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Embedded thumbnail for Variants in Output Documents
How to work with Variants
Variants in Output Documents

Variants can be used with output files to keep track of all the variations within your design. We’ll show you how to export these files including a Smart PDF, and an outjob file with variants.

Use your DRCs
Blog
Design Rule Checking in the PCB Design Workflow

Any time you design a PCB, and you want to turn it into a real product, you will have to make sure the design obeys the constraints within the standard PCB manufacturing process. This imposes multiple rules on any design, and ECAD software will enforce design rules as you create the board to ensure you obey these important constraints. Make sure you enforce the right design rules at the beginning of the PCB design workflow 

Embedded thumbnail for Copper to Edge Clearance
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Copper to Edge Clearance

It is necessary to maintain edge clearance from your copper in your design. We’ll show you how to maintain it, what exceptions there are to the rule, and how you can ensure its manufacturability.

How to select high frequency materials
Blog
Best Practices for High-Frequency PCB Material Selection

High frequency PCB design can seem esoteric, and I've heard many an engineer describe it as "black magic"! The subject is also a bit confusing, especially once someone asks which frequencies could be reasonably considered "high". Before you do anything inside the layout for a high-speed or RF PCB, you will need to pay attention to the materials being used in the board. If you're unsure which high frequency PCB materials you should use, then keep reading to learn more.

Embedded thumbnail for Design RF PCB: PCB edge plating
RF PCB Design
Design RF PCB: PCB edge plating

Board edge plating provides additional noise suppression and improves EMC. This video provides some practical tips for creating metalized PCB edges in Altium Designer.

Embedded thumbnail for Using Parameters in Variants
How to work with Variants
Using Parameters in Variants

You can use parameters to change your variants in many ways, such as text and titles. We’ll show you how to alter parameters in the PCB, Schematic, and Draftsman so you can create variants with different parameters.

PCB Noise Reduction
Blog
PCB Noise Reduction: Do You Need Isolation, Shielding, or Filters?

Of all the noise and operational challenges designers face in their PCBs, there is one overarching problem that is arguably most popular: electronic noise. It could originate as an SI/PI problem, it could possibly arise from some external source, or it could be good old-fashioned crosstalk! These tend to fall into three categories: adding shielding, doing something to create isolation, or placing filters. Let's look at all of these as they tend to be the default solution set when confronted with many noise problems.

Webinar Preview
On-Demand Webinar
CoDesigner and MCAD Component Placement On-Demand Webinar

We design products not just PCBs requiring effective collaboration between MCAD and ECAD engineers. We need to consider how we can reduce the likelihood of errors when placing critical design components. Component placement in the context of enclosures can be easily handled in an MCAD environment while it is more difficult to achieve in the ECAD domain. Learn how to place components from the MCAD side and synchronize them with Altium Designer ECAD models, designators, and sourcing data to simplify your design process.

What’s New in Altium 365
Blog
What’s New in Altium 365: Version Control for Hardware, Layer Stackup in Web Viewer, and SOC 2 Type 1 Certification

In February, we hit a new record in the number of users on the platform. The Altium 365 user community is now 20,000 strong! You can now migrate from an external version control system to Altium 365 preserving the history of commits. We also received the SOC 2 Type 1 certification from KPMG, made layer stack available in the web viewer, and added the brand new capability to track tasks in the context of your design project. Keep reading to learn more!

Embedded thumbnail for How to efficiently use Blankets?
Blankets
How to efficiently use Blankets?

Blanket is a powerful tool for group assignment of properties in schematic documents. It makes it easier and faster to assign circuit classes, differential pairs, and design rules within schematic documents. This video provides instructions on how to use blanket to simplify work in your designs. 

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Query Language
Query Language: How to Easily Create Expressions

In this video the main tools which allow to simplify the process of building a query in Altium Designer will be considered. There are several such tools and each of them has its own limitations and peculiarities of use. 

Embedded thumbnail for What to Consider when Designing Edge Connectors
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
What to Consider when Designing Edge Connectors

If your design requires edge connectors there are a few important things to consider. We’ll walk you through how to make sure your design with edge connectors is easy and manufacturable.

Rigid-Flex in Altium Designer
Blog
Support for Rigid-Flex in Altium Designer

Rigid-flex in Altium Designer starts with designing a manufacturable PCB layer stack complete with via transitions and any calculated impedance requirements. Flex sections also need to be placed in the layer stack before moving into the PCB layout. Once inside the PCB editor, bending lines can be clearly defined in the PCB layout, and these can be visualized in Altium Designer's 3D PCB design tools. Keep reading to see how Altium Designer supports your flex and rigid-flex designs.

Embedded thumbnail for Design RF PCB: Distributed-Element Circuits
RF PCB Design
Design RF PCB: Distributed-Element Circuits

Distributed-element circuits are a topology of a particular shape and size. Filters, power dividers, directional couplers can be built from them. Being calculated in third-party CAD, the topology of such elements can be easily imported into Altium Designer, and we will show you how to do it!

Embedded thumbnail for Variants in Schematic Editor
How to work with Variants
Variants in Schematic Editor

You can quickly create and edit variants with the schematic Editor in Altium Designer. We’ll show you how to create and edit the variants in the schematic editor by utilizing the parameter variation tool, the edit component variation tool, part actions, toggling fitted or non fitted, and the variant manager.

Specifying your stackup
Blog
Communicating PCB Layer Stackup Needs to Manufacturers

In the business of PCB design, communicating needs to manufacturers and vendors is a top priority. The context of our requests is sometimes lost either by not providing the correct information, not listing enough information, or not giving any information. Although the experienced PCB designer can take steps to specify everything they want to see in their PCB stackup, eventaully the manufacturer will handle that decision in an effort to balance available materials with processing capabilities and yield.

On-Demand Webinar
Intelligent Supply Chain Webinar

Many factors can affect your supply chain. Currently, supply disruptions are being felt due to the effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic. In this webinar, learn how Concord Pro on Altium 365 can mitigate disruptions in your supply chain and help you stay on schedule and budget for your designs.

Risk Vs. Reward
Blog
Risk Vs. Reward

During the recent IPC APEX expo, there was a lot of discussion about SAP, or semi-additive PCB processes.  As with any new technology adoption there were people that are excited to jump right in and start designing with much finer feature sizes and work through the inevitable changes to the traditional thought process. Others are in a "let’s wait and see" mode and of course there are a few skeptics there as well, so keep reading to learn more.

Embedded thumbnail for Designing a Silkscreen
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Designing a Silkscreen

The silkscreen layer allows you to add text and extra detail that will appear in your final designed board. We'll show you how to get started and what to look for when creating a silkscreen.

Tag
Blog
Executive Insights Into Electronic Product Development Gaps You Need To Close

Electronics hardware development is falling behind broader product development disciplines due to fragmented workflows, poor collaboration, and limited compliance visibility. This gap introduces risk, delays, and missed opportunities but executives see real business value in modernizing electronics development through better integration, traceability, and lifecycle visibility.

Blog
Sourcing For High-Mix Low-Volume Electronics Manufacturing

High-mix, low-volume (HMLV) electronics manufacturing requires agile sourcing strategies to handle shifting BOMs, erratic lead times, and component volatility. All while controlling costs and ensuring compliance. Cloud-based tools like Altium provide real-time component visibility, BOM collaboration, and supplier integrations to help navigate HMLV complexities.

Blog
One Vision, Three Powerful Solutions: Introducing Octopart Discover, Altium Develop, and Altium Agile

We are excited to announce the launch of three new platform-based solutions that will transform the way electronic products are designed, built, and delivered: Octopart Discover, Altium Develop, and Altium Agile. These solutions are designed to simplify processes, accelerate innovation, and make collaboration seamless across the entire electronics lifecycle. Together, they realize the purpose of Altium and Renesas: To Make Our Lives Easier.

Blog
The Top 5 Workflow Bottlenecks Slowing Down Mechanical Engineering Teams

Mechanical engineering teams frequently encounter delays from fragmented communication, disconnected toolchains, and inefficient synchronization processes. This article examines five critical workflow bottlenecks and highlights how ECAD-MCAD integration with real-time, bidirectional updates can eliminate rework and accelerate design iterations.

Blog
Building a Model Context Protocol Server for Arduinos

This guide walks you through creating an MCP server that turns AI interactions with Arduino into a predictable, automated process handling tasks like board listing, compilation, and serial communication via a fast, menu‑driven interface. Skip the guesswork of prompt nudging and reduce the risk of unintended device issues.

Blog
Getting Started with the GreenPAK Introduction Kit

Take your first steps into mixed-signal design with the Renesas GreenPAK Introduction Kit. Ari Mahpour shows how to design, simulate, and validate a clock divider project, making it easy for beginners to start experimenting with programmable mixed-signal devices.

Blog
Smarter Electronic Part Sourcing for Automotive Purchasing Professionals

Targeted at procurement professionals in the automotive industry, the article outlines the evolving pressures of sourcing components for electrified and connected vehicles. It highlights Octopart’s ecosystem as a unified tool that centralizes availability, compliance, pricing, and lifecycle intelligence to optimize sourcing efficiency.

Blog
Stack-Up to Success: Avoid the Pitfalls

"Stack‑Up to Success" highlights how a carefully planned PCB stack‑up is foundational to preventing warpage, managing impedance, and avoiding manufacturing delays by clearly communicating layer construction, materials, and tolerance requirements to fabricators.

Tag
NEW
Embedded thumbnail for Create Clearance Rules Faster and with Less Effort
New in Altium's Software
Create Clearance Rules Faster and with Less Effort

Setting up clearance rules is now more intuitive in the Constraint Manager. Choose the Simple view for faster configuration with grouped object types, or the Advanced view when you need detailed, matrix-based clearance control.

NEW
Embedded thumbnail for Mastering HDI Design Rules in Altium Designer
How-To's
Mastering HDI Design Rules in Altium Designer

In our latest Altium Academy tutorial, we guide you through configuring the essential HDI PCB design rules in Altium's software. You'll learn how to use your manufacturer's fabrication capabilities to create accurate design rules and constraints for your PCB.

Embedded thumbnail for Search, Filter, and Navigate PCB Designs Faster
New in Altium's Software
Search, Filter, and Navigate PCB Designs Faster

The Web Viewer now features a redesigned search experience for faster access to PCB design data across supported CAD formats. A lightweight, intuitive interface lets you begin with simple search terms and progressively refine results using contextual suggestions.

Embedded thumbnail for Gain Better Control Over Wire Bond Visibility
New in Altium's Software
Gain Better Control Over Wire Bond Visibility

New bond wire visibility controls give you greater flexibility when working with wire-bonded boards and footprints, making it easier to focus on the details that matter most.

Embedded thumbnail for Coming Soon: Selectable Harness Source Within Multi-board Design
New in Altium's Software
Coming Soon: Selectable Harness Source Within Multi-board Design

Selectable Harness Source Within Multi-board Design enables harness projects to drive system connectivity while maintaining bidirectional synchronization between multi-board schematics and harness wiring diagrams for improved accuracy and easier design management.

Embedded thumbnail for Choose the Simbeor Version for Your PCB Calculations
New in Altium's Software
Choose the Simbeor Version for Your PCB Calculations

The PCB Editor now lets you choose the Simbeor version used for delay and impedance calculations, giving you more flexibility and consistency across your design workflows.

Embedded thumbnail for Improve PCB Editor Performance with Via Instancing
New in Altium's Software
Improve PCB Editor Performance with Via Instancing

The PCB Editor now uses via instancing to generate geometry for each via individually, providing greater flexibility and a more advanced approach to managing vias in PCB designs.

Embedded thumbnail for GSSG Stackup Deep Dive: Routing, Impedance, and HDI
How-To's
GSSG Stackup Deep Dive: Routing, Impedance, and HDI

A ground-signal-signal-ground (GSSG) stackup rethinks the traditional four-layer PCB structure by moving the ground planes to the outer layers and routing signals on the two inner layers. In this Altium Academy deep dive, we review a real one-minute design review submission and demonstrate how to configure a GSSG stackup properly using the Layer Stack Manager.

Embedded thumbnail for Generate IPC-7351B Compliant Footprints with More Control
New in Altium's Software
Generate IPC-7351B Compliant Footprints with More Control

The IPC Compliant Footprint Wizard has been updated to improve IPC-7351B compliance across supported package types. Enhancements include footprint calculations, package outlines, silkscreen and courtyard generation, layer mapping, density table behavior, and new pad trimming controls for gullwing packages, with support added to the batch generator Excel template.

Embedded thumbnail for Add Unit-Aware Temperature Coefficient Parameters
New in Altium's Software
Add Unit-Aware Temperature Coefficient Parameters

Component templates in a connected Workspace on the Altium Platform now include support for Temperature Coefficient (ppm/°C) as a unit-aware user parameter type. This makes it possible to define temperature coefficient values directly within the template using the appropriate units.

Embedded thumbnail for When to Add Part Numbers to SMD Passives
How-To's
When to Add Part Numbers to SMD Passives

Check out our new video covering essential electronics fundamentals, with a focus on why including part numbers for SMD passive components, such as SMD resistors, directly on schematics is so important. We also explore whether relying only on the Bill of Materials (BOM) is enough for effective electronic component management.

Embedded thumbnail for Present Large Harness Tables More Clearly
New in Altium's Software
Present Large Harness Tables More Clearly

Harness Draftsman now supports splitting connection tables across multiple pages in *.HarDwf documents. With the new page height limit setting, you can easily control how much of the table appears on each page.

Embedded thumbnail for Innovate Beyond - The Future of Electronics Development in Automotive
How-To's
Innovate Beyond - The Future of Electronics Development in Automotive

Discover how the future of automotive electronics is being shaped by a more connected development approach that unifies teams, data, requirements, design, collaboration, and manufacturing. Recorded at BMW Welt and the BMW Museum during Altium’s "The Future of Electronics Development in Automotive" event, this video explores the key challenges and innovations driving the next generation of automotive design.

Embedded thumbnail for Coming Soon: Design Rule Sets
New in Altium's Software
Coming Soon: Design Rule Sets

Soon, PCB design rules in Altium will be organized into reusable Rule Sets within the PCB Rules and Constraints Editor. These rule sets can be created, duplicated, enabled or disabled, renamed, deleted, imported, and exported, making it easier to manage rules for specific interfaces, manufacturing requirements, or unique design constraints.

Embedded thumbnail for Decoupling Capacitor Routing: When to Use Vias vs Traces
How-To's
Decoupling Capacitor Routing: When to Use Vias vs Traces

Check out this video, a follow-up to the decoupling capacitor placement series, exploring the inductance tradeoffs between trace routing and via connections. Using real component examples from an Ethernet switch design in Altium, the video demonstrates how different routing choices can impact overall performance.

Embedded thumbnail for Coming Soon: Interactive Dynamic Phase Tuning
New in Altium's Software
Coming Soon: Interactive Dynamic Phase Tuning

The Interactive Length Tuning tool allows you to manually tune a single net in a differential pair while maintaining equal pair length and phase alignment across the entire route. This enables more efficient differential signal transmission, greater control during manual tuning, and faster pattern creation within defined phase tolerance limits.

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