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Embedded thumbnail for Creating a Schematic Symbol - Placing Designators and Comments
How to create a Schematic Symbol •
Creating a Schematic Symbol - Placing Designators and Comments

Placing your designator or comments can be done automatically, but that doesn’t mean they’re visible. We’ll walk you through how to make them visible and position them correctly no matter what orientation your symbol is with automatic positioning.

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Embedded thumbnail for Creating a Schematic Symbol: Adding Additional Parts
How to create a Schematic Symbol •
Creating a Schematic Symbol: Adding Additional Parts

Altium Designer makes it easy to add additional parts to your schematic library. We’ll show you how through copying and configuring your new components through the Pin Editor and the properties panel.

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Designing the Next-Generation Electronics
Blog •
A-SAP™ – What do you need to know?

The continued miniaturization of both packaging and component size in next-generation electronics is becoming harder and harder to work around and presents a significant challenge for both PCB designers and PCB fabricators. To effectively navigate the constraints of the traditional subtractive-etch PCB fabrication processes, PCB designs require advanced PCB fabrication capabilities while pushing the limits of finer feature size, higher layer counts, multiple levels of stacked micro vias and increased lamination cycles.

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Embedded thumbnail for Component Placement Control Using Rooms
How to work with Rooms •
Component Placement Control Using Rooms

Rooms give you more control over how and where your components are placed in your PCB. We’ll show you how to use room properties to limit what is allowed in and out of a room using the room definition and custom queries.

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Pin-package and Via Delay Values
Blog •
Pin-Package Delay and Via Delay in High Speed Length Tuning

Take a look at the inside of some integrated circuit packages, and you’ll find a number of wires bonded to the semiconductor die and the pads at the edge of the component's package. As a signal traverses makes its way along an interconnect and into a destination circuit, signals need to travel across these bond wires and pads before they are interpreted as a logic state. As you look around the edge of an IC, these bond wires can have different lengths, and they incur different levels of delay and contribute to total jitter.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to work with Differential Pair Classes?
How to Work with Differential Pairs •
How to work with Differential Pair Classes?

Modern boards can contain a large number of differential pairs. For convenience, they are combined into differential pairs classes. In this video, we'll walk you through how to create and apply a differential pair class. 

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Embedded thumbnail for Adding Rooms from the Schematic
How to work with Rooms •
Adding Rooms from the Schematic

Rooms can be added directly from the schematic sheet. From the schematic sheet they are pushed to the PCB. Here we'll look at the rooms and component classes generated by default in the schematic, how to add and configure rooms manually, and how to push them to the PCB.

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6-Layer PCB Design
Blog •
6-Layer PCB Design Guidelines

Once you’ve run out of room on your 4-layer PCB, it’s time to graduate to a 6-layer board. The additional layer can give you room for more signals, an additional plane pair, or a mix of conductors. How you use these extra layers is less important than how you arrange them in the PCB stackup, as well as how you route on a 6-layer PCB. If you’ve never used a 6-layer board before, or you’ve had EMI troubles with this stackup that are difficult to solve, keep reading to see some 6-layer PCB design guidelines and best practices.

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Component Management
On-Demand Webinar •
Help Ensure The Best Designs With Component Management

There are many aspects to designing a PCB. One of the larger aspects has to do with managing your components. We all need components for our designs, but are those components in our library and designs up-to-date or even purchasable? These questions need to be answered before we can safely use them. If not, we could just be wasting our time designing with invalid components. Altium Designer® has several tools to help you manage the components in your libraries and designs.

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Altium Designer Interface
Blog •
Altium Designer 22.5 Update

We are happy to announce that the Altium Designer 22.5 update is now available. Altium Designer 22.5 continues to focus on improving the user experience, as well as performance and stability of the software, based on feedback from our users. Check out the key new features in the What's New section on the left side of this window!

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Are Hybrid PCB Stackups Reliable?
Blog •
How Reliable is Your Hybrid PCB Stackup?

PCB stackups often incorporate slightly dissimilar materials that could pose a reliability problem. Hybrid PCBs are one case where the PCB stackup will include different materials, typically a standard FR4 laminate and a PTFE laminate for RF PCBs. Designers who want to take the lead on material selection when designing their hybrid stackups should consider these factors that affect reliability. As with any PCB stackup, make sure you get your fabricator involved in the manufacturing process early to ensure reliability problems do not arise during production.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to Draw a Board Outline Using Coordinates
How-To's •
How to Draw a Board Outline Using Coordinates

In this video, we cover how to draw a curve by using coordinates. This can be very helpful when creating a board outline.

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Embedded thumbnail for Creating a Schematic Symbol: Mapping out the Component
How to create a Schematic Symbol •
Creating a Schematic Symbol: Mapping out the Component

When creating a schematic symbol, one of your first tasks will be creating a component symbol. We’ll show you how to map out a component in the Schematic Library Editor by creating and configuring the component, adding pins, and creating graphics.

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Monte Carlo vs Sensitivity Analysis
Blog •
Monte Carlo Simulation vs. Sensitivity Analysis: What’s the Difference?

In a previous article about circuit simulation and reliability, I looked at how Monte Carlo analysis is commonly used to evaluate circuits that are subject to random variations in component values. Sensitivity analysis is a bit different and it tells you how the operating characteristics of your circuit change in a specific direction. Compared to a Monte Carlo simulation, sensitivity analysis gives you a convenient way to predict exactly how the operating characteristics will change if you were to deliberately increase or decrease the value of a component.

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Embedded thumbnail for How and When to Use Rooms
How to work with Rooms •
How and When to Use Rooms

Rooms are an extremely valuable tool within the Altium Designer PCB environment, but how and when do you use rooms? If you need to control component placement and layout, assign a specific design rule to a group of items, or if you have repeated channels that need similar layouts in your multichannel design, rooms can make it much easier.

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Simulation, Build and Test
Blog •
Creating Continuous Integration Pipelines for FPGAs

Field Programmable Gate Arrays, or FPGAs, have become ubiquitous amongst high-speed, real-time digital systems. The speed at which FPGAs operate continues to increase at a dizzying pace but their adoption into Continuous Integration pipelines seems not to trail as closely. In this article we will review the concept of CI pipelines, their application to FPGAs, and look at examples on how to set this up.

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Embedded thumbnail for MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Autodesk Fusion 360
Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension •
MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Autodesk Fusion 360

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 Autodesk Fusion 360. 

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Embedded thumbnail for Component Placement Control for DFM
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints •
Component Placement Control for DFM

Component placement is a crucial part of making sure your design is manufacturable, so you need to be able to control placement. We’ll show you how, through rules and courtyard layers to maintain accessibility and manufacturability in your entire design through component placement control.

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Collaborators Visualization
Blog •
Soft Locks [Conflict Prevention] in Altium 365

Conflicts can occur when multiple people work on the same project simultaneously. The user might not realize that they are not looking at the latest version of the documentation, leading to problems later. To address this issue, Altium features an intuitive graphical user interface that allows you to examine conflicts quickly and carefully

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Component Creation
On-Demand Webinar •
Increase Productivity With Easy Component Creation

Component creation is a necessary evil when it comes to design, and it’s something we all need to do. But instead of spending hours creating your components and having them turn into a complete roadblock, let it be just a simple bump on the road. Altium Designer has several tools available to you in order to create the different aspects of a component, including the symbol, footprint, 3D model parametric data, supply chain information, and more

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Blog •
Best Practices for Electronics Project Management - Part 2

Part 2 of this series covers essential project management techniques for electronics design teams. Rafał Stępień discusses effective data organization, revision control, and collaboration strategies to improve efficiency and minimize errors.

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Blog •
Rigid-Flex PCBs: Understanding the Pros, Cons, and Fabrication Considerations

Read our new article which discusses the advantages of rigid-flex PCBs, such as space-saving designs and enhanced reliability, while also addressing potential challenges in their fabrication. It provides essential design and manufacturing tips to help engineers effectively implement this technology in various applications.

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Blog •
The Role of Automation & Robotics in Wire Harness Assembly

Our new article highlights how automation and robotics are transforming wire harness assembly, improving efficiency, precision, and cost-effectiveness. Technologies like robotic wire handling and AI-driven testing are paving the way for smarter production. However, challenges like custom designs and high costs still persist.

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Blog •
Wiring for the Final Frontier: A Guide to Space-Grade Harness Design

Wiring harnesses are mission-critical in space systems, requiring strict adherence to ECSS-Q-ST-70-61C and NASA-STD-8739.4A. In "Wiring for the Final Frontier: A Guide to Space-Grade Harness Design", Kamil Jasiński explores key design principles, material selection, and testing to ensure reliability in extreme environments.

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Blog •
Ideal Rectifier Bridge

Read Marcin Lewandowski's article explaining how MOSFETs are replacing traditional diodes for reverse polarity protection. Step into the future of energy-efficient electronics!

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Blog •
Overview of the Gerber X3 File Format

Want to learn how the Gerber X3 file format simplifies data exchange by unifying assembly and fabrication details in a single file? This article explores the format and its role in streamlining PCB manufacturing.

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Blog •
Mastering EMI Control in PCB Design: How to Design PCBs for Low EMI

This article by Dario Fresu delves into effective techniques for designing PCBs to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI). It covers key topics such as stackup selection, routing strategies, and grounding best practices, offering actionable insights for improved performance.

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Embedded thumbnail for Draftsman Editor Settings
How to Work with Draftsman •
Draftsman Editor Settings

In this video we’ll go over the Draftsman editor settings and properties so you know how to set up the editor to be exactly what you need.

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Embedded thumbnail for Assuring Your Board Is Large Enough to House All Components
How-To's •
Assuring Your Board Is Large Enough to House All Components

This video covers how to make sure your board is big enough to house all your components.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to Create an Interactive PDF of a Schematic Diagram
How-To's •
How to Create an Interactive PDF of a Schematic Diagram

This video shows how to create an interactive PDF using the Smart PDF Wizard.

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Embedded thumbnail for What is the Draftsman Document?
How to Work with Draftsman •
What is the Draftsman Document?

Once your PCB layout is finished it’s time for review. This is where the Draftsman Document and Altium Designer’s Draftsman Editor comes in.

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Embedded thumbnail for Adding Project Modules to a Multi-board Schematic
How to work with Multiboard •
Adding Project Modules to a Multi-board Schematic

If you’re using multiple PCBs in your Multi-board design, Altium Designer allows you to add existing projects directly to your schematic with modules. We’ll show you how to quickly and efficiently add these projects to your Multi-board design.

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Embedded thumbnail for Checking for Creepage in High Voltage Designs
How-To's •
Checking for Creepage in High Voltage Designs

High voltage devices have leakage currents that propage over the surface of the board. In such devices, it's important to consider not only the standard gap between the two topological elements, but also the shortest possible path between them, taking into account cut-outs and holes. With Altium Designer 20, you can check for creepage using the new creepage distance rule.

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Embedded thumbnail for Creating BGA Footprints with the Footprint Wizard
How to create a PCB Footprint •
Creating BGA Footprints with the Footprint Wizard

Altium Designer makes it easy to create a BGA footprint using our IPC compliant footprint wizard. We'll show you how easily you can create and modify a BGA footprint using the footprint wizard.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to Remove Unused Pad Shapes
How-To's •
How to Remove Unused Pad Shapes

Unused pad shapes can cause distortion among other problems so it is best to exclude them from your designs. This video shows how to remove unused pad shapes.

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Embedded thumbnail for Stackup Presets and Templates
How to work with Layer Stack Manager •
Stackup Presets and Templates

In this video, we will learn how to apply predefined layer stacks to the board, as well as how to save the layer stack file as a template.

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Embedded thumbnail for Creating a PCB Footprint Assembly Drawing
How to create a PCB Footprint •
Creating a PCB Footprint Assembly Drawing

If you need to create an assembly drawing of your PCB Footprint for your outjob files we can show you how in Altium Designer. We’ll walk through all the different options for your assembly drawing in your Draftsman document, how to create your assembly drawing and assign it designators.

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Embedded thumbnail for Using the ActiveBOM
How-To's •
Using the ActiveBOM

Using the ActiveBOM: The Bill of Materials (BOM) contains a list of all the components with their designators, part numbers, values, and other parameters. An ActiveBOM manages the mapping from the design component (part) to the part that is purchased. This video describes how to use the ActiveBOM document to create an up-to-date list of components needed for your project.

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Embedded thumbnail for Using Back Drills in your Stackup
How to work with Layer Stack Manager •
Using Back Drills in your Stackup

In this video, we will learn about Back Drilling technology, how to set up back drilling using the layer stack manager, and how to set up the Stub Length sizes for back drilling by specifying applicable nets using the Design Rules Editor.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to Customize The Properties Panel
How-To's •
How to Customize The Properties Panel

How to Customize The Properties Panel: This video will go over how to customize the look and feel of the properties panel in Altium Designer. By being able to personalize your workspace you can greatly improve your efficiency

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Embedded thumbnail for How to Create and Use Impedance Profiles
How to work with Layer Stack Manager •
How to Create and Use Impedance Profiles

Using the Altium Designer Layer Stack Manager, we will show how to create impedance profiles for transmission lines and how to apply them to the circuit board using the PCB Rules and Constraints Editor.

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Embedded thumbnail for Creating a PCB Footprint Courtyard
How to create a PCB Footprint •
Creating a PCB Footprint Courtyard

The courtyard is an essential piece when you want to create a PCB Footprint in Altium Designer. We’ll talk about what a courtyard is, how to create a courtyard, and how to format a courtyard correctly for your PCB footprint.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to Edit Existing Tracks in Altium Designer
How-To's •
How to Edit Existing Tracks in Altium Designer

This new design rule flags a violation when the creepage distance across non-conductive surface and edge regions of the board, between the targeted signals, is equal to or less than the specified Creepage distance.

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