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Altium Designer Cheatsheet

Altium Designer Cheatsheet

Overview

Altium Designer is a professional PCB design software that provides a complete design environment for electronics engineers and designers. It is used to create schematic diagrams, design PCB layouts, and generate manufacturing files.

Key Features

  • Schematic Capture: Create schematic diagrams of your electronic circuits.
  • PCB Layout: Design the layout of your printed circuit boards.
  • 3D Visualization: Visualize your PCB in 3D to check for mechanical conflicts.
  • Component Libraries: Access a large library of electronic components.
  • Multi-board Design: Design multiple PCBs in a single project.
  • Signal Integrity Analysis: Analyze the signal integrity of your PCB to ensure proper operation.

Getting Started

  1. Create a New Project: Create a new project in Altium Designer.
  2. Create a Schematic: Create a schematic diagram of your circuit.
  3. Create a PCB: Create a PCB layout from your schematic.
  4. Route the PCB: Route the traces on your PCB.
  5. Generate Manufacturing Files: Generate the Gerber and other manufacturing files for your PCB.

Schematic Capture

  • Place Components: Place components from the library onto your schematic.
  • Wire Components: Wire the components together to create your circuit.
  • Annotate Schematic: Annotate your schematic with component designators and values.

PCB Layout

  • Define Board Shape: Define the shape and size of your PCB.
  • Place Components: Place the components on your PCB.
  • Route Traces: Route the traces between the components.
  • Create Polygons: Create copper polygons for power and ground planes.

3D Visualization

  • View in 3D: View your PCB in 3D to check for mechanical conflicts.
  • Import 3D Models: Import 3D models of your components to get a more realistic view.

Component Libraries

  • Altium Content Vault: Access a large library of electronic components from the Altium Content Vault.
  • Create Your Own Libraries: Create your own libraries of custom components.

Manufacturing Files

  • Gerber Files: Generate Gerber files for manufacturing your PCB.
  • NC Drill Files: Generate NC drill files for drilling the holes in your PCB.
  • Bill of Materials (BOM): Generate a BOM that lists all of the components on your PCB.

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • P: Place a component.
  • W: Place a wire.
  • Ctrl + F: Flip a component.
  • Spacebar: Rotate a component.

Additional Resources