Arden Software launches Impact 2026 with first AI powered capability

Packaging Solutions

Arden Software has launched Impact 2026, introducing the first AI powered capability within Impact – its flagship CAD software for the packaging industry.

Used by packaging designers, die makers and converters around the world, Impact enables users to design corrugated, carton and point of purchase/point of sale packaging, automate manufacturing processes and streamline production workflows from structural design through to manufacture.

The latest release combines AI powered innovation with a wide range of new features and enhancements designed to improve productivity, streamline workflows and help customers get more from Impact.

Leading the release is Design Similarity, the first AI powered capability within Impact. Using machine learning, it quickly finds and ranks similar designs and manufacturing layouts from the user's existing database.

For die makers, this can help identify where previous tooling designs can be reused, saving design time and providing valuable insight from comparable jobs. For packaging converters, it can help identify where suitable tooling may already exist and provide useful information for estimating, pricing and other commercial decisions.

By making previous work easier to find and reuse, Design Similarity turns years of accumulated design, tooling and production knowledge into a practical business asset.

Alongside Design Similarity, Impact 2026 introduces a range of new tools and enhancements designed to simplify everyday workflows. A new Custom Tool Builder allows users to create custom variations of existing Impact tools, making common workflows simpler and more focused without requiring scripting or automation expertise. The release also expands the V120 Standards Library with 629 new standards, creating more than 1000 additional design combinations and making Impact's standards library the largest in the industry.

The release continues to build on Arden's Dynamic Constraints technology, introduced in the previous release to transform packaging design by enabling intelligent, rule based editing that automatically maintains design intent when changes are made. The latest release introduces further Dynamic Constraints enhancements, including the new Wobble Tool and improved editing functionality, giving users even greater flexibility when creating and modifying designs.

Matthew Hewitt, technical director at Arden Software, said: ‘Impact 2026 marks another significant milestone for Arden, introducing AI powered capability into Impact for the first time. Design Similarity is a great example of how we're using new technologies in a practical way to help customers work more efficiently and make better use of the design, tooling and production knowledge they already have.

‘But this release is about much more than AI. From new design tools and enhanced automation to improvements driven directly by customer feedback, Impact 2026 continues our commitment to developing software that solves real-world challenges and helps our customers get the most out of Impact.’

Additional enhancements include updates to the 3DX (extended 3D) import library, providing richer and more up-to-date file format support, alongside a growing suite of productivity enhancing plug-ins designed to automate routine tasks. These include the Valet plug-in, which provides customisable, grouped output to multiple destinations - including multi-file exports, plots and reports – with a single click.

The release also introduces native Python scripting support, helping futureproof customer workflows by replacing legacy VBScript with a modern, widely supported scripting language.

The launch of Impact 2026 follows the latest release of WEBcnx 25.1, Arden's web based production workflow and project management platform. This version introduces new functionality, performance improvements, enhanced Python scripting support and full compatibility with Impact 2026, helping customers create an even more connected workflow from structural design through to production.