Athanor by arbastro
download
Help center

How to open CDX and CDXML files

Press Ctrl+O (Open a file) and choose the .cdx or .cdxml file, or drag it onto the Athanor window. Structures stay structures, so you can keep editing them.

On a Mac, Ctrl is Cmd.

Steps

  1. In a document, press Ctrl+O (Open a file), or on Home choose Open a file or a picture.

    The Open a file or a picture button on Athanor Home, beside Join a class.The Open a file or a picture button on Athanor Home, beside Join a class.

  2. Choose the .cdx or .cdxml file. You can also drag the file from your desktop or File Explorer onto the Athanor window.

  3. The drawing opens on the canvas. Click a structure, or press Ctrl+A, and the Properties panel shows what is selected. The Layers panel lists each structure with its formula and molecular weight.

    A structure from a ChemDraw CDXML file selected in Athanor, with its formula listed in Layers.A structure from a ChemDraw CDXML file selected in Athanor, with its formula listed in Layers.

  4. Look at the issues badge at the bottom left of the canvas. No issues means every structure was read as valid chemistry. A count means something needs a look; click it to see what.

Note

In the Windows app, .cdx and .cdxml files also open from File Explorer with a double-click.

What comes across

Atoms, bonds, wedges, coordinates, arrows and text open as editable Athanor objects, the same parts Athanor writes back when you send a file to a ChemDraw user. To turn the file into another format, open it and then use Export (Ctrl+Shift+E), for example to save it as MOL or SMILES.

Switching from ChemDrawHow to use your ChemDraw style sheetsPick a style from Document type in the Properties panel (with nothing selected): ACS Document 1996 and the other ChemDraw journal styles are there. File › Save document type as ChemDraw style sheet writes a .cds file for colleagues still on ChemDraw.Files and formatsHow to export a figure or structure filePress Ctrl+Shift+E, pick a format (Ctrl-click to pick several), read what it keeps and loses, then press Export or Copy. Export again (Ctrl+Alt+E) repeats the last choice.

Is this helpful?

Last updated Nov 12, 2026