Added duration of black night in the ephemeris (8614)
- 08/07/2020: Improved DXF exports (8589)
- 19/06/2020: New display options in the graphs of the equation of time (8570)
- 19/06/2020: Automatic download of the user manual, if available, when changing of language (8570)
- 19/06/2020: Translation of the updated user manual in German, thanks to Hermann Dellwing (8570)
- 19/06/2020: Translation of the updated user manual in Spanish, thanks to Vicente Javier Fernández Gallego (8570)
- 05/06/2020: New mode to animate the rotation of the rete of a planispheric astrolabe (8556)
- 05/06/2020: A planispheric astrolabe can now be create for a given location (8556)
- 05/06/2020: Easier switch between upper and lower face of an equatorial sundial (8556)
- 05/06/2020: New option to show/hide the content of an image frame (8556)
- 05/06/2020: The evaluation of Shadows Pro is now extended from 7 to 30 days (8556)
- 05/06/2020: Updated user manual with augmented sections, in English and French (8556)
- 05/06/2020: Translation of the updated user manual in Italian, thanks to Luigi Ghia (8556)
- 05/06/2020: Completed the Portuguese translation, thanks to Ana Correia (8556)
- 05/06/2020: Corrections in the Arabic translation, thanks to Hussein Morsy (8556)
Version 4.4
- 07/03/2020: Added 250 cities in the location database + Cyrillic translation of Russian cities (8466)
- 10/11/2019: New type of sundial drawn inside a vertical cylinder (8348)
- 13/09/2019: Update of the user manual in English and French (8290)
- 13/09/2019: Validation of background colors between declination arcs for bifilar and certain cylindrical sundials (8290)
- 18/08/2019: Selection of background colors between declination arcs (8264)
- 18/08/2019: New buttons to navigate to next/previous lunar month in the Lunar ephemeris (8264)
- 18/08/2019: Selection of scale and axis colors in graphs of the equation of time (8264)
- 18/08/2019: Updated user manual in English and French (8264)
Version 4.3
- 31/05/2019: New option in the roof shadow configuration dialog, for gable roofs (8185)
- 31/05/2019: Updated translations in Spanish and Czech (8185)
Version 4.2
- 29/04/2019: New facility to evaluate Shadows Pro for 7 days (8153)
- 29/04/2019: Added 543 cities in the location database; USA (+128), France (+165), Italy (+157), Germany (+93) (8153)
- 29/04/2019: Improved the rendering of icons (8153)
- 23/03/2019: Added 200 stars and new constellations, mainly in the southern hemisphere (8116)
- 23/03/2019: Position of Sun added on the curve of the equation of time (8116)
- 23/03/2019: Added the selection of colors on solar graphs (8116)
- 23/03/2019: Added the selection of colors on graphs of the equation of time (8116)
- 23/03/2019: Detection of the Windows 10 October update (8116)
- 18/11/2018: New language: Romanian, thanks to Radu Anghel and Dan-George Uza (7991)
- 18/11/2018: Added 52 new Romanian cities in the location database (7991)
- 18/11/2018: Improved home page with two icon sizess (7991)
- 20/10/2018: Download of the user manual if not available in the selected language (7962)
- 20/10/2018: Update of the Italian user manual to version 4.2 (by Luigi Massimo Ghia) (7962)
- 11/10/2018: Update of the German user manual to version 4.2 (by Hermann Dellwing) (7953)
- 11/10/2018: Update of the Spanish user manual to version 4.2 (by Vicente Javier Fernández Gallego) (7953)
- 17/09/2018: Detection at the first launch of the language selected in the installer (7929)
- 11/09/2018: Sundial background can be colored with a different color outside the solstice arcs (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Text frames can now be rotated (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Ability to set the sundial anchor in % or mm independently in X and Y (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Selection of the color of declination arcs of particular date (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Drawing of noon line for other cities (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Change in reclination angle can now exceed +/-90° (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Display of the sun position on astrolabe rete (7923)
- 11/09/2018: New preference to display either 0 or 24 on hour labels (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Longitude correction and equation of time can now be enabled for shepherd's sundials (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Selection of the color of the sundial frame border (7923)
- 11/09/2018: Improved and augmented user manual in English and French (7923)
Version 4.1
- 10/05/2017: Improved drawing of date line on an analemmatic sundial (7434)
- 12/03/2017: 359 new mottoes added in Italian, Latin, French and German - thanks to Claudio Abächerli (7375)
- 12/03/2017: New user manual in Brazilian Portuguese - thanks to Juarez Silveira Sant'Anna (7375)
- 12/03/2017: Possibility to draw a border on an analemmatic sundial (7375)
- 12/01/2017: User manual updated for version 4.1 (7316)
- 19/11/2016: New lunar ephemeris (7262)
- 19/11/2016: Larger icons available (7262)
- 19/11/2016: Improved configuration of sundial frame and layout (7262)
- 19/11/2016: Option to extend hour lines to a circle around point B (7262)
- 19/11/2016: Display of analemma ellipse foci (7262)
Version 4.0
- 30/04/2016: 1150 new locations (490 in USA, 300 in Brasil, 135 in Canada, ...) (7059)
- 01/01/2016: The color of lines can be changed for Italian, Babylonian and Unequals hours (6939)
- 31/08/2015: New user manual in Czech (6816)
- 29/06/2015: New user manual in Spanish (6753)
- 05/04/2015: Improved drawing of the planispheric and universal astrolabes (6668)
- 07/03/2015: Improved drawing of the mariner's astrolabe (6639)
- 07/03/2015: Improved drawing of the style schematics (6639)
- 24/01/2015: New user manual in French and English (6597)
- 25/11/2014: New translation in Catalan (6537)
- 25/05/2014: New Spider sundial (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Casted shadow of a circular eyepiece (6353)
- 25/05/2014: New Starfinder map (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Hexagonal plate on sundials (6353)
- 25/05/2014: DXF export is done with layers (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Export of coordinates of Italian and Babylonian hours to Excel (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Export of coordinates of Azimuth and Altitude lines to Excel (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Quick switch of page orientation between Portrait and Landscape (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Scales text on astrolabes is now exported in DXF (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Italian hours can be counted from the last sunset or to the next (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Enhanced Direction rose (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Text frames can have opaque background (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Toolbar icons have been redesigned (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Toolbar icons are available in two sizes: 32x32 and 48x48 (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Improved color selection (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Automatic reload of the last sundial (6353)
- 25/05/2014: New dialog for sundial properties (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Improved drawings with GDI+ (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Line thickness are now specified in millimeters (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Selection of the copy-paste resolution (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Improved document zoom (6353)
- 25/05/2014: Compatible with Windows 8.1 (6353)
- 25/05/2014: New translation in Arabic (6353)
History of versions 3.x
Version 3.5
- Brazilian translation updated, thanks to Juarez Silveira Sant'Anna (5792)
- Export in DXF of the solar graph and curves of the Equation of time (5743)
- Validation of the compatibility with Windows 8 (5713)
- New type of sundial: polar sundial around the polar axis (5706)
- New option to draw analemma curves with points only (5706)
- 700 new places in the location database, in Switzerland (+178), Portugal (+131), USA (+75), Brazil (+36), Australia (+34), Belgium (+31), Chile (+17), Venezuela (+16), Austria (+16), Morocco (+15) and 15 new countries (5706)
5792 = 10/11/2012 ; 5743 = 22/09/2012 ; 5713 = 23/08/2012 ; 5703 = 13/08/2012
Version 3.4
- New Home page screen based on icons that access directly to the main features (5371)
- Sundial table can be oval or octogonal in addition to rectangular (5371)
- The mariner's astrolabe is now available from Shadows Expert (5371)
- Tables of coordinates are now directly open in Excel or Notepad (5371)
- Coordinate export is now available from the free level of Shadows (5371)
- The table of daily values of the equation of time is now exported to Excel (5371)
- New configuration dialog for hour lines numbers (5371)
- Hour lines can be drawn for every minute (5371)
- Improved graph of duration of days (5371)
- Smoother drawing of the equation of time and of diurnal arcs (5371)
- Export of the coordinates of anniversary arcs (5371)
- Custom locations added by users in previous versions are now recovered automatically (5371)
5371 = 16/09/2011
Version 3.3
- Duration of true night added in the General Ephemeris (5287)
- Translation in Czech language added, thanks to Jaromir Ciesla (5190)
- Display of Azimuth in the direction rose (5185)
- Instant can be selected in Solar Time in the Ephemeris (5185)
- New mariner's astrolabe (5105)
- Improved drawing of the back of an astrolabe (5105)
- Drawing of the noon line of the reference time zone (5105)
- Drawing of the analemma curve shifted for the reference time zone (5105)
- Selection of the analemma curve color (5105)
- Ephemeris updated in real time are now available in freeware version (5105)
5287 = 24/06/2011 ; 5190 = 19/03/2011 ; 5185 = 14/03/2011 ; 5105 = 24/12/2010
Version 3.2.2
- New rotation mode on the astrolabe rete (5058)
- Improvement of the loading of GeoNet files (5043)
- New full screen mode by F11 (5043)
- New trial version for 30 days (on request) (5043)
- Improvement of the detection of a new version with a list of fixes and new features (4962)
- Configuration of the limit hours of the sundial (4962)
5058 = 01/11/2010 ; 5043 = 23/10/2010 ; 4962 = 03/08/2010
Version 3.2.1
- Cover images added in the French bibliography (4865)
- New option to switch North-South pole in the Direction rose (4865)
4865 = 28/04/2010
Version 3.2.0
- New view: Direction rose (4805)
- Rewritten Wizards for the creation of sundials and astrolabes (4805)
- New sundial type: on the external surface of a vertical cylinder (4805)
- Simplified selection of the sundial's dimension (4805)
- Support of the longitude correction on an analemmatic sundial (4805)
- Drawing of sights on the alidade of planispheric astrolabes (4805)
- New icon to configure the solar panel graph (4805)
- Resolution of the shadow animation is now 1 minute instead of 5 min (4805)
- New dialog to register the freeware version (4805)
- Export of numerals in DXF (4805)
- New duplication options for image frames (4820)
- Ability to move frames using keyboard arrows (4820)
- Improvement of the grid drawn on the page (4805)
4820 = 14/03/2010 ; 4805 = 27/02/2010
Version 3.1.1
- Selection of colours on astrolabes (4610)
4610 = 16/08/2010
Version 3.1.0
- New type of astrolabe: Universal astrolabe (4525)
- Drawing of the astrolabe's throne (4525)
- Precession taken into account on astrolabes (4581)
- Translation of the user interface into Greek, by Vangelis Skarmoutsos (4525)
- Translation of Help files into German, by Karl-Peter Emmelmann (4525)
- Drawing of unequal hours, italic and babylonic hours on the planispheric astrolabe (4525)
- New high resolution copy-paste (4525)
- Improved schematic of the style for a sundial (4525)
4581 = 18/07/2009 ; 4525 = 23/05/2009
Version 3.0.2
- Separation of the creation of sundials and astrolabes. (4377)
- Modification of the start-up dialog. (4377)
- New example sundials and astrolabes. (4377)
- Improved installation of the license by copy-paste of the code. (4377)
4377 = 26/12/2008
Version 3.0.1
- Update of the Polish translation (by Maciej Michalski). (4331)
- Update of the Russian translation (by Alexei Kroutjakov).
- DXF Export of astrolabe drawings. (4189)
4331 = 10/11/2008 ; 4219 = 21/07/2008 ; 4189 = 21/06/2008
Version 3.0.0 build 4148 of 2008-05-11
- New option in the selection of drawing types on a sundial
- New user interface: reorganized menus, icons in menus, new toolbars.
- Improved dialog boxes.
- New Preferences dialog box.
- Creation and animation of planispheric astrolabes.
- Drawing of temporary and sidereal hours on sundials.
- Interface with Google Maps to load a location.
- Importation of GeoNet location files.
- Multiple drawings at the same time on a sundial.
- Numbering of lines with font selection.
- Polar Solar graph.
- Graph of sunset and sunrise hours (with twilights).
- Graph of visibility of a meridian dial.
- Determination of a sundial's parameters from a photo.
- Exportation of the shadow's animation in a video file (AVI).
- Animation of the sundial in latitude, and exportation in AVI file.
- Animation of the sundial in orientation, and exportation in AVI file.
- Display of rulers around the view.
- Display and printing of a helper grid.
- Ephemeris: calculation of the date of Easter, and the Qibla.
- Replacement of the random draw by a try period during 2 hours every 7 days.
History of versions 2.x
Version 2.2.6
of September 9th, 2007
- Display of the build number in the About dialog box.
- Translation into Polish (user interface and help), by Maciej Michalski.
- Complete update of the Russian translation, by Alexei Kroutiakov.
- Display of coordinates of points A and B in tables of coordinates.
Version 2.2.4
of September 21st, 2006
- Translation of Shadows in Slovenian, new mottoes in slovenian and new Slovenian cities, by Stane Accetto.
- Selection of the day by left and right arrows, in the coordinates of meridian
Version 2.2.3
of June 30th, 2006
- Possibility to enter angles in the sundial declination/inclinaison dlg
Version 2.2.2
of June 24th, 2006
- It's now possible to enter arc-seconds in location coordinates (latitude/longitude).
- New button "Now" in the Date Selection dlg for the calculation of Ephemeris.
- New calculation in the Ephemeris: Date of Easter.
- Improvement in drawing the protractor and azimuth circle.
- New possibility to export any view of the Display menu into an EMF file.
Version 2.2.1
of February 17th, 2006
- Online help fully translated in Spanish (translation by Carlos Maria Sanchez Rodriguez)
- New Italian mottoes added by L. Bascialla.
- The license of a previous version (v2.0 or v2.1) is now automatically recovered.
Version 2.2.0
of January 3rd, 2006
- Visualisation of locations of Shadows' database in Google Earth.
- Importation of Google Earth placenames into the Shadows' database.
- New option to draw the flattened down style on plane sundials with polar style.
- New option to draw the construction layout (épure) of a plane sundial with polar style.
- New option to extend only plain hour lines
- New option to dynamically modify the declination/inclination of a sundial.
- New option in the shadow animation, to loop between sunrise and sunset, or on 24h.
- Simplified activation of the shadow casted by a roof.
- Dayligh savings can be used in the shadow animation.
- Possibility to draw the whole ellipse of an analemmatic sundial.
- Redesign of the Technical Data Sheet
- Possibility to choose the type of graduations on the style line of an analemmatic sundial.
- Possibility to modify the style height on an analemmatic sundial (for use in the shadow simulation)
- Selection of the character font and style of hour labels.
- 50 cities from Algeria have been added (list proposed by Elie Nicolas)
- Improvement of the Itallian user interface.
- Differentiation of European portuguese and Brasilian portuguese.
Version 2.1.2
of March 23rd, 2005
- It's now possible to change the reference location of an existing sundial.
- The Sun's azimuth is now also given in degrees (in the ephemeris).
Version 2.1.1
of February 22nd, 2005
Version 2.1.0
of January 26th, 2005
- Validation of the Shadows Pro level
- New Zoom factor on screen (between 10% and 500%)
- Bifilar sundials: horizontal and vertical declining
- Vertical declining analemmatic sundial
- Export in AutoCAD DXF format
- New redesigned ephemeris section
- Ephemeris generator
- Drawing of azimuth and altitude lines on a sundial
- Simulation of the shadow cast by a roof
- Annual graph of azimuth-altitude of the Sun, with horizon mask
- Drawing of a network of tangents for the measurement of wall declination
- Selection of the size of drawings (protractor and azimuth circles)
Version 2.0.1
of June 19th, 2004
- New: cutting marks and page limits can be traced on printouts
- New: other location files can be loaded; the location dialog has been reworked
- New: cities of Israel have been added
- Improvement: a frame resized by its corner retain its width/height ratio
- Improvement: information added in the Dimension dialog
- New: graduations have been added on declination arcs of a cylindrical sundial
- Declination arcs are drawn on half a year if analemma curves are drawn on half a year
- Style preferences added for declination arcs in date (16th day)
- New mottoes in Italian, German and Italian translations improved
- The choice of the type of vertical sundial is now with radio buttons instead of a list
Version 2.0.0
of March 21st, 2004
- New declining vertical analemmatic sundial available in Shadows Expert
- Windows XP theme used in the user interface
- Installation of cliparts for use with image frames
- Italian and German translations completed and improved
- New table of coordinates of analemma curves
- New General Preferences
- New texts and translations in the on-line help
- New mottoes in Italian
- The name of the license file is checked to prevent typo errors in the filename
- Drawing of declination arcs related to dates
- New help files have been translated in English
- New choices in the style of lines dialog box
- graduation in date on the style's centrale line of an analemmatic sundial
- Translation in Italian of the user interace and help files, by Marco Tomljanovich.
- Help files completed in French and English.
- Detection of the system language at the first launch.
Previous versions
- Version 1.6.4 of March 3rd, 2002 (build 1887)
- Version 1.6.4 of February 28th, 2002 (build 1884)
- Version 1.6.3 of December 30th, 2001 (build 1824)
- Version 1.6.2 of September 2nd, 2001 (build 1704)
- Version 1.6.1 of April 2nd, 2001 (build 1550)
- Version 1.6.0 of January 5th, 2001
- Version 1.5.4 of March 17th, 2000
- Version 1.5.3 of April 18th, 1999
- Version 1.5.2 of April 12th, 1999
- Version 1.5.1 of March 3rd, 1999
- Version 1.5.0 of February 22nd, 1999
- Version 1.0 of September 24th, 1997
- Version 0.96 of August 24th, 1997 (restricted diffusion)
- Version 0.95 of July 19th, 1997 (restricted diffusion)
- Version 0.85 of March 12th, 1997 (restricted diffusion)
- Version 0.81 of January 25th, 1997 (restricted diffusion)
- Version 0.80 of October 31st, 1996 (restricted diffusion)
- Version 0.70 of July 25th, 1996 (restricted diffusion)