Angular Dimension

Parent page: PCB Dialogs

Summary

Use the Angular Dimension group object to document angles within the PCB design.

Access

The Angular Dimension dialog can be accessed prior to entering placement mode, from the PCB Editor - Defaults page of the Preferences dialog (DXP >> Preferences). This allows you to change the default properties for the object, which will be applied when placing subsequent Objects.

During placement, the Angular Dimension dialog can be accessed by pressing the Tab key.

After placement, the dialog can be accessed in the following ways:

• Double-clicking an existing Angular Dimension.
• Placing the cursor over an Angular Dimension and selecting Properties from the right-click context menu.
• Run command Edit >> Change, then click an existing object

Options/Controls

Angular Dimension Display Settings

• Text Height - the height of the angle text.
• Pick Gap - the distance between the reference object and the Angular Dimension's extension line.
• Arrow Size - the width of the arrow on the angular arc.
• Text Width - the line thickness of the angle text.
• Length - the length of the dimensions' angular arc.
• Offset - the distance between the arrow head of the angular arc and the Angular Dimension's extension line.
• Line Width - the thickness of the angular arc and arrow.
• Text Gap - the space between the angle text and the angular arc.
• Extension Width - the thickness of the Angular Dimension's extension line.

Properties

• Layer - the layer that the Angular Dimension will be placed onto. Angular Dimensions can be placed on any layer other than the system layers.
• Unit - the angle's units - either Degrees or Radians.
• Format - the angle's display format. The specific options available in the drop down list will be dependent on the specified Unit.
  Assuming an exact angle of 33°05′44.64″, the possible display formats are as follows:

• Precision - specify the number of decimal places to display

• Text Position- the position of angle text.

  • Automatic: The default setting; automatically locate the text in the center of the arrows.
  • Aligned - Center: Locate the text in the center of the arrows.
  • Aligned - Top: Locate the text to the top of the arrows.
  • Aligned - Bottom: Locate the text to the bottom of the arrows.
  • Aligned - Right: Locate the text in the right side of the arrows, outside of arrow area.
  • Aligned - Left: Locate the text in the left side of the arrows, outside of arrow area.
  • Aligned - Inside Right: Locate the text in the right side of the arrows, inside of arrow area.
  • Aligned - Inside Left: Locate the text in the left side of the arrows, inside of arrow area.
  • Unidirectional: Change the text direction as horizontal rather than angular.
  • Manual: Manually locate the text to any preferred position.

• Prefix/Suffix - arbitrary text preceding/trailing the angle text.
• Arrow Position - the position of the arrow relative to the extension line - either inside or. outside.

• Locked - lock the dimension so that any attempts to graphically move or modify it will invoke a dialog requesting confirmation.

• Sample - an example of how the dimension angle will be written based on the current settings.

• Font - specify which font style to use for the angle text; either TrueType or Stroke.
  

Select Stroke / TrueType Font

Depending on whether TrueType or Stroke fonts have been selected, a number of different options will be available.

• Font Name: Stroke 

For Stroke Fonts, the Font Name drop down list will offer Default, Sans Serif, and Serif fonts for selection. The Default style is a simple vector font which supports pen plotting and vector photo plotting. The Sans Serif and Serif fonts are more complex. The provide a more natural looking text display but they will slow down vector output generation such as Gerber. Stroke-based fonts are built into the software and cannot be changed. All three fonts have the full IBM extended ASCII character set that supports English and other European languages.

• Font Name: TrueType

If TrueType Fonts are selected, the Font Name drop down list will be populated with the names of the True/Open Type fonts found in the \Windows\Fonts folder.
Note that the list will only include entries for detected (and uniquely named) root fonts. For example, Arial and Arial Black will be listed but Arial Bold, Arial Bold Italic, etc will not. Use the Bold and Italic options to add emphasis to the text. This feature also offers full Unicode support.