Inverse Square
Independent software studio

Software for people who make things.

Inverse Square builds focused tools for modelling, simulation, documents, painting and communication. They run on Linux, Mac and the browser, and they don't need a subscription to get started.

I ∝ 1/r² Twice the distance, a quarter of the light.
See what we're building Try the free tools
Inverse squareOne pulse spreading out.
Products

What we're building

Each product gets its own home under inversesquare.app as it reaches its first release. Everything below is in development right now.

  • talk.inversesquare.app

    IWantToTalk

    An AAC app that gives people a voice. Tap symbols and words to build sentences that are spoken aloud.

    In development
  • 3diego.inversesquare.app

    3Diego

    3D modelling, sculpting and rendering, built to be fast to learn and light on your machine.

    An alternative to Blender

    In development
  • quicksim.inversesquare.app

    QuickSim

    Fluid flow, beam and FEA analysis, either as a SolidWorks plug-in or as a standalone app.

    An alternative to SimScale

    In development
  • cad.inversesquare.app

    Parametric CAD

    Sketch, constrain and extrude real parts, with first-class support for Linux, Mac and the browser.

    An alternative to SolidWorks and Onshape

    In development
  • pdf.inversesquare.app

    PDF Suite

    Read, edit, sign, merge and fill in PDFs without the monthly fee.

    An alternative to Adobe Acrobat

    In development
  • paint.inversesquare.app

    Paint

    A natural-media painting app for pen and tablet, with brushes that behave like paint.

    An alternative to Adobe Fresco

    In development
  • optics.inversesquare.app

    Optics

    Tools for optical design: ray tracing, lens layouts and illumination falloff.

    In development
  • print.inversesquare.app

    Print

    A parametric model maker for 3D printing. Set the dimensions, then download a ready-to-slice STL.

    In development
labs.inversesquare.app

Labs

Free tools, files and experiments you can use right now. No sign-up and no catch.

Free tool

Inverse-square light calculator

Find the illuminance a light source gives at any distance. Useful for photography, studio lighting and rendering setups.

At this distance200 lx
At double50 lx
Exposure change−2 EV
  • Caustic lens generatorDesign a 3D-printable lens that projects a character or image onto a wall, then download the STL files.
    Open
  • GPU bench simulatorCompare graphics cards for Blender renders, render-farm cost, local LLMs and image or video generation, against any baseline card.
    Open
  • Retro mirrorless camera selectorFind a rangefinder or SLR-style mirrorless camera with real dials, and see which vintage, modern and vintage-inspired lenses fit each mount.
    Open
  • Parametric print modelsSTL files you can tweak and print
    Coming soon
  • Blender and Cycles presetsLighting rigs and render settings
    Coming soon
  • Engineering calculatorsBeam deflection, unit conversion, section properties
    Coming soon
  • Brushes and texturesFor painting and 3D work
    Coming soon
  • New tools and downloads are added here as they're ready.
node.inversesquare.app

Node

Remote GPU compute for the heavy jobs, so your laptop doesn't have to do them. Coming later.

Rendering

Send a Blender scene and get Cycles frames back.

Simulation

Run CFD and FEA solves from QuickSim on bigger meshes than your machine can hold.

Language models

Run open LLMs on dedicated GPUs, billed by the hour you use.

About

Why the name

Light, gravity, sound and radiation all fade with the square of distance. It's one simple rule that runs through rendering, simulation and optics, which is most of what we build. We aim to make tools that are just as simple, and that reach as many people as possible.