Everything people ask us about Diafane, the stained glass design app.
Yes. Diafane imports SVG files produced by Illustrator, Inkscape or any other vector tool: your paths become editable lead lines right away. Convert your objects to paths before exporting for a clean import, then continue the drawing with Diafane's trade-specific tools.
Yes. You load a photo or a scan as a reference image and draw over it. A perspective-correction mode straightens the image from four corners, handy when you start from a survey shot at an angle or a photographed cartoon.
Yes. A symmetry mode shows an axis on screen: whatever you draw on one side is mirrored on the other, in real time. Ideal for rose windows, symmetrical panels and any repeating motif, without drawing twice.
As soon as your lead lines close up, Diafane detects each piece and computes its outline automatically. You get two paths: the visible shape and the real cutting outline, which accounts for the thickness of the lead (heart) and the cutting allowance. Nothing to recalculate by hand.
Yes. A red ring marks a missing joint (two paths that do not meet). A triangle marks a shape that will be hard to cut in glass. How strict the check is can be set, tolerant or strict. The markers are shown on demand, in Cartoon mode and in Workshop mode.
Yes. You print at 1:1 scale in A4, A3, A2, A1, A0, Letter, Tabloid or a custom format (up to 5000 mm). Large cartoons are automatically split across several sheets to assemble, on a standard printer, without ever losing the scale. The preview is free; downloading the PDF is part of the subscription.
Yes. The DXF export produces the real cut contour of every piece, at actual size and in your working unit (millimeters or inches), ready to open in Silhouette Studio, in Cricut Design Space on desktop, or on a CNC machine (laser, waterjet, plasma). The SVG paths export remains available on every account, including free ones. DXF and the full render SVG export are part of the subscription.
No. Silhouette Studio only imports SVG in its paid editions, but it opens DXF from the free edition, straight as cut lines, with no auto-trace step. Export your project as DXF from Diafane and open it as is.
Yes. Diafane has a dedicated Tiffany (copper foil) mode. You choose the technique at the project level (H/U lead came or Tiffany copper foil), set the foil width and its spacing, then pick the solder finish: silver, copper or black. The rendering, cutting and export adapt automatically to the technique you choose.
The Light mode places your stained glass in a 3D scene and computes the real position of the sun from its orientation (north, south, east, west), the installation location (address or GPS coordinates), the date and the time. From the sun's elevation and azimuth, Diafane simulates in real time the light passing through each piece of glass. You see how your window will live through the day and the seasons.
Illustrator and Procreate draw, but they don't understand stained glass. Diafane is vector-based (Procreate works in pixels), so your lines stay sharp at any scale. Above all, coloring is far simpler: Diafane automatically detects the closed zones inside your paths, where Illustrator forces you to close and fill each piece by hand. Add to that the cutting outlines, the daylight simulation and the export of the cartoon, templates and materials list. You can even import your existing work (SVG) and finish it in Diafane.
Yes. For a client, send the project's PDF or a snapshot of the Light mode showing the final rendering. For a colleague who also uses Diafane, the .diafane file carries the whole project: paths, lead, colors and settings, ready to reopen and edit.
Yes. You can sell your patterns on your own website. With the subscription, you export the printable PDF for a client who wants to make the piece, or the editable .diafane file for a buyer who is a Diafane user.
Yes, you create your own glass: color, transparency (translucent, opalescent…) and texture (smooth, hammered, streaky…), reusable across all your projects. Integrating the official catalogs of the great glassmakers (Bullseye, Wissmach, Oceanside, Kokomo, Lamberts, Saint-Just…) is a goal close to our hearts that we are working on.
Nothing to install. Diafane is a web app that runs in your browser, on any recent computer or tablet, with a stylus such as the Apple Pencil. Built “local-first”, it stays responsive even when the connection gets weak.
Yes, you can start for free: the free account lets you create up to 3 projects and draw with every tool. The subscription (€9.90/month or €99/year) unlocks unlimited projects, file import, exporting the full-render SVG and .diafane, and downloading the workshop PDFs. The free account can export its paths as SVG.
No. Subscriptions aren't refunded pro-rata for the remaining time. You do keep Premium access until the end of the period you've already paid for (the current month or year), so nothing is lost until then, and no further charge is made afterwards. You can cancel anytime.