×
Welcome, Guest

Sign in to learn, create, and do more with the product you love.

Sign In

News & Updates

Filters:
Guide to Monte Carlo in SPICE
Blog •
The Basics of Monte Carlo in SPICE: Theory and Demo

Anytime you place a component in your PCB, it’s almost like you’re gambling. All components have tolerances, and some of these are very precise, but others components can have very wide tolerances on their nominal values. In the event the tolerances on these components become too large, how can you predict how these tolerances will affect your circuits?

Read More
Embedded thumbnail for MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: PTC Creo
Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension •
MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: PTC Creo

MCAD CoDesigner is built to address the challenges of electronic product design by enabling seamless collaboration between your electrical and mechanical engineers. This video will show you how to start collaborate between Altium Designer and PTC Creo

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Variants in Multi-Channel Designs
How to work with Variants •
Variants in Multi-Channel Designs

Multi-channel designs can utilize variations in the channels to reduce design time and sheet count. We’ll show you how to take advantage of this by configuring several types of components.

Start Watching
BGA Land Patterns and Footprints
Blog •
What's In Your BGA Land Pattern and Footprint

If you look in datasheets for most components, you’ll often find a recommended land pattern, usually alongside some mechanical package information and assembly information. This is not always the case with BGA components, especially components with high ball count. There are a few reasons for this that we can speculate: those ball counts might just be too big to put into a single page, or the manufacturer just expects you to know how to create that land pattern.

Read More
Embedded thumbnail for Stackup Considerations
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints •
Stackup Considerations

There is a lot to consider about the Layer Stackup when it comes to designing a manufacturable board. We’ll walk you through enabling symmetry, finding correct balance of your layers, materials, creating and loading templates, and adding a layer stack table for better communication between you and your manufacturer.

Start Watching
Molded Interconnect Devices
Blog •
MIDs Make a Comeback as Vertical SMD Modules for Your PCB

Molded interconnect devices are essentially plastic molded substrates with traces running along any surface, including at right angles and running vertically. Altium users can use the new 3D Routing extension to design their own component carriers, which can be mounted vertically in a standard assembly process. If you’ve always wanted to vertically mount components or entire circuits, but without the expense of adding a flex section to your design, the new 3D Routing extension with HARTING’s component carrier designs provides a unique solution.

Read More
Embedded thumbnail for What Are Design Variants For?
How to work with Variants •
What Are Design Variants For?

Variants in Altium Designer allow you to create several variations of the same design all from one source project. Variants can be managed in the project and through Altium Designer you can control variants in the PCB, Schematic, Draftsman, and Outjob files to make your designs easily editable without redundancy.

Start Watching
MCAD CoDesign Process
Blog •
MCAD CoDesigner 2.9.0 is Out

Altium has released version 2.9.0 of the MCAD CoDesigner. This version has the option to exclude small components when transferring from ECAD to MCAD. The arc behavior was improved, and the support for splines in board shape and cutouts was added. With this release, you can now select a specific SOLIDWORKS configuration of a part to use on the board and view the improvements made for Siemens NX.

Read More
Rigid-Flex in Altium Designer
Blog •
Support for Rigid-Flex in Altium Designer

Altium Designer's world-class PCB design features help users quickly get started with new rigid-flex designs and prepare them for manufacturing. Rigid-flex in Altium Designer starts with designing a manufacturable PCB layer stack complete with via transitions and any calculated impedance requirements. Keep reading to see how Altium Designer supports your flex and rigid-flex designs.

Read More
Embedded thumbnail for MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Solidworks
Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension •
MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Solidworks

MCAD CoDesigner is built to address the challenges of electronic product design by enabling seamless collaboration between your electrical and mechanical engineers. This video will show you how to start collaborate between Altium Designer and SolidWorks. 

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Panelization
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints •
Panelization

When you go to manufacture your design you can get a board manufactured by itself or with multiple in a panel. We’ll show you the how and the why to create panelization with the Embedded Board Array/Panelize tool, as well as how to create break away points for your individual boards.

Start Watching
2+N+2 PCB Stackups
Blog •
2+N+2 PCB Stackup Design for HDI Boards

Like any other advanced PCB, success in HDI design comes from designing the right stackup. One common HDI stackup used to support routing into moderate pin count, high-density BGA components is the 2+N+2 PCB layer stack for HDI boards. We’ll explore this stackup more in this article, as well as how it is related to other advanced stackups used in HDI PCBs.

Read More
Embedded thumbnail for Display Variants in Draftsman Document
How to work with Variants •
Display Variants in Draftsman Document

You can use the draftsman document to display your board variants. We’ll show you how to create a draftsman document and add variants to it properly displayed and editable through the properties panel.

Start Watching
PDF Viewer in Altium 365
Blog •
PDF in Altium 365 Web Viewer

Altium 365 Web Viewer now includes a built-in PDF viewer that allows you to view PDF files in releases without an external PDF viewer application. Keep reading to learn about new key features that make your work easier

Read More
Embedded thumbnail for How to print PCB?
How-To's •
How to print PCB?

Do you want to know how to use the updated document output feature? This video tells about the changes to the document output and shows how to quickly form a PDF or print a PCB in Altium Designer 21.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Avoid Solder Wicking
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints •
Avoid Solder Wicking

If solder gets sucked into via holes in can cause an unreliable connection in your otherwise manufacturable design. We’ll show you a few easy ways to avoid this solder wicking using rules.

Start Watching
Rigid-Flex Applications
Blog •
Flex and Rigid-Flex PCB Applications

There are two basic reasons for designing a flex circuit into your product: to build a compact and efficiently assembled device, or to make the circuit dynamically integrated with the mechanical function of the product. You may, of course, lean on both of these reasons for justifying the use of flex circuits. On this note, let’s look at some rigid-flex PCB applications and design examples to see the issues that spring to mind when designing flex circuits

Read More
Altium Designer Interface
On-Demand Webinar •
Preparing your files for Fabrication Release

When you’re done creating a new board, it’s time to send your design data to the manufacturer. Before releasing your designs, you’ll want to make sure that everything is ready and works as intended. In this informative video, we’ll review some of the must-have checks before sending your output data for fabrication. 

Read More
Sharing Settings in Altium 365
Blog •
Granular Sharing — Role and Group Management

With Altium 365, you can grant permission to teams or users based on the specific needs of a project. We have expanded Altium 365’s file-sharing setting, giving you more granular control over who can download source files and reshare projects with others

Read More
Embedded thumbnail for MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Autodesk Inventor
Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension •
MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Autodesk Inventor

MCAD CoDesigner is built to address the challenges of electronic product design by enabling seamless collaboration between your electrical and mechanical engineers. This video will show you how to start collaboration between Altium Designer and Autodesk Inventor. 

Start Watching
Blog •
Wire Bonding in Altium Designer

The Wire Bonding in Altium Designer article highlights how Altium Designer 25’s wire bonding feature streamlines complex designs for advanced assemblies like 3D stacked dies and RF modules. This tool enhances efficiency and precision, catering to modern electronic design needs.

Read More
Blog •
Optimize PCB Design with Integrated BOM and CAD Systems

Discover how integrating BOM management and CAD systems can streamline your PCB design process in this insightful article. Learn how combining these tools enables smoother collaboration, reduces errors, and improves design efficiency, helping you optimize your workflows from concept to manufacturing.

Read More
Blog •
The Essential Guide to Through-Hole Resistors

Resistors are fundamental components in electronic circuits, essential for controlling current and voltage. This article explores their basic principles, types, and key applications, helping you understand their crucial role in electronics.

Read More
Blog •
Avoiding Costly Delays: Essential Tips for PCB Designers

Efficient PCB design is crucial for avoiding costly delays in product development. This article offers practical tips and best practices for PCB designers to streamline their workflows, minimize errors, and ensure timely project completion.

Read More
Blog •
Mastering EMI Control in PCB Design: Component Placement for EMC

In the second article of the "Mastering EMI Control in PCB Design" series Dario Fresu explores how effective component placement can reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) in printed circuit boards. He highlights strategies such as board segregation and careful management of high-speed signals and their harmonics to ensure signal integrity and minimize emissions.

Read More
Blog •
Signal Integrity Principles based on Altium Designer 24

Check out this article where Rafał Stępień dives into the essentials of maintaining signal integrity in high-speed digital systems. Discover key techniques like controlling signal reflections, reducing crosstalk, and designing differential pairs in Altium Designer 24 to ensure reliable and efficient PCB performance.

Read More
RSP Launch Cover
Blog •
Launch of Requirements & Systems Portal in Altium 365

The Requirements & Systems Portal is now live in Altium 365! Engineers can write, manage, and verify requirements within the Altium 365 workspace. You can link your requirements directly to schematics and PCB designs to ensure all engineers are working with the latest data. Request access today!

Read More
Blog •
Favorite Tools for BOM Review

Check out our article, where Lawrence Romine shares his top tools for conducting efficient Bill of Materials (BOM) reviews in PCB design. It highlights key features in Altium 365, Octopart, and ActiveBOM that help engineers avoid unsourceable components and streamline procurement.

Read More
Embedded thumbnail for How to Define Different Clearance for Internal and External Layers
How-To's •
How to Define Different Clearance for Internal and External Layers

If you need to define difference clearance values for your external and internal layers, the answer is with design rules. We’ll walk you through it in this short video. 

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Setting Snap Distance and Axis Snap Range
How to use Snapping •
Setting Snap Distance and Axis Snap Range

Learn more about what snap distance and axis snap range are and how to use them.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Polygon Editing
Working with Polygons •
Polygon Editing

Editing existing polygons is crucial for optimizing your design. You can easily select polygons to edit, resize, combine, and more.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for How to Open All Schematic Documents
How-To's •
How to Open All Schematic Documents

This video shows how to open all your project's schematic documents at once.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Calculating Impedance in Altium Designer
Impedance calculation •
Calculating Impedance in Altium Designer

This video covers how to calculate impedance in Altium Designer. This is especially important when dealing with high-speed designs. You want to make sure impedance is matched to avoid any reflections and maintain good signal integrity.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Using 3D Component Body Features for Precise Component Creation
How to Work with 3D Mode •
Using 3D Component Body Features for Precise Component Creation

Learn to quickly and accurately place 3D models of components on their footprints

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for How to Define an Impedance Profile for an Assymetric Stripeline
Impedance calculation •
How to Define an Impedance Profile for an Assymetric Stripeline

This video shows how to define an impedance profile for an asymmetric stripline.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for How I Improved my Collaboration Efficiency with Altium 365 | Altium 365: Power User Insights
•
How I Improved my Collaboration Efficiency with Altium 365 | Altium 365: Power User Insights

Collaboration with other teams or contractors in the electronics industry is typically a painful and inefficient experience. All too often, communication is left until the last minute when boards are all but ordered. Let's talk about how to collaborate with colleagues with Altium 365 in a different way.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Working with Annotation Tools
How to Work with Draftsman •
Working with Annotation Tools

Draftsman Documents provide annotation tools to convey physical properties such as tolerances and surface finish

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for 3D View Control
How to Work with 3D Mode •
3D View Control

Learn how to use the 3D display mode of the PCB and learn to control the camera in this mode in this video

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Impedance Calculation Single-Ended Transmission Lines
Impedance calculation •
Impedance Calculation Single-Ended Transmission Lines

Transmission lines help preserve signal integrity and reduce EMI in high speed designs. We’ll show you you to define your single ended transmission lines in Altium Designer and automatically calculate impedance on a two layer and multi-layer board.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Working with Dimensions: Draftsman Documents
How to Work with Draftsman •
Working with Dimensions: Draftsman Documents

Draftsman Documents provide dimensioning tools to capture and display the physical features of the product for fabrication and documentation. 

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Impedance Calculations: Differential Pairs
Impedance calculation •
Impedance Calculations: Differential Pairs

Altium designer makes it easy to calculate geometry when you need to calculate impedance for differential pairs. We’ll go over how differential pairs can help with a two layer and multi layer board, as well as what types you can create such as differential co-planar, and how to configure them for your specific design.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Creating and using templates
How to Work with Draftsman •
Creating and using templates

Draftsman Templates are a quick way of laying out your Draftsman Document in Altium Designer. We’ll show you how to utilize them and the differences between sheet and document templates.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Adding 3D Assemblies to a Multi-Board Project
How to work with Multiboard •
Adding 3D Assemblies to a Multi-Board Project

The next step in the multiboard design process is adding 3D PCB Assemblies. We’ll show you how to add them to your design and how to work with the Assembly Editor.

Start Watching
Embedded thumbnail for Altium 365 - Design Collaboration | Tasks
Getting Started with A365 •
Altium 365 - Design Collaboration | Tasks

The Tasks feature brings lightweight task tracking to further enhance design collaboration in Altium 365. With Tasks, you will never lose an important action item and easily gain a high-level view of the state of your project, all without leaving your design environment. 

Start Watching
Your search returns no results.