Getting Started with Ansys Optics
Welcome to Ansys Optics. This website is your home for information about your Optics products, delivered by Ansys, part of Synopsys. The Optics product suite is powered by best-in-class physics solvers, including Ansys Zemax, Ansys Lumerical, and Ansys Speos. Our Optics products all offer integrated multiphysics workflows, intuitive design platforms, and world-class support.
In this welcome guide, you will find the necessary resources to help you get started with your software so you can build your first optics and photonics simulation.
Product Installation and Evaluations
Download the Ansys Optics installation package, unzip the installation file, and follow the standard installation procedure for your operating system. You can download the latest version of Ansys Speos, Ansys Zemax, and Ansys Lumerical from the Ansys Customer Portal. There are two methods to download:
- Installing using the Ansys automated installer
- Installation using the stand-alone installer for Windows
If you need to review the process for obtaining an evaluation license visit here.
Requirements and Troubleshooting Tips
- Depending on the license you have, an Ansys account may be required to complete installation. You can register by following the instructions here.
- Note: Free/web-based email domains are not supported.
- All Ansys products connect to a license server to run. To install the licenses on the Ansys License Manager on your machine, follow these instructions. To connect to licenses on Ansys Shared Web licensing, follow these instructions.
- If you are accessing the software with an evaluation license, please note:
- The license information will be sent to your registered email address. Check your junk/spam mailbox if you do not see it.
- Products can only be evaluated once. If you evaluated Ansys Optics products in the past or you require more time, please contact us.
Where to find help & information
In-Product Resources
Product Documentation
Within your Ansys Optics product, clicking a question mark “?” will bring you to the documentation for that product. Documentation is hosted online for all products. For Ansys Zemax, it is also offered via the Ansys Local Help tool.
Ansys Engineering Copilot
Ansys Engineering Copilot is available in all Ansys Optics products as of 2026 R1. This tool provides you with access to our online resources in-product.
The tool is broken into 6 tabs:
- Home: Conducting a search on this tab will provide you with results from Ansys Innovation Space, Ansys.com’s collection of webinars, Ansys Optics webpages, and more.
- Learning: In this tab, you have access to curated learning material that is hosted on Ansys Innovation Space, under the Learning Center. Content under the Learning Center may be free or paid.
- Forum: In this tab, you have access to the Ansys Learning Forum, hosted in the Ansys Innovation Space. Under this tab, you may search for topics from your peers, reply to threads, or create a new thread.
- Support: In this tab, you will be able to create a case with the Ansys Optics support team if you are eligible to do so. See Getting Support for details on eligibility.
- AnsysGPT: In this tab, you will have access to AnsysGPT.
Ansys Engineering Copilot does require an internet connection.
Files available with your product download
Our products come with useful files for you to use as a reference in your own design. Find the details below:
- Lumerical installs with the Optics Launcher which provides in-product access to our Application Gallery example files.
- Lumerical provides script examples showcasing job schedulers within the folder Lumercial/v###/scripts where “###” represents the version number.
- Zemax installs a folder of samples on your machine, typically in the Documents folder. Navigate to Zemax/Samples for pre-made lens files, categorized based on usage mode and application. Navigate to Zemax/ZOS-API Sample Code for pre-made scripts to use in generating your own automations.
- Zemax offers a wide array of starting files within Libraries…Design Templates. Items within this catalog represent textbook and publicly-available patent examples.
Online Resources
Ansys Optics Knowledge Base (KB) and Application Gallery
The Ansys Optics Application Gallery: The Application Gallery provides application-specific examples across different industries. Because the examples are application-focused, they are not limited to a specific product. The examples may use multiple Ansys tools. Each article is curated by our technical team based on our work with industry professionals.
The Ansys Optics Knowledge Base: The Knowledge Base provides product-specific tutorials. Tutorials are focused on how to setup and use features and tools within each product. Tutorials will also provide some insight about the utility of a given tool or feature. Find the Knowledge Bases below:
- Installation & Licensing Knowledge Base
- Ansys Lumerical Knowledge Base
- Ansys Speos Knowledge Base
- Ansys Zemax Knowledge Base
- High Performance Computing Knowledge Base
Ansys Learning Hub (ALH)
The Ansys Learning Hub is the home of our instructor-led tutorial content. Courses are split into individual lessons, averaging 8 hours per lesson. Users are provided with slides, video walk-throughs, and sample files to get them started. This is the best place to go for a comprehensive overview of how to use each of the Ansys Optics products.
Note: Access to ALH requires a separate subscription. Talk to your Account Manager for access.
Ansys Innovation Space (AIS)
The Ansys Innovation Space hosts the Ansys Learning Forum and Ansys Innovation Courses.
The Ansys Learning Forum contains insight from long-time users as well as Ansys, Synopsys staff. This is the best place to start if you have a question, as the answer may already be available in a community discussion.
Ansys Innovation Courses are self-paced learning tracks, created by Ansys staff or by our trusted Channel Partners. These courses are generally shorter than the courses on ALH.
Getting Support
If you cannot find the answer to your question in the resources above, reach out to our team! Support is available via a browser, or via the in-product Ansys Engineering Copilot. How you obtain support depends on how you purchased your license. Find the methods below:
If you are a commercial customer who purchased their license from Ansys direct, then you can obtain support via the Ansys Customer Support Space.
If you are a US-government-affiliated customer who purchased their license through Ansys direct and/or Ansys Government Initiatives (AGI), then you can obtain support through the AGI Customer Support Space.
If you are a customer who purchased their license through a Channel Partner, then you can obtain support through your Channel Partner’s support portal or email. A list of Channel Partner support links is available here.
If you are a student or educator who purchased an Ansys Academic license, then you can obtain support through the Ansys Learning Forum.
Additional Resources
At Ansys, we’re passionate about sharing expertise and covering the latest industry trends to help inspire and drive your latest innovation. Explore available Ansys on-demand webinars, white papers, blogs, and customer case studies to take advantage of the ones most relevant to you.