Penn Elcom has launched a major upgrade to its Panel Designer software, which allows customers to design and order their own custom 19-inch rack panels.
DXF upload functionality: a key feature of this latest upgrade enhances the platform’s DXF file upload capability, allowing users to upload their own custom cut-outs — unique shapes, connectors and device openings — that are not yet available in the existing library and can now be incorporated into their rack panels.
Panel Designer has been an extraordinarily successful product and service offered by Penn Elcom since its launch in 2019. During this time, the company has manufactured more than 35,000 custom panels for customers in 65 countries — a true international collaboration.
This upgrade further improves the accessibility of Panel Designer by combining the speed of a web-based tool with the precision of custom engineering, helping system integrators and rack builders deliver individual solutions faster and more efficiently than ever in a world where time is constantly limited.
Even before this update, Penn Panel Designer already included an extensive library of industry-standard connector cut-outs and was known for its intuitive “no-CAD-required” interface.
With this update, the gap between user-friendly design and advanced engineering is closed. Industry professionals now have even greater creative freedom and proven technical accuracy to design their custom 19-inch rack panels.
In addition to the improved DXF functionality, other important new features include:
- Intelligent connector guidance: a series of new informational icons and data overlays that display cut-out dimensions in real time, ensuring the hardware fits perfectly from the start, reducing errors and guaranteeing compatibility before production.
- Advanced text positioning: offers improved spacing and positioning controls for cleaner and more precise labelling. Text can be placed closer to cut-outs in high-density layouts while remaining clear and readable.
- Streamlined workflow: the Panel Designer interface is accessible even to users without formal CAD training and reduces the time required from conception to production.
The elements of this Panel Designer update are designed to be robust and meet the demands of real-world touring and AV applications, from installations to live events.
This release empowers customers and expands their ability and autonomy to create individual rack panels. Unique panels can be designed, ordered and delivered according to specific requirements without the need for third-party involvement, said Rob Platt, Sales Director at Penn Elcom.
He adds that the upgrade is the result of listening to the extensive feedback received about Panel Designer — already a brilliant platform and service — and integrating comments and suggestions to make it an even more powerful, flexible, straightforward and cost-effective manufacturing tool.
Numerous satisfied customers are already enjoying the benefits of the upgraded Panel Designer:
- “Panel Designer makes ordering very easy, and the quality of the products is always excellent!”, comments Dean Rowbotham from Sheffield-based D R Guitars.
- Jack Franklin, from Nomad Cases, says: “The software is intuitive and precise, making it quick to create accurate, professional rack panels. A real time saver!”.
- For Sam Robinson of Absolute Casing, it is “simple, efficient, effective and delivered on time. It’s our go-to solution for custom panels”, and he adds that the logo upload process is simple and that the new DXF tool is “the most innovative thing I’ve seen in a long time!”.
- Aramus Raynier, from the busy London-based lighting rental company Colour Sound Experiment, states: “Penn Elcom’s Panel Designer allows us to move from a concept to a completed working panel quickly, accurately and cost-effectively”.
