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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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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

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. 

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

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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. 

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Routed tracks
Blog 5月 5, 2020
Helpful Tips for Interactive Routing in Altium Designer

Before you jump into the software, you should know the types of things you’re going to want to look out for. Traces, connection lines, differential pair routing, and route paths can all affect the routing process of your board. Make sure that you’re equipped knowing, ultimately, what you want your board design to accomplish and furthermore, where you anticipate potential problem areas to be.

Blog 4月 22, 2020
Any Angle Routing: When Should You Use It?

EDA tools have come a long way since the advent of personal computing. Now advanced routing features like auto-routers, interactive routing, length tuning, and pin-swapping are helping designers stay productive, especially as device and trace densities increase. Read full article in our blog:

Blog 3月 20, 2020
A Message from Altium on COVID-19

We understand that many of you, like ourselves, have transitioned to working remotely. This process comes with its challenges and we would like to offer all and any help we can to minimize disruptions for your teams and business.

Blog 3月 2, 2020
About Altium Designer Home Page

With the new Altium Designer Home page, we are aiming to help users stay up to date with the latest features and productivity tricks available in Altium Designer. Learn more about the Home page in this documentation article.

altium-community-forum
Blog 2月 25, 2020
Getting Connected: Altium’s User Community Forums

The Altium design environment is a complex and sophisticated set of software tools. Not surprisingly, becoming proficient with these tools will take some time, and you’ll need to practice every step of the design process from beginning to end. So what happens if you get stuck along the way?

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NEW
Embedded thumbnail for Via Dispersion: Why Propagation Delay Changes with Frequency
How-To's
Via Dispersion: Why Propagation Delay Changes with Frequency

Explore the concept of via dispersion and how it impacts propagation delay across frequencies. This tutorial walks through the math behind extracting delay from insertion loss and return loss S-parameters and explains why results can vary depending on your operating range.

NEW
Embedded thumbnail for Make Via Rule Configuration More Intuitive
New in Altium's Software
Make Via Rule Configuration More Intuitive

Set precise control over your routing via styles with new rule settings in the Physical View. Define minimum, maximum, and preferred values for both diameter and hole size, and easily switch between constraint ranges or template-based definitions for faster, more flexible design.

Embedded thumbnail for Coplanar Ground Done Right: PCB Design Best Practices
How-To's
Coplanar Ground Done Right: PCB Design Best Practices

When is coplanar ground actually useful and when does it provide no benefit at all? If you’ve ever wondered about this, check out our brand-new video where we tackle one of the most common questions in PCB design.

Embedded thumbnail for Import and Export with Modern Mechanical Models
New in Altium's Software
Import and Export with Modern Mechanical Models

We have expanded mechanical integration by adding support for SOLIDWORKS 2024 and SOLIDWORKS 2025 part models when importing 3D bodies into the design environment. This enhancement allows designers to work with the latest mechanical models created in SOLIDWORKS without the need for additional conversions or workarounds.

Embedded thumbnail for How to Input Via Delay in Altium for DDR Routing
How-To's
How to Input Via Delay in Altium for DDR Routing

In this video, we tackle a real viewer question about DDR3 routing across multiple PCB layers and show how via delay can silently eat into your skew margin before you’ve even finished routing, using Altium’s default 10-layer stackup as a reference.

Embedded thumbnail for Clearly Show Jumper Wires in Your Harness Designs
New in Altium's Software
Clearly Show Jumper Wires in Your Harness Designs

Support has been improved so that jumper wires connecting two cavities within the same connector are now properly shown in Layout Drawings, making the connector wiring easier to understand during documentation and review.

Embedded thumbnail for Why Datasheet PCB Guidelines Are Often Wrong
How-To's
Why Datasheet PCB Guidelines Are Often Wrong

Watch our brand-new video where we tackle the persistent issue of outdated PCB design guidelines still found in datasheets and application notes from major semiconductor manufacturers. Drawing on viewer comments, real-world datasheet examples, and insights from industry experts, we examine why recommendations such as splitting analog and digital ground planes (an approach rooted in the 1980s) continue to circulate despite their potential to cause EMC failures, signal integrity problems, and costly redesigns.

Embedded thumbnail for Keep Your Harness Designs in Sync with Library Updates
New in Altium's Software
Keep Your Harness Designs in Sync with Library Updates

The "Update From Libraries" feature has been enhanced to provide broader support for harness-related objects across both Wiring Diagrams and Layout Drawings. With this expansion, a wider range of harness components such as connectors, wires, splices, and associated attributes can now be synchronized directly with their corresponding library definitions.

Embedded thumbnail for How to Set Up Flex PCB Materials in Altium
How-To's
How to Set Up Flex PCB Materials in Altium

Discover how to set up flex and rigid-flex PCB materials in Altium with the Layer Stack Manager. In this tutorial, you’ll follow the key steps for defining polyimide cores, adhesive layers, coverlay, and stiffeners helping you build accurate, production-ready rigid-flex PCB designs.

Embedded thumbnail for How Benchmark Unifies Hardware Development with the Altium Platform
Altium Stories
How Benchmark Unifies Hardware Development with the Altium Platform

Discover our latest customer success story and see how Benchmark streamlined hardware development using the Altium Platform. By leveraging a unified environment with real-time data, synchronized ECAD-MCAD workflows, and built-in collaboration tools, their engineering teams eliminated manual handoffs, improved cross-domain visibility, and accelerated project delivery while staying perfectly aligned.

Embedded thumbnail for ESP32-S3 Design Deep Dive: Power, RF, and Layout Best Practices
How-To's
ESP32-S3 Design Deep Dive: Power, RF, and Layout Best Practices

Explore our detailed design review of a custom ESP32-S3 PCB. This four-layer board is built around the ESP32-S3 microcontroller chip (not the standard module) and includes an integrated LiPo charging circuit, USB-C with data line protection, NCP voltage regulators, and a ceramic chip antenna with a properly tuned impedance matching network.

Embedded thumbnail for Working as One for What Matters Most | How Benchmark Unifies Engineering Teams
Altium Stories
Working as One for What Matters Most | How Benchmark Unifies Engineering Teams

See how Benchmark Electronics uses Altium’s collaborative hardware development platform to unify its electrical, mechanical, and software engineering teams. By replacing manual processes, disconnected tools, and siloed workflows with a shared workspace, Benchmark unlocked a new way of working.

Embedded thumbnail for PCB Design Tips to Improve RF Power Amplifier Layout
How-To's
PCB Design Tips to Improve RF Power Amplifier Layout

Take a deeper look at RF power amplifier PCB design as we expand on our original 6 GHz RF signal generator tutorial with an in-depth design review. Discover essential layout optimization techniques such as switching regulator routing, feedback loop placement, stitching via implementation, and effective copper balancing.

Embedded thumbnail for How Altium's Assembly Assistant unifies Quantum Systems' Dev Process
Altium Stories
How Altium's Assembly Assistant unifies Quantum Systems' Dev Process

Quantum Systems develops unmanned drone systems for aerial intelligence and rapid, field-ready innovation. With the Assembly Assistant, their team streamlined a once tedious prototype build process, eliminating manual exports, file conversions, and unnecessary guesswork.

Embedded thumbnail for Creating Stacking Stripes for PCB Fabrication: Altium Tutorial
How-To's
Creating Stacking Stripes for PCB Fabrication: Altium Tutorial

Watch our new tutorial where we demonstrate how to place stacking stripes along the edge of a PCB and configure design rules to control clearances. In this video, you’ll learn how to create a dummy net, use the query system to apply rules specifically to stacking stripes, and leverage split planes on internal layers.

Embedded thumbnail for Empower Your Designs with Advanced Power Analysis
How-To's
Empower Your Designs with Advanced Power Analysis

Power Analyzer brings clarity. Agile Teams brings control. Combined, they help teams deliver reliable hardware with confidence.

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