Altium Designer Viewer - Viewing PCB Documents
Contents
- Specifying Document Options
- Specifying Workspace Preferences
- Right-Click Menus
- Panning
- Zooming
- Rotation (3D Mode)
- Changing the Current Layer
- Layer Sets
- Selection Memory
- Filtering Objects
- Mask Level Controls
- Clear Filtering
- TrueType Font Support
- Flipping the Board
- Board Insight System
- Associated Panels
- Interrogating Design Rules
In Altium Designer Viewer PCB documents are opened in the PCB Editor. The tools and utilities needed to inspect the PCB design and generate reports and assembly drawings, are available in the editor.
When the PCB Editor is active (i.e. a PCB document (*.PcbDoc) is open and active) the main application window will contain:
- A main design window in which to view the design – capable of display in 2D and 3D modes.
- Editor-specific menus and toolbars.
- Workspace panels – both global and editor-specific.
Each PCB document will appear, when opened, as a tabbed document view in the main design window.
The following sections offer useful hints and tips with respect to viewing and inspecting PCB documents in the main design window.
Specifying Document Options
Options specific to the active PCB document are defined in the Board Options dialog, which can be accessed by choosing Design»Board Options from the main menus.
This dialog provides controls for defining the various grid systems, specifying units of measurement and controlling the display and position of an associated (back) sheet on which the board is placed.
Many dialogs in the PCB Editor offer the ability to toggle the currently used measurement unit, between Metric (mm) and Imperial (mil). Simply click on the icon, in the top-left corner of the dialog, and choose the Toggle Units command from the subsequent menu that appears (shortcut: Ctrl+Q). The current unit of measurement is reflected next to the dialog's name, as well as in any fields that display a value. Toggling units at any time does not affect system accuracy as all numerical calculations are carried out at system resolution.
You can change the metric display precision – between 3 and 5 digits to the right of the decimal point – from the PCB Editor – General page of the Preferences dialog (DXP»Preferences). All open PCB documents must be closed for this option to become available and changing the precision will require a restart of the Viewer.
To view the layer stack for the active PCB document, choose Design»Layer Stack Manager from the main menus. The Layer Stack Manager dialog will appear.
The PCB Editor can display the PCB in 2D or 3D modes with definitions for layers, surfaces, colors, visibility and other items – known as View Configurations – presented in the View Configurations dialog. Access this dialog by choosing Design»Board Layers & Colors from the main menus. You can create and save any 2D or 3D View Configurations for use time and again.
The Viewer does not support altering colors for layers, in either viewing mode.
The 2D viewing mode is a multi-layered environment that is the traditional environment for PCB design. The 3D viewing mode is useful for examining a design both inside and out as a realistic 3D model. You can switch between 2D and 3D modes using the applicable View»Switch To 3D (shortcut: 3) or View»Switch To 2D commands. (shortcut: 2).
For all dialogs in the PCB Editor, use the 'What's This Help' feature to obtain detailed information about each of the options available. Click on the question mark button at the top right of the dialog and then click over a field or option to pop-up information specific to that field or option.
Specifying Workspace Preferences
General workspace preferences – applicable to all PCB documents – are defined on the relevant pages contained within the PCB Editor section of the Preferences dialog. Choosing Design»Preferences from the main menus will take you to the PCB Editor – General page of this dialog.
Again, use the dialog's 'What's This Help' feature to obtain detailed information about each of the options available across the various pages.
Right-Click Menus
Right-clicking in the main design window will pop-up a menu providing commands to access commonly used features such as document options and workspace preferences, as well as commands that are in context with the object currently under the cursor.
Panning
Panning in the workspace can be carried out in the following ways:
- Using the horizontal and vertical scroll bars.
- Using the keyboard arrow keys (holding Shift key for faster movement).
- Using mouse-wheel for up/down, Shift+Mouse-wheel for left/right.
- Right-drag mouse to pan in any direction.
Zooming
Zooming in the workspace can be achieved in one the following ways:
- Ctrl+right-drag mouse or Ctrl+mouse-wheel.
- Using the Page Up (zoom in) and Page Down (zoom out) keyboard shortcuts. (Hold down the Shift or Ctrl keys to provide finer and coarser zooming respectively).
- Push and hold down the mouse-wheel button, then move mouse forward or backward.
Rotation (3D Mode)
When viewing a PCB in 3D, hold down the Shift key to enter 3D rotation mode. This is represented on screen by a directional sphere at the cursor position.
Rotational movement is made about the center of the sphere using the following controls:
- Right-drag sphere Center Dot with the mouse for 'free rotation' – rotate in any direction.
- Right-drag sphere Horizontal Arrow with the mouse to rotate the board about the Y-axis.
- Right-drag sphere Vertical Arrow with the mouse to rotate the board about the X-axis.
- Right-drag sphere Circle Segment with the mouse to rotate the board about the Z-axis.
Altium Designer supports a number of 3D mouse and 3D space navigation devices. These devices can improve the 3D navigation experience.
Changing the Current Layer
One workspace layer is 'current' at any given time. There is a tab for each layer at the bottom of the main design window.
A layer can be made current by clicking on its corresponding tab. The tab will subsequently become more 'pronounced' and the text on the tab – the name of the layer – will become bold. Each tab also shows the color of its associated layer. The color swatch, to the left of the layer tabs will also change to reflect the color of the current layer. Clicking this color swatch will give access to the View Configurations dialog.
Depending on the number of layers visible in the workspace, there may not be enough room to display all corresponding layer tabs. In this case, scroll buttons will appear at the far right of the tabs – .
Using the + and - keys on the numeric keypad, you can cycle forward and backward through all visible layers in the workspace. Alternatively, hold the Ctrl+Shift keys while using the mouse wheel. Pressing the * key on the numeric keypad will cycle forward through visible signal layers for the design (Shift+* for cycling back).
Right-click on a layer tab to access a menu of layer-related commands, including the ability to hide or highlight the layer, and the display type for the layer name text on the tab – Long (e.g. Top Layer), Medium (e.g. Top), or Short (e.g. TL).
right-click menu.
Layer Sets
A typical board design could include 8 signal layers, 4 plane layers and 10 mechanical layers, as well as the top and bottom silkscreen and ancillary layers, such as solder and paste masks. Layer sets are an ideal way of managing the display of this large number of layers.
To toggle the display between different layer sets that have been defined for the PCB document you are currently viewing, use the Layer Set control, to the left of the layer tabs. The popup menu will automatically present the defined list of layer sets from which to choose. Alternatively, change the current layer set from the Design»Manage Layer Sets sub-menu.
Selection Memory
The Selection Memory feature enables you to select objects in your design and save the selection for recall at any time. Commands related to this feature can be found on the Edit»Selection Memory sub-menus, but full control over the feature is also provided courtesy of the Selection Memory pop-up dialog. Access this dialog by clicking on the button at the bottom right of the main design window.
the Selection Memory dialog - 'command central' for the feature.
Stored selections are only available in the memory while the applicable PCB document remains open in the Viewer.
Filtering Objects
Main articles: Introduction to the Query Language, An Insiders Guide to the Query Language, Query Language Reference
Underlying the Viewer's PCB Editor is a powerful query engine. By entering queries into this engine you can filter down to find and view precisely those objects you require. The Viewer's powerful data filtering system lets you instruct the software to return you a specified set of objects. This instruction is entered in the form of a Query. A query is a string you enter using specific keywords and syntax, which will return the targeted objects. What you do with those objects is up to you. Perhaps you want to highlight them, dimming out all other objects. Or perhaps you want to browse or sort their properties, and view specific attributes that they all share.
Returned results from an applied filter can be seen graphically in the workspace, or by using the PCB List and PCB Inspector panels.
There are a number of places where you can apply a query, but command central is the PCB Filter panel panel. Press F12 to quickly display/hide this panel. Query strings can be typed directly into the panel or, if you require comprehensive help to construct the required string (and not have to remember all the keywords!), click the Helper button, to access the Query Helper dialog.
courtesy of the Query Helper.
In some areas of the Viewer filtering is applied in a more automated fashion, without having to manually construct logical query expressions. The PCB panel is one such example, where clicking on an entry in the panel will apply temporary filtering automatically. Another source of filtering is the Find Similar Objects dialog. This dialog appears when you right-click on any unmasked object in your design document and select Find Similar Objects from the context menu. The idea with this dialog is that it lets you find objects similar to the one you right-clicked on, where you define which of the object's attributes must be the same (or different) for a match.
Mask Level Controls
Click the button at the bottom right of the main design window to access a pop-up containing controls for adjusting the masking level when the Mask or Dim highlighting methods are employed as part of temporary or permanent filtering (for example, from the PCB Filter Panel, or PCB panel).
When the Mask highlighting method is enabled, filtered objects will appear visible in the main design window, with all other objects displayed in monochrome.
The Background Objects Factor slide control determines the level of contrast for the unfiltered objects.
When the Dim highlighting method is enabled, filtered objects will appear visible in the main design window, with all other objects retaining their colors, but becoming 'dimmed'.
The Masked Objects Factor slide control determines the level of visibility of the unfiltered objects (i.e. how dimmed they are).
The Highlight Objects Factor slide control determines the intensity of the Highlight Color that is applied to the filtered objects.
The Highlight Color is only applied to filtered objects when using the Dim highlighting method, provided the Apply Highlight During Interactive Editing option is enabled, on the PCB Editor – Display page of the Preferences dialog (DXP»Preferences).
Clear Filtering
Click on the button at the bottom right of the main design window, or use the Shift+ C shortcut, in order to clear any existing filtering applied to the current PCB document. If the filtering is temporary in nature, you can click anywhere inside the main design window in order to clear the filtering. If the applied filtering is permanent in nature, you must use this button, or one of its counterparts which can be found in the respective dialog(s) or panel(s) from which the original filtering was initiated.
TrueType Font Support
Although with the Viewer you are not able to change fonts used for text-based objects inside any PCB documents (remember, document's can't be modified), you are able to specify a substitution font. Font substitution enables you to specify a TrueType font to be used as a replacement when loading a design that has made use of TrueType fonts. This is especially relevant where the TrueType fonts have not been embedded into that design or one or more TrueType (or OpenType) fonts used within the design – and that were available for use on the source computer running Altium Designer – are not available on the computer upon which you are currently loading the design.
Specify the substitution font on the PCB Editor – True Type Fonts page of the Preferences dialog (DXP»Preferences). All TrueType and OpenType fonts found in the \Windows\Fonts folder will be available for use (OpenType being a superset of TrueType). By default Arial is used for the substitution.
substitution font when loading a PCB document to view.
Flipping the Board
The PCB Editor's Flip Board feature, available from the main View menu, enables you to "flip" the entire PCB workspace, as though you were turning the board over in your hands. This allows you to inspect the bottom of the board just as quickly and efficiently as you can the top.
The coordinate space remains logically the same, so the workspace origin moves from bottom left to bottom right and the current grid position increases in the X direction as you move the mouse from right to left (instead of the normal left to right, when viewing the board from the top).
Any output generated while the view of the board is flipped will maintain the correct viewed-from-top coordinate information. The layer drawing order is changed using a logical-pair swapping process. This means that TopOverlay will swap positions in the current layer drawing order with BottomOverlay, TopLayer with BottomLayer, Mid Layer1 with Mid Layer30, Internal Plane1 with Internal Plane16, and so on. The drawing order of mechanical layers is not changed. This drawing order change is managed internally and will not be reflected in the Layer Drawing Order dialog.
In order to retain the current cursor position, it is recommended that the Flip Board command be invoked through use of its keyboard shortcut (V, B). The view of the board can be toggled between 'view-from-bottom' and 'view-from-top' by launching the Flip Board command again. The view state is automatically restored to the standard top-side viewing if the PCB document is closed and reopened.
Board Insight System
Main article: Working with the Board Insight System
The Viewer provides an integrated set of view-management features, which are collectively referred to as the Board Insight System. These features make it easier to view and understand the objects in a PCB design. The Board Insight System includes:
- Insight Lens
- Board Insight panel
- 3D Visualization panel
- Heads Up Display cursor information
- Floating graphical views
- Enhanced Single Layer Mode
- Simplified net highlighting.
information for objects through the Board Insight panel. Right: Inspect points of the design up-close, with the Insight Lens.
Display options for the Board Insight system are defined on the PCB Editor – Board Insight related pages of the Preferences dialog (DXP»Preferences).
Associated Panels
Main article: Altium Designer Panels Reference
The following workspace panels are specific to the PCB Editor:
Certain workspace panels, although not specific to the PCB Editor, will be used frequently when viewing and inspecting a design. These include the Projects panel and the Messages panel. For more information on a specific panel, press F1 when the cursor is over that panel.
Interrogating Design Rules
Main article: Design Rules
Choose Design»Rules from the main menus to access the PCB Rules and Constraints Editor dialog, from where you can browse the rule constraints that have been defined for the active PCB design document you are viewing.
A list of currently defined rules are also displayed in the PCB Rules And Violations panel. All rules can be viewed or only those rules associated with a particular rule type. The enabled/disabled status of each rule can be quickly viewed using the panel.
Clicking on a specific rule, with the Mask or Dim option on the panel enabled, allows you to easily identify and examine which objects an enabled rule applies to.