Altium Things
This repository is a collection of all my commonly used settings, defaults and keyboard-shortcuts regarding the schematic editor and PCB layout program Altium.
Table of Contents
1 - General keyboard shortcuts
| Shortcut | Function |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Left-click (on menu/toolbar) | Edit corresponding shortcut-combination |
| Escape / Right-click | Cancel |
| Shift + C | Clear filter |
| Ctrl + R | Duplicate selection (rubber stamp) |
| Ctrl + M | Measure |
2 - Schematic Layout
2.1 - Tips & Tricks
- Select X7R capacitors if possible
- TODO
2.2 - Keyboard shortcuts
TODO
3 - PCB Layout
3.1 - Tips & Tricks
- The PCB will be made for real so draw it in
mm - Placing a
&before a letter (layer-view-names, ...) makes it so the corresponding keyboard-letter can be pressed to trigger the entry when the menu is open - Pressing Tab when routing, ... can be used to change the current settings (Enter to exit)
- Change board dimensions (route-toolpath-lines on layer
Mech-28,1 mmgrid)- Design > Board Shape > Define board shape from selected objects (Tab so select all lines)
- Tools > Convert > Create board cutout from selected primitives
- Check clearance between polygons, ... : Report > Measure Primitives > Check clearance between polygons
| Defaults | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Grid | Component track placement | 0.1 mm |
Snap distance: 0.25 mm |
| Polygons (?) | 0.5 mm |
||
| Board-outline | 1.0 mm |
||
| Labels | Designators | Height: 0.8 mm |
Stroke: 0.1 mm |
| Small text | Height: 0.8 mm |
Stroke: 0.2 mm |
|
Medium text (?) (Company Name) |
Height: 1.0 mm |
Stroke: 0.2 mm |
|
| Big text | Height: 1.5 mm |
Stroke: 0.3 mm |
|
Very big text (?) (RS232) |
Height: 2.0 mm |
Stroke: 0.3 mm |
|
| Tracks | Default | 0.5 mm |
~1.75 A @ 35 µm (1 oz) |
| Small pitch-pins | 0.4 mm |
~1.50 A @ 35 µm (1 oz) | |
| Small pitch-pins | 0.3 mm |
~1.25 A @ 35 µm (1 oz) | |
| Vias | Default (0.25 mm diam. hole) | H=250, T=B=I=0700, M=0450 | ~2.00 A @ 35 µm (1 oz) |
3.2 - Keyboard shortcuts
| Viewing | Viewing |
|---|---|
|
- 1 : Enable Board Planning mode - 2 : Enable 2D Layout mode - 3 : Enable 3D Layout mode - 0 : Reset 3D view (zero rotation) - Ctrl + F : Flip board - Hold Shift : Speedup panning (when moving) - V, F : View > Fit Board - Q : Change units (PCB layout = mm!)- Shift + H : Toggle HUD - Insert / Left-click : Reset HUD-delta |
- L : Show (active) layers - Shift + S : Cycle (active) layers - Hold Shift : Highlight net on hover - Ctrl + Left-click : Highlight net - Ctrl + Shift + Left-click : Add highlighted net to selection - Ctrl (?) : View alignment lines in relation to boundaries of nearby components - Shift : View alignment lines in relation to pads of nearby components |
| Selection | Moving |
|
- Tab : Select next (track-segment, ...) - Shift + Tab : Change selected (overlapping) item - Alt + Drag (L⇒R) : Only select (multiple) connections - Ctrl + Drag (L⇒R) : Only select (multiple) pads - Ctrl + Shift + X Toggle cross-select mode - Ctrl + Shift + Y Toggle reposition selected component in PCB |
- Ctrl + E : Display snap pallette options - Shift + E : Change layer snapping (?) - Ctrl : Temporary disable snapping - Ctrl + Drag : Add vertex to polygon - Ctrl + (Shift +) Up / Down / Left / right : Move selection - Drag + Up / Down / Left / Right : Move selection |
| Routing | Routing |
|
- Ctrl + W : Start interactive routing - Ctrl + Left-click : Try to autoroute current connection - Backspace : Delete current & select next track-segment (/undo last segment) - Delete : Delete (item, track, ...) - (Shift +) R : Cycle placement modes (ignore - push - avoid) - Ctrl + W : Toggle clearance boundaries - 9 : Go to other end - (Shift +) W : Change tracks size (?) - Shift + V / Shift + A / 4 : Change via size (?) - Space : Change track angle |
- Ctrl + Alt + G : Simplify selected tracks (gloss) - - + / - (numpad) ⇒ - Ctrl + Shift + Scroll : Layer up/down - (Shift +) * (numpad) ⇒ - / (numpad) : Go to power plane & add via - L : Change component layer - Ctrl + L : Change layer |