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Efficient PCB Routing Using Gloss and Retrace Tools

The primary goal of your traces is to carry signals throughout your board without losses. To do this properly, you must familiarize yourself with the requirements for signals on the printed circuit board and how to optimize the topology of the board in terms of signal integrity. We will analyze the most popular routing cases applicable for using the Gloss and Retrace tools in Altium Designer to optimize your signal integrity.

Selecting Materials for High Voltage PCB Design and Layout
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Selecting Materials for High Voltage PCB Design and Layout

High voltage PCBs are subject to certain safety and reliability concerns that you won’t find in most other boards. If your fabrication house specializes in high voltage PCBs and keeps materials in stock, they can likely recommend a material set, as well as a standard stackup you might use for certain voltage ranges and frequencies. If you need to choose your own materials, follow the tips below to help you narrow down to the right material set.

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Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension
Shaping the PCB in MCAD

Through the MCAD Co-designer in Altium Designer, you can collaborate with a mechanical engineer to shape the PCB in your MCAD tool and keep it updated in Altium Designer. We’ll show you how in Altium Designer and in your MCAD tool.

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How to work with Selection
Cross Select Mode

Cross Select Mode is a unique tool that allows for cross-selection of objects between the schematic and PCB thanks to the Altium Unified platform. This makes it easy to look for specific components, as well as take advantage of component placement tools.

Via tenting in PCB Layout
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When to Use Tented Vias in Your PCB Layout

There are some guidelines I see many designers implement as a standard practice, often without thinking about it. Some of these practices are misunderstood or implemented without best practices. Others are implemented without thinking about the potential problems. One of these is the use of tented vias, which is sometimes implemented in a PCB layout by default. Is this always the right practice?

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How to work with Selection
Tools for Efficient Selection

Efficient selection tools can make a difference in how long and how clean your design can be. Learn how to utilize the Edit Select Menu tools in Altium Designer to take control over your layout.

Capacitive load termination
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How to Impedance Match and Terminate Capacitive Loads

The idea of a purely capacitive load is something of a fallacy. Yes, capacitors exist, but all capacitors are non-ideal, and it is this deviation from a theoretical capacitance that determines how to impedance match a load that exhibits capacitive behavior. Let’s take a look at this important aspect of interconnect design and see what it really means to terminate a capacitive load.

Embedded thumbnail for Tools for Easily Selecting Objects in the PCB
How to work with Selection
Tools for Easily Selecting Objects in the PCB

Explore more than basic mouse movements by taking a look at the tools that Altium Designer has to offer for making selecting and moving objects in the PCB an easy task. This will increase your productivity and allow you to spend more time designing

Using Altium 365 Over Your Vanilla Version Control System
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Using Altium 365 Over Your Vanilla Version Control System

There are all sorts of version control systems out there that people have been using with their PCB design software. As discussed in Why Use a Version Control System, we looked at different options ranging for local hard drive storage to sophisticated online revisioning systems. In this article we will be reviewing the differences between a standard VCS and Altium 365.

Why Use a Version Control System in PCB Design
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Why Use a Version Control System in PCB Design

Version Control Systems (VCS) have been around for many decades within the software world but can be surprisingly new to some folks in the electronics design industry. This article will cover what a VCS is, what it does, and why you should be using one for your PCB design projects.

IPC 6012 Class 3 Annular Ring
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Meeting Standards: IPC 6012 Class 3 Annular Ring

Designers often conflate leftover annular ring and pad sizes - they need to place a sufficiently large pad size on the surface layer to ensure that the annular ring that is leftover during fabrication will be large enough. As long as the annular ring is sufficiently large, the drill hit will not be considered defective and the board will have passed inspection. In this article, I'll discuss the limits on IPC-6012 Class 3 annular rings as these are a standard fabrication requirement for high-reliability rigid PCBs.

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Working with Polygons
How to Work with The Polygon Manager

It is important to have a high-level view of all polygons on the PCB design. The Polygon Manager lets you rename polygons, set their pour order, perform re-pouring or disable pouring on selected polygons, add/scope the polygon connection style and clearance design rules, and add polygon classes for selected polygons.

PCB fabrication notes
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Decoding PCB Fabrication Notes

Sending a board out for fabrication is an exciting and nerve-wracking moment. Why not just give your fabricator your design files and let them figure it out? There are a few reasons for this, but it means the responsibility comes back to you as the designer to produce manufacturing files and documentation for your PCB. It’s actually quite simple if you have the right design tools. We’ll look at how you can do this inside your PCB layout and how this will help you quickly generate data for your manufacturer.

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How to Work with Differential Pairs
Assigning Impedance Profiles for Differential Pairs

When you assign an impedance profile to a differential pair you open up several options for control over your routes. We'll show you how to do just that, as well as how to fix errors that may pop up and how to create classes for differential pairs based on assigned impedance profiles.

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How-To's
How to Highlight or Select Net Connections in the PCB

We’ll show you how to highlight net selections so you can easily track where connections are made. We’ll show you how to hide and show nets, and how to use the view configuration and PCB panels to view and highlight nets across your design, and how to assign net colors in both the PCB and the schematic.

HDI PCB design and HDI PCB manufacturing process
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Design Basics for HDI and the HDI PCB Manufacturing Process

As the world of technology has evolved, so has the need to pack more capabilities into smaller packages. PCBs designed using high-density interconnect techniques tend to be smaller as more components are packed in a smaller space. An HDI PCB uses blind, buried, and micro vias, vias in pads, and very thin traces to pack more components into a smaller area. We’ll show you the design basics for HDI and how Altium Designer® can help you create a powerful HDI PCB.

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How to Design a BGA
Remove Unused Via Pads

The Remove Unused Pad Shapes tool in Altium Designer gives you control over the via pads in your design. We’ll show you how to use it to increase the usable area of power and ground polygons, increase the density of conductors between hole rows, and fixing incorrect connections.

All About PCB Test Points
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Is It Printed or a Component? All About PCB Test Points

Test points in your electronic assembly will give you a location to access components and take important measurements to verify functionality. If you’ve never used a test point or you’re not sure if you need test points, keep reading to see what options you have for test point usage in your PCB layout.

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How to Design a BGA
Tent Vias under BGA

When via are located close to component pads some soldering issues can arise, but this can be fixed with Tented vias. We’ll show you how to manually tent vias and how to tent vias through the Design Rules.

How to Design to a Differential Impedance Specification
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How to Design to a Differential Impedance Specification

The concept and implementation of differential impedance are both sometimes misunderstood. In addition, the design of a channel to reach a specific differential impedance is often done in a haphazard way. The very concept of differential impedance is something of a mathematical construct that doesn’t fully capture the behavior of each signal in a differential trace. Keep reading to see a bit more depth on how to design to a differential impedance spec and exactly what it means for your design.

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How Copper Foil Roughness Affects Your Signals and Impedance

The history of engineering, both electrical and mechanical, is littered with approximations that have fallen by the wayside. These approximations worked well for a time and helped advance technology significantly over the decades. However, any model has limits on its applicability, and the typical RLCG transmission line model and frequency-independent impedance equations are no different. Copper foil roughness modeling and related transmission line impedance simulations are just one of many areas in which standard models cannot correctly treat signal behavior.

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What is Burn-in Testing for Electronics?

Once you’re planning for production of any new board, you’ll likely be planning a battery of tests for your new product. These tests often focus on functionality and, for high speed/high frequency boards, signal/power integrity. However, you may intend for your product to operate for an extreme period of time, and you’ll need some data to reliably place a lower limit on your product’s lifetime. In addition to in-circuit tests, functional tests, and possibly mechanical tests, the components and boards themselves can benefit from burn-in testing.

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PCB Design for Testability to Ensure High Yield and Quality

If you remember your days in school, then you probably remember the feeling of happiness and celebration when you pass a big exam. You’ll feel the same sense of adulation when your board spin passes a barrage of pre and post assembly tests, but a complex design might not reach that stage unless you implement the right design for testability methods. There are some simple steps that can help your manufacturer identify and quickly implement important bare-board and in-circuit testing (ICT), especially on critical circuit blocks.

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Top Tips from Experienced Flex Designers

This article describes the best hints and tips for designers of rigid-flex circuits. These tips include choosing the most appropriate material, suggestions for coordinating the PCB with the manufacturer, and a set of rules to be followed while PCB design. 

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How Do Capacitor Mounting Structures And Footprints Impact Total Inductance?

There are a number of factors at play when it comes to the impact of inductance on high-frequency power distribution systems. This article will focus on the inductance of the capacitor footprint along with the inductance of vias from the capacitor footprint to the PCB power planes. Included are the various types and sizes of footprints for ceramic capacitors as well as a footprint for a tantalum capacitor; how changing the footprint impacts inductance and test results obtained for different capacitors.

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How to Perform Differential Pair Tuning in Altium Designer 20

In order to properly suppress common-mode noise, differential pairs must be routed in parallel, with perfect symmetry, and with matched lengths. In real PCBs, meeting these three objectives isn’t always possible. Instead of eyeing out your different pair lengths, the interactive routing tools in Altium Designer make differential pair length matching easy. You can encode permissible length mismatches as design rules as part of controlled impedance routing, or you can manually perform differential pair tuning using a variety of meandering styles. Here’s how this works in Altium Designer.

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Driving Haptic Vibration and Feedback in Wearables

Augmented reality, virtual surgery, limb replacements, medical devices, and other new technologies need to incorporate haptic vibration motors and feedback to give the wearer a full sense of how they are interacting with their environment. Unless these cutting-edge applications include haptic vibration and feedback, users are forced to rely on their other four senses to understand the real or virtual environment.

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Back Drilling Example in Altium Designer: One of the Easiest Ways to Improve Signal Integrity

Over the last 20 years, electronic devices have become increasingly sophisticated. Less than two decades ago, just having a mobile phone to make calls was rare; today, our phones power our lives. To meet the growing demand for smartphone technology, technology has become faster, more functional, and intuitive. Improvements to the component base have streamlined processes while reducing manufacturing costs.

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Is it Simultaneous Switching Noise or Crosstalk?

Going deeper into crosstalk, there is always the issue of verifying EMI/EMC compliance through test and measurement. With the multitude of signal integrity problems that can arise in real PCBs, how can the astute designer distinguish them all? Some problems are clearer than others, with specific signal integrity measurements being developed for testing and measuring particular aspects of signal behavior. The fact is, multiple signal integrity problems could be present on a single interconnect simultaneously.

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Sharing PCB Data with Manufacturers in the Cloud

Once you’ve finished your new project and you’re ready to push it to your manufacturer, you’ll normally be stuck in an endless email chain with an engineer, or you’ll have to share cloud links with each other. The cloud sharing and design release tools in Altium Designer and Altium Concord Pro are a huge help in this area. In this post, I’m going to take an existing project I’ve worked with in a number of recent blogs, create some fabrication and assembly documentation, and finally push this data to a manufacturer using Altium Concord Pro.

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The Great PCB Layout "Rules of Thumb" Debate Rages On

To this day, I still see many PCB layout “rules of thumb” that first became common nearly 20 years ago. Do these rules still universally apply? The answer is a firm “maybe.” The discussion around PCB layout rules of thumb is not that these rules are correct or incorrect. The problem is that the discussion around these rules often lacks context, leading to the always/never type of discussion seen in some popular forums. My goal in this article is to communicate the context behind the common PCB design rules.

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How to Design Your PCB Test Coupon and What You Can Test

As the operating speed of components has increased, controlled impedance is becoming more common in digital, analog, and mixed-signal systems. If the controlled impedance value for an interconnect is incorrect, it can be very difficult to identify this problem during an in-circuit test. However, testing is normally performed on a PCB test coupon, which is manufactured on the same panel as the PCB. If you want to get through board spins quickly and aid future designs, you might consider designing a test coupon and keeping it handy for future designs.

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Altium DbLibs and Electronic Components in the Cloud with Altium Designer 20.1

Altium’s DbLib support is one of the oldest and most loved features of Altium Designer for managing electronic components and their data. They’ve been present in the software world since before I could fathom the existence of Ohm’s law. Altium 20.1’s new Component Sync feature allows you to synchronize virtually any database or database Library with Altium 365, taking advantage of both approaches strengths.

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What is a Schematic Netlist for Your PCB?

If you’ve created your next great schematic, there is a lot going on behind the scenes in your design software. A schematic netlist is one of the central pieces of information that will be used in multiple features in your design software to create a real PCB. Your schematic netlist provides both electrical connectivity information, and reflects the functional structure of your design data in a single set of data.

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How to Select an Inductor for a Buck Converter

An SMPS is one of those quiet (yet electrically noisy) devices that makes your favorite electronics run smoothly. Among the numerous DC-DC converter topologies, a buck converter finds plenty of uses for stepping down the input voltage to a lower level while providing high efficiency power conversion. A common question around component selection for these power converters is how to select an inductor for a buck converter. The goal in working with an inductor and other components in a buck converter is to limit power loss to heat and while minimizing current ripple.

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US Department of Transportation Seeking Alternatives to GPS

GPS-capable devices range from your phone to your smartwatch; simply type in your destination and follow the directions. Simple, right? According to the Washington Post, we should all stop using GPS as it’s ruining the navigation centers of our brains. Despite the neurological effects on perception and judgment, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) aims to find alternatives to GPS to provide redundancy.

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Embedded thumbnail for 8 Times Faster Simulations Using Altium Designer 25
Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
8 Times Faster Simulations Using Altium Designer 25

Speed up your simulations with Altium Designer 25—now up to 8x faster! Watch our comparison to see how built-in simulation slashes processing time, saving you valuable minutes on every task.

NEW
Embedded thumbnail for Harness Design Top 5 Improvements in Altium Designer 25
New in Altium Designer 25
Harness Design Top 5 Improvements in Altium Designer 25

Harness Design in Altium Designer 25 just got a major upgrade! This video showcases the top five new features that improve flexibility, organization, and efficiency in your wiring workflow. Watch now to see these enhancements in action and take your designs to the next level!

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Altium Stories
HitIQ uses Altium solutions to better understand brain injuries in sports sciences

Watch our video about HitIQ and theirs usage of Altium's software to develop a Smart Mouthguard, an advanced concussion management solution. Our software accelerated their development, improved accuracy, and its helpful for detecting and managing sports-related brain injuries.

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New in Altium Designer 25
Boost Team Productivity with Seamless Collaboration - Recording Preview

Discover how to enhance your PCB design workflow with Altium Designer and Altium 365. Learn to speed up tasks, enhance collaboration, connect teams, and optimize part selection—all in one seamless environment.

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How-To's
Altium Tutorial: Harness Design to Multi-Board Assembly Workflow

Watch our latest tutorial on Harness Design and Multi-board, where we showcase best practices for Harness Design, MCAD collaboration, and manufacturing documentation generation to enhance your PCB assembly workflow.

Embedded thumbnail for Smart Mouthguard Impacting Concussion Science
Altium Stories
Smart Mouthguard Impacting Concussion Science

Check out our latest Customer Success Story about HitIQ, founded by former AFL player Nathan Murphy. HitIQ harnessed Altium’s design and collaboration tools to develop its Smart Mouthguard—an advanced concussion management solution. The team utilized Altium Designer’s Rigid-Flex PCB capabilities and Constraint Manager, along with Altium 365’s Web Viewer and Cloud Storage, to create a compact yet highly functional design while enhancing cross-functional collaboration.

Embedded thumbnail for The Hidden Dangers of PCB File Sharing (And the One Solution You Need)
How-To's
The Hidden Dangers of PCB File Sharing (And the One Solution You Need)

Protect your PCB designs from security risks! This video uncovers hidden vulnerabilities in traditional file-sharing methods and shows how encrypted file transfers can safeguard your intellectual property. Learn why email and unsecured cloud storage aren’t enough—and explore secure collaboration solutions used by leading companies.

Embedded thumbnail for Optimized for Success: Advanced PCB Features in Altium Designer - Recording Preview
New in Altium Designer 25
Optimized for Success: Advanced PCB Features in Altium Designer - Recording Preview

Unlock the power of Altium Designer 25 to streamline your PCB design process. With advanced features like dynamic phase matching and enhanced signal integrity tools, you’ll improve efficiency and reduce errors. Watch the webinar recording now to see how this release can elevate your design workflow!

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Altium Stories
Engineering collaboration across Disciplines with Altium 365 and Design+Industry

Watch how D+I Part of Capgemini leverages Altium 365 to connect engineering disciplines, enhancing collaboration between electronics, mechanical, and industrial design teams. Their refined design process showcases how diverse expertise drives innovation.

Embedded thumbnail for High-Speed PCB Design: Mastering EMI/EMC on 8+ Layer Boards
How-To's
High-Speed PCB Design: Mastering EMI/EMC on 8+ Layer Boards

Watch our tutorial on designing high-speed PCBs with eight or more layers while minimizing EMI/EMC issues. This video is a must-watch for engineers and designers working with high-speed digital systems, including FPGAs, microprocessors, and high-speed communication interfaces. Learn how to ensure your designs meet EMC standards and achieve optimal signal integrity.

Embedded thumbnail for Standard Stackup + Controlled Impedance Deep Dive
How-To's
Standard Stackup + Controlled Impedance Deep Dive

Check out our brand-new video where Tech Consultant Zach Peterson explores controlled impedance and controlled stackup design in PCB manufacturing. He breaks down their advantages and limitations, shows how to specify impedance in Altium Designer, and answers a viewer question about using controlled impedance with a standard stackup.

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Kickstart Your Rigid-Flex Journey
Kickstart Your Rigid-Flex Journey: Part IV - MCAD Integration

The final episode of Kickstart Your Rigid-Flex Journey covers MCAD integration with Altium Designer. Hosted by Piet Callemeyn, this video walks through using MCAD CoDesigner, collaborating with mechanical engineers, and syncing design changes.

Full series available here: Kickstart Your Rigid-Flex Journey Series

Embedded thumbnail for Tackling Complexity: How Altium Designer 25 Handles Large PCB Designs - Recording Preview
New in Altium Designer 25
Tackling Complexity: How Altium Designer 25 Handles Large PCB Designs - Recording Preview

Discover how Altium Designer 25 enhances performance across schematic design, PCB layout, and documentation. Watch the webinar recording to see how it handles large and complex designs with ease!

Embedded thumbnail for TVS Diodes on RF PCB Traces: What You Need to Know!
How-To's
TVS Diodes on RF PCB Traces: What You Need to Know!

Check out our latest video to learn about bidirectional and unidirectional TVS diodes, tips for avoiding harmonic generation, and the key characteristics to ensure optimal ESD protection. Host Zach Peterson provides practical examples and design tips to keep your RF lines interference-free. Plus, he dives deep into RF circuit protection, featuring valuable resources from Octopart.

Embedded thumbnail for Ferrite Bead Circuit Model Parameters Deep Dive
How-To's
Ferrite Bead Circuit Model Parameters Deep Dive

Check out our new video where host Zach Peterson explains how to calculate resistance, inductance, and capacitance for ferrite bead models. From analyzing impedance curves to using SPICE simulations and a custom Excel calculator, discover practical techniques for accurately modeling ferrite bead behavior.

Embedded thumbnail for How to Design a PCIe Edge Card
How-To's
How to Design a PCIe Edge Card

Watch our new video where Zach Peterson walks you through designing a PCIe edge card. Learn about mechanical specifications, pinouts, creating templates in Altium Designer, and extending an 8-lane PCIe card to a 16-lane configuration—all with practical tips and a ready-made template!

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