Summary, for end-users

Even with the release of ChemDraw version 16 from PerkinElmer Informatics, round trip editing using the common drag and drop method still does not work with Office 2016 (although compatibility with Office 2011 continues). With the end of the support lifecycle for Office 2011 on 10/10/2017, it may no longer be possible to install Office 2011 on newer versions of macOS. There is currently a workaround for this problem which is using copy (⌘+C) and Paste as PDF (⌘+Control+V) instead of drag and drop in Office 2016. 

Status in Chemistry:

As of 1/17/17:

Researchers and others to reach out to, in person:

Communication plan:

ChemDraw 16:

Came out ~11/1/16:

The issues in the following section all apply to ChemDraw 16 as well as Chemdraw 15 and Chemdraw 15.1 on Apple MacOS computers.

• http://www.cambridgesoft.com/software/overview.aspx
  • http://www.perkinelmer.com/lab-solutions/resources/docs/DTS_012723B_01_ChemDraw_16.pdf
  • http://www.cambridgesoft.com/literature/PDF/ChemDraw_16.pdf

To do:

What and where is the metadata embedded in files which can round-trip?

• For both TIFF and(?) PDF.

Ensure the following compatibility behavior matrix is completed and accurate

• For any more-recent version of MacOS (macOS), Windows, and ChemDraw.
• Pay attention to version of MS Word (MS Office).
• Similar cut-and-paste issue as with MathType, apparently.

See also:

• http://www.cambridgesoft.com/support/DesktopSupport/KnowledgeBase/SystemRequirements/

• http://disq.us/p/z7dtk1

End of support for Microsoft Office 2011 on October 2017

• https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/search/?p1=15627
  

Microsoft changed how pasting works in Office 2016 for the Mac

• http://forums.cambridgesoft.com/messageview.aspx?catid=12&threadid=3415
• http://forums.cambridgesoft.com/messageview.aspx?catid=12&threadid=3187

Issues with Round trip editing on Macs

• For those using Office 2011 on Macs, it was possible to be able to drag and drop from Chemdraw into Word 2011 and drag and drop the image back into Chemdraw for editing. This is no longer the case for Office 2016.
• Dragging and dropping from ChemDraw 15.1 to Word 2016 will paste an image into the Word document but the image will NOT be editable
• Copying(⌘+C) and Pasting (⌘+V) will only paste text into Word(2016)
• IMPORTANT: Opening a old Office 2011 file in Office 2016 and resaving it will not affect the images already in the document (you can drag them into Chemdraw for editing). However, anything dragged into Office 2016 will still not be editable

Workarounds:

• Use paste as PDF instead of dragging and dropping. Copy the image from ChemDraw(⌘+C) and Paste it into Word 2016 using ⌘+Control+V instead of ⌘+V.

Supporting documentation

http://media.cambridgesoft.com/support/manuals/15_1/ChemOffice%20v15.1%20Release%20Notes.pdf

7 Known Issues, Limitations and Workarounds (as of download date 10/31/2016)

The following list describes the known issues, limitations, and workarounds for ChemOffice 15.1:

• When you copy any object from ChemDraw (Mac) and paste (default) in MS Word 2016, it pastes an MOL text version of that object instead of the original object view.

o Workaround: Use the 'Paste Special >> PDF option in MS Word to get the original object view pasted. This PDF object can be copied back to ChemDraw by maintaining all ChemDraw object properties.