Leader Dimension

Parent page: PCB Dialogs

The Leader Dimension Dialog.

Summary

A leader dimension is a group design object. It allows for the labeling of an object, point or area. There are three types of leader available: Standard, Round and Square, which reflect the label text either being encapsulated in a circle or square or not at all. The pointer can be an arrow or a dot.

Access

The Leader 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 dialog can be accessed by pressing the Tab key.

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

• Double-clicking on the placed dimension object.
• Placing the cursor over the dimension object, right-clicking and choosing Properties from the context menu.
• Run command Edit >> Change, then click an existing object.

Options/Controls

• Pick Gap - Specify the gap between the objects and the extension line of Dimension object.
• Arrow Size - Specify the size of the arrow.
• Line Width - Specify the line width of the arrow.
• Text Gap - Specify the distance between the arrow and the display text.
• Size - Specify the size of the box around the display text. This option is unavailable when Shape field in Properties region is set to None.
• Text Height - Specify the height of the display text.
• Text Width - Specify the line width of the display text.

Properties

•  Layer - Specify the layer on which the Dimension object is placed. The drop-down list will list out all stack-up layers in current active PCB document.
• Text - Specify the display text, the default text is String.

• Text Position - Specify the position of dimension text. There are multiple choices in drop-down list:

  • Aligned: Locate the text in align with the direction of  the extension line.
  • Unidirectional: Change the text direction as horizontal.
  • Manual: Manually locate the text to any preferred position.

   

• Font - Choose Font for the display text. There are two Font types available: True Type, Stroke.

• Locked - Check this box to lock Dimension object. If you attempt to graphically modify the dimension object that has its Locked property enabled, a dialog will appear asking for confirmation to proceed with the edit.

• Dot - Check this box to use Dot rather than Arrow to point to the target object in Leader Dimension.

• Size - Specify the size of the Dot in Leader Dimension object. This field is available when checkbox Dot is checked.

• Shape - Specify the shape of the box around the display text. There are three options available: None, Round, Square.

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.