Once a new surface node has been created on the navigation tree, it becomes the "Active" surface group of the project workspace, which is always listed in bold letters. When you draw a new CAD object such as a Box or a Sphere, it is inserted under the currently active surface type. There is only one surface group that is active at any time. Any surface type can be made active by right clicking on its name in the navigation tree and selecting the '''Activate''' item of the contextual menu. It is recommended that you first create surface groups, and then draw new objects under the active surface group. However, if you start a new EM.Illumina project from scratch, and start drawing a new object without having previously defined any surface groups, a new default PEC surface group is created and added to the navigation tree to hold your new CAD object.
[[Image:Info_icon.png|40px]] Click here to learn more about '''[[Defining_Materials_in_EM.Cube#Moving_Objects_among_Material_Groups | Moving Objects among Material Surface Groups]]'''.
{{Note|In [[EM.Cube]], you can import external CAD models (such as STEP, IGES, STL models, etc.) only to [[CubeCAD]]. From [[CubeCAD]], you can then move the imported objects to EM.Illumina.}}