Leathercraft CAD Web Beta Test Announcement (EN)
Leathercraft CAD finally runs on iPad and Linux!
Some news out of the blue: the beta test of Leathercraft CAD Web, the version of Leathercraft CAD that runs in your web browser, is starting very soon. It works not only on Windows and Mac but also on Linux and on tablets such as iPad with Apple Pencil, and it speaks 20 languages, including English and Japanese!
After about six months of development, I've finally reached the point where I can announce it. But this isn't just a leathercraft CAD that happens to run in a browser!
Leathercraft CAD Web = Pattern CAD × Leather Guild
Leathercraft CAD Web combines a pattern CAD that feels almost the same as the desktop version, with your data saved in the cloud, and the Leather Guild: a place to share patterns, with a message board whose AI translation understands leathercraft terminology. With patterns as a common language, you can connect with leathercrafters all over the world.
And of course, the Web version opens the pattern files (LCC files) you've made with the desktop Leathercraft CAD, and it can export your Web data for the desktop version too (with some limitations).
A message board with AI translation that understands leathercraft terms!
On the Board and when sharing patterns, everyone writes and talks in their own native language, and the Guild's AI translates it into other languages as needed (currently 20 languages, including Japanese and English).
Users of the desktop Leathercraft CAD are gradually spreading around the world, but conversations rarely cross borders. The Web version is built from day one to help the leather world grow and thrive on a global scale, for hobbyists and professionals alike.
Design patterns together with AI!
And on top of that, Leathercraft CAD Web supports MCP, a standard way to connect it to AI assistants (planned to open to testers partway through the beta).
The Leather Guild makes leathercraft even more fun
What is the Leather Guild?
I believe Leathercraft CAD and the Leather Guild can make leathercraft more fun than ever.
The Leather Guild has a rank system, and everyone starts as a Beginner.
In the Guild's Plaza, you can share the patterns you've made with users around the world. When other users rate them highly, you earn experience points and rank up.
Answering other users' questions on the Board and getting good ratings also counts toward ranking up.
As you rank up, you unlock things like publishing patterns together with their construction steps (with a tutorial-style replay!). Features and perks for high-ranking members are still being worked out.
Share your ideas for the Leather Guild!
By connecting individual leathercrafters with the world like this, I believe the possibilities of leathercraft will expand enormously, for Japan and for the whole world.
That said, the Guild needs a fair number of users before it really starts to work. I can't wait to see how it begins to evolve on its own once it passes that critical mass, but it's also possible that it will fizzle out.
What kind of guild would do the most to energize the leather world? I'd love to hear your ideas.
When does the beta start, and who can join?
The official release is still a little way off, but in a few days I plan to start a limited beta test for members of my YouTube channel membership and for everyone who has donated to Leathercraft CAD in the past.
Planned beta release date: October 1, 2026 (Japan Standard Time)
Join the channel membership here: https://www.youtube.com/@coffee-and-craft
Why a Web version? Isn't the current Leathercraft CAD enough?
To grow leathercraft, we have to solve the pattern problem
To energize the leathercraft scene, we need lots of new people coming into the world of leathercraft.
But there's one wall everyone hits as they move beyond the beginner stage: the pattern problem.
The patterns you find in books or online aren't enough anymore. You want to make your own!
But drafting patterns by hand is a lot of work, and CAD software is expensive and hard to learn.
Many people give up at that wall before they ever gain the freedom to make their own patterns.
It was exactly the wall I ran into myself a few years ago.
The people the Windows/Mac versions couldn't reach
What if there were a CAD made just for leathercraft that anyone could use easily and for free? Wouldn't that help not just me, but many others?
With that in mind, I've spent the last several years developing Leathercraft CAD.
Thanks to all of you, Leathercraft CAD has been supported by people not only in Japan but all over the world. At the same time, I learned that there are still many people the current Leathercraft CAD can't reach:
- "I don't know how to download or install it."
- "I don't use Windows or Mac. Please make a version for Linux, or for tablets like iPad."
To answer these ever-growing requests, I came to the conclusion that a Web version was the only way. It needs no installation, and it isn't tied to Windows or Mac. All you need is a browser and a Google account, so it should run on Linux and iPad too.
The rapid evolution of AI changed everything
Until this year, though, a Web version was just a distant dream for me: more work than I could finish alone in a lifetime.
Then this year, AI capabilities took off explosively, and suddenly it became realistic.
Of course, it's not something anyone could do just because they can use AI. I don't think it would have been possible without the feedback from an estimated 100,000+ Leathercraft CAD users over the years, and the experience of building the app from scratch. I'm truly grateful to all of you for your support and advice.
What's next
Will the Web version be paid or free? What happens to the current Leathercraft CAD?
The desktop version will stay free. The Web version, however, costs a fair amount to develop and run, and at least during the beta, all development, AI translation, and server costs come out of my own pocket.
That's why the beta is limited to YouTube channel members and past donors. If I opened a public test to everyone, my funds wouldn't last. (^^;;
Even once the official version is released, whether it will be free, paid, or something in between is still undecided. I'd like to figure that out, along with everything else, during the beta.
Finally
So, to all Leathercraft CAD users and supporters who share this vision: please join the beta! Brand-new tutorials and pattern-making features, plus the Leather Guild's ways to connect, are waiting for you.
Let's make the world of leathercraft even more exciting, together!
Thank you so much for your support!