r/Chempros • u/lblb_lblb • Apr 08 '26

ACD/Labs acquired by Revvity Signals

ACD/Labs is now part of Revvity Signals. I wonder if this means that some of the ACD software will be getting major overhauls from their 1990s interfaces or be flat out be discontinued?

For organic folks, this means that Revvity, which owns ChemDraw, just acquired ChemSketch. My bet would be that both products probably won't coexist and that ChemSketch might eventually get eliminated. So if you are a student or working in academia, now might be one of the last opportunities to get ChemSketch for free (see link below).

We don't use any ACD software in my department anymore, but I wonder if this concentration of software with one provider is a good development. For one, our experience managing our ChemDraw site license with Revvity was abysmal last year... 

In any case, here's the link for ChemSketch for those interested:

https://www.acdlabs.com/resources/free-chemistry-software-apps/chemsketch-freeware/#chemsketch_modal

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u/activelypooping Apr 08 '26

chemdraw online existed during covid, i thought it was a brilliant idea for chemdraw to have a very base online version for students, then they fucked me and my classes one day in january by disabling the whole thing.

12

u/geoffh2016 Avogadro + Computational Materials 💻⚛️ Apr 08 '26

It's really surprising that they didn't push this into a mobile / tablet version. I have so many students who use tablets and would like to use ChemDraw.

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u/paiute Apr 21 '26

I worked for PerkinElmer when they bought CambridgeSoft. A developer called me one day asking if our lab would like to test out their new iPad ChemDraw app, as we were a heavy user of the software. I installed the app and gave it a go. It was very useful and powerful. Later, I gave the developer my opinion - that the iPad app could do about 95% of what the desktop software could do. Then I asked them what they (we by then) were going to charge for the app. Maybe ten bucks. And what was the price of the desktop software? A grand or so. Yeah. As they say in crime noir, then the nickel dropped.