Softpedia >Mac >Utilities >DMG Canvas >  Changelog

DMG Canvas Changelog

What's new in DMG Canvas 4.0

Jan 24, 2023
  • All-New Interface New:
  • An all-new interface that is much more modern and usable.
  • An all-new Build Log view, showing the most recent build.
  • View all DMG file contents in the sidebar.
  • All-new Disk Image view with Summary for an overview of options and macOS version compatibility.
  • Design View Improvements New:
  • View all background layout objects (text and images) in the sidebar.
  • Files hidden from Finder are hidden in the design view and shown in the sidebar.
  • Improved handling of images for Retina-ready design.
  • Updated design view metrics for accurate display of appearance in macOS 13.
  • Building New:
  • Uses the new Apple service for notarization.
  • An all-new Build Log view, showing the most recent build.
  • A more detailed build log with more error information if encountered.
  • New options to select dmg compression formats (LZFSE, LZMA, bzip2, etc)
  • Defaults to APFS and LZFSE, for modern disk image distribution with fast decompression and mounting.
  • Developer Integration New:
  • Automate building disk images using Apple's Shortcuts app in macOS.
  • Generate an Xcode Post-Archive build script to automatically build your disk image.
  • Uses a new human-readable document format which is better suited to being included in version control systems.

New in DMG Canvas 3.0.15 (Jul 9, 2021)

  • Notarize Disk images for macOS Catalina
  • Updated interface which supports macOS Dark Mode
  • New "None/Default" background option to support bare Dark Mode disk images
  • Dark Mode preview of the disk image contents
  • Improved Undo and improved background object resizing
  • Improved build progress and cancellation
  • Added Hebrew and Russian languages for Liceneses
  • Smaller file sizes and other improvements

New in DMG Canvas 2.4.1 Build 324 (Dec 19, 2017)

  • New:
  • Works around a bug in macoS 10.3 High Sierra which results in "Icon?" files being mistakenly visible.

New in DMG Canvas 2.3.4 Build 316 (Oct 27, 2016)

  • New:
  • Extended attributes are stripped from the dmg before code signing so that it does not fail. (Encrypted dmgs needlessly have an xattr added to them by hdiutil causing such a failure.)

New in DMG Canvas 2.3.3 Build 314 (Oct 8, 2016)

  • New:
  • DMG Canvas now checks for case-insensitive file name conflicts, points out which specific files are conflicting, and advises for them to be renamed to resolve the conflict.
  • Invisible files in the mounted disk image (.background, .Trashes, .DS_Store, etc) are now moved out of view so they do not visibily overlap other files when the end-user has the hidden Finder preference turned on which displays invisible files.

New in DMG Canvas 2.3.2 Build 311 (Sep 27, 2016)

  • Fixes:
  • Fixes a very rare issue where an alias might have been created with an incorrect path in the built disk image.

New in DMG Canvas 2.3.1 Build 306 (Jul 28, 2016)

  • New:
  • Adds current command line tool path to the tool window.
  • Adds a note if the code signing step fails due to likely Keychain item access failure.
  • Fixes:
  • Fixes a rare crash when working with text objects in the background view.
  • Fixes some issues with registration.

New in DMG Canvas 2.2.1 Build 293 (Apr 8, 2016)

  • Fixes:
  • Fixed an important typo in the dmgcanvas command line tool usage documentation.

New in DMG Canvas 2.2 Build 292 (Apr 8, 2016)

  • New:
  • Added a setfilepath option to the dmgcanvas command line tool so that file paths can be overridden.
  • Appearance tweaks for Yosemite and later.
  • Retina images added.
  • Disables autosave of documents completely. This avoids the ~ file and the undesired behavior of autosaving in general.
  • Fixes:
  • No longer offers to create a symlink in /usr/bin since OS X's System Integrity Protection prevents that from working.
  • Ensuring correct handling of aliases and symlinks when when copying files.
  • Fixes when to set custom icon on a file. (It wasn't being set correctly on (true) aliases.
  • Much improved error handling when copying files.

New in DMG Canvas 2.1.7 Build 284 (May 20, 2013)

  • New:
  • Supports Resume and autosaved documents on Lion and later.
  • Added an Enter Full Screen menu item on Lion and later.
  • The disk image contents are now shown translucently in the Background editor view for easier layout.
  • The composited background image saved into the dmg is now sized to the larger of the background image or the given window bounds + 64 width/height.

New in DMG Canvas 2.1.6 Build 282 (Apr 6, 2013)

  • Changes:
  • Any alias or symbolic link (relative or absolute) which references a file that will be in the disk image, will be created as a relative symbolic link in the disk image pointing to the correct file. This makes all aliases and symbolic links, regardless of how they were create, consistent in how they behave in the disk image and avoids unexpected broken references.

New in DMG Canvas 2.1.5 Build 281 (Jan 10, 2013)

  • Fixes:
  • The tool tip for Auto-Open is correct now. The setting also works independently of internet enabled.
  • General improvements to error reporting during DMG building.
  • Avoids a delay (which could be lengthy) at the beginning of finalizing.
  • Cancelling always works now.

New in DMG Canvas 2.1.4 Build 278 (Nov 29, 2012)

  • Fixes:
  • The individual icon image scaling (File Icon -> Size in the right sidebar) is now properly saved, which lets the dmgcanvas tool apply it properly.

New in DMG Canvas 2.1.3 Build 277 (Nov 27, 2012)

  • Fixes: If the dmgcanvas tool encounters an error during the build process, it now properly stops and exits with the status code 6.

New in DMG Canvas 2.1.2 Build 276 (Nov 15, 2012)

  • New:
  • Can now be registered using the version purchased through the Mac App Store.
  • Fixes:
  • Fixed a problem with adding files using the Add Files toolbar button.

New in DMG Canvas 2.1.1 Build 275 (Sep 15, 2012)

  • New:
  • Full screen mode support.
  • OS Build Target setting added into preferences and per-document.
  • Appearance tweaks.

New in DMG Canvas 2.1 Build 274 (Sep 12, 2012)

  • New:
  • You can now add double-sized 144 DPI images to use for Retina screens.
  • When adding an image to the dmg as either the background or a background object, it warns you if it's not 144 dpi, so you know it won't look right on Retina screens.
  • Text objects can now have colors with alpha values.
  • Added Font into the Text inspector.
  • Built dmg file name and location are saved and properly suggested the next time you build the disk image.
  • When you switch to the Background view, it automatically selects the Text sidebar inspector so it's obvious that it's there.
  • Fixes:
  • The cmdline tool now verifies the destination path is not a folder. This prevents you from accidentally overwriting your Desktop folder, for example.

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.11 Build 266 (Feb 22, 2012)

  • dmgcanvas command line tool fix.

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.10 Build 260 (Oct 7, 2011)

  • New:
  • Added an "Auto-open Folder" option in the disk image settings. When checked, Finder will automatically open the disk image when mounted.
  • Fixes:
  • Bug fix for files with colons in their names
  • Bug fix for the dmgcanvas command line tool when giving it a relative path to the template document.

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.9 Build 256 (Jul 16, 2011)

  • Fixes:
  • Fixed a background text item bug introduced in 2.0.8

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.8 Build 254 (Jul 16, 2011)

  • New:
  • Requires 10.6
  • Avoids using Finder if it's not needed. This eliminates potential problems with the dmg's settings not being saved properly, and some settings being saved incorrectly. Removed setting for leopard compatibility since it now does it by default.
  • Better error reporting when building
  • Can build multiple documents simultaneously (as long as they have different volume names)
  • dmgcanvas command line tool allows you to specify a volume icon and background image path as arguments
  • The generated background image is created 64 pixels taller than the window size so that if the Finder window height is off (due to varying behaviors in different versions of Finder), then there'll will still be part of the background image visible instead of it being obviously cut off.
  • Fixes:
  • Fixed a building bugs when viewing the Licenses view, or saving when viewing the Licenses view which break builds by not including a background image.
  • Building no longer marks the document as unsaved
  • Fixes some bugs which could cause a crash on build
  • Ensures that the disk image always has a volume name

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.6 Build 240 (Jul 16, 2010)

  • Fixes:
  • The location of a file's name in the Contents view correctly matches Snow Leopard's Finder for varying icon sizes.
  • Fixed a bug which caused relative paths to not work when using new package template documents with the dmgcanvas tool.
  • When a document is saved or built, the uncommitted license text is now always properly committed and used.
  • When building or saving, it ends editing in the window so any uncommitted field values are now committed.
  • Changes:
  • QuickLook previews in DMG Canvas documents now use jpg instead of tiff

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.5 Build 238 (Apr 23, 2010)

  • New:
  • The dmgcanvas command line tool has a -leopard-compatible option which allows callers to force compatibility on or off instead of trying to use the DMG Canvas.app preference. It's strongly recommended this option be used.

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.4 Build 234 (Apr 10, 2010)

  • Changes:
  • Better error reporting related to background images
  • Fixes:
  • Command line tool crash
  • When building a dmg with a background color (not an image), the background objects (text and images) weren't included.

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.3 Build 231 (Mar 27, 2010)

  • New:
  • Added 'Build and Pause' ability to the command line tool.
  • Updated documentation to explain how files are referenced.
  • Changes:
  • Deprecated use of -t and -o in dmgcanvas tool. Still allowed for compatibility.
  • Fixes:
  • Required disk image size calculation ignores symbolic link destinations.
  • Respects .svn and other invisible folders inside of DMG Canvas documents.
  • Build status and hdiutil output is not logged to stdout when using the GUI, but is when using the tool
  • If a disk image already exists at the destination, it is removed before building when using the tool.
  • Build errors are reported in the command line tool instead of failing silently.
  • Fixed a crash when setting the volume icon on 10.5.

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.2 Build 226 (Mar 18, 2010)

  • New:
  • Added a checkbox to specify a file should be invisible (using Finder metadata). Available for advanced users.
  • Changes:
  • Backwards compatibility is turned on by default in Preferences.
  • The dmgcanvas tool can be used for 30 days without registering so that users can test it.
  • Fixes:
  • Fixed a problem with backwards compatibility which caused file names to appear truncated in Finder.
  • The build process handles files with Unicode characters properly.
  • Fixed a bug where the wrong window background color could be set.
  • Fixed the bug where doing a build and pause would make successive builds build and pause until build and finalize was explicitly chosen.

New in DMG Canvas 2.0.1 Build 223 (Mar 2, 2010)

  • Changes:
  • Changed background image quality to be explicitly lossless JPEG
  • Renamed Show Toolbar to Show Sidebar
  • When you click on Background when it's unregistered, it switches the toolbar selection to the Design view so it's not confusing.
  • Fixes:
  • Fixed a bug which caused files at the top level of dmgs to not be counted towards the disk image size.
  • Fixed a bug where changing the format of the disk image set the wrong value causing the build process to lock up.
  • Fixed typo in English license key button localization.

New in DMG Canvas 2.0 Build 220 (Feb 22, 2010)

  • New:
  • All-new Background Editing Mode
  • Add and resize multiple images
  • Add text objects with custom font, color, and shadow.
  • The disk image background can now be a gradient.
  • Added optional "Finalizing" stage. If you Build & Pause, you can now manually tweak the disk image in Finder before "finalizing" the disk image.
  • New window options:
  • File name font size in the dmg
  • File name label can be on the right side of the file
  • Can show toolbar on the dmg
  • Customizable layout grid with snapping.
  • Alignment guides to the center of the window and to other icons.
  • You can nudge items with the arrow keys
  • Added an inspector view for selected files
  • Shows file path (editable), icon, file size, and position
  • You can resize individual file icons (this resizes the icon itself)
  • Added an option for doing manual disk image sizing. Just incase.
  • Add and Remove toolbar items
  • Toolbar button is visible
  • QuickLook preview of documents
  • Fully supports 256 and 512 sized icons.
  • Added Build submenu to the File menu
  • Added a preference to apply Leopard and Tiger compatibility to disk images built on Snow Leopard.
  • Changes:
  • "Compression" now uses bzip compression (Requires mounting on 10.4+)
  • Saves background images as jpg now instead of tiff (saves space)
  • Disk content items and image objects favor their relative paths instead of absolute paths
  • The dmgcanvas tool now requires DMG Canvas be registered.
  • Fixes:
  • Speed improvements
  • Plugged some memory leaks
  • More accurate hit testing when click on an item
  • Updated size-of-files determination to be more accurate.
  • Setting licenses on an encrypted disk no longer causes a lockup

New in DMG Canvas 1.0.8 Build 154 (Mar 30, 2009)

  • [Fix]The dmgcanvas tool properly resolves paths to the disk image content items if they or the document has moved. (DMG Canvas.app already did this properly.)

New in DMG Canvas 1.0.7 Build 152 (Mar 18, 2009)

  • [New]The dmgcanvas tool now has a -v option for setting the name of mounted volume. This can be used as part of a build script to add the version to the mounted volume's name.
  • [Fix]Symbolic links are handled better when determining the required size of the disk image. Prevents a crash in rare cases where there are gajillions of symlinks.

New in DMG Canvas 1.0.6 Build 146 (Mar 13, 2009)

  • Aliases created by holding the Control key when dragging into the dmg document should now work for all end-users. (ie Applications)

New in DMG Canvas 1.0.3 (Dec 12, 2008)

  • [Fix] Builds 10.3.9 compatibile disk images.
  • [Fix] No longer always creates Internet Enabled disk images.