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How to Work with Draftsman
Working with Annotation Tools

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

Countersink and Counterbore
Blog
Countersink and Counterbore

Ergonomics and convenience are important issues when designing a printed circuit board and the device as a whole. A lot of Altium Designer tools are aimed at solving them. These include Countersink and Counterbore holes, which allow the use of various types of screws in the mounting holes of the board.

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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

Migrating Data From Other Version Control Systems
Blog
Migrating Data From Other Version Control Systems

The development of electronic devices always involves the release of many different types of files. And these files are not static - they change as the project progresses. When filling a project with data, a user creates new files, modifies outdated files that have become irrelevant. Managing project data is a separate task, especially for large developments where several participants with different specializations are involved in the process.

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.

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. 

Properties Panel Tuning
Blog
Properties Panel Tuning

High-speed PCBs often require tuning groups of tracks, both single and differential. Altium Designer includes powerful tools that allow you to solve such tasks quickly and with high quality. Study this document and achieve the desired result even faster.

Three Methods for Building MCAD Ready Components
On-Demand Webinar
Three Methods for Building MCAD Ready Components

One of the most difficult and frustrating things to arise when traveling to a foreign country is the language barrier. Communicating a simple greeting can sometimes seem like a big hassle. The same thing is true for different CAD tools. When your tools aren’t speaking the same language, you’re going to run into problems. Bridge this gap by building out your component libraries with everything it takes to truly define a component, including 3D models that seamlessly propagate into the PCB editor and beyond.

Reflectionless Matching vs. Conjugate Matching: An Apparent Contradiction
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Reflectionless Matching vs. Conjugate Matching: An Apparent Contradiction

There is one confusion related to impedance matching that comes up again and again, and it appears to be a fundamental confusion between reflection and power delivery. This leads to an apparent contradiction that arises when we try to generalize power delivery to wave reflection, despite the fact that the two were not meant to be related.

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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.

Properties Panel Routing
Blog
Properties Panel Routing

Routing is one of the most time-consuming stages of PCB design. Altium Designer has a large set of tools that allow you to do it as accurately and quickly as possible. This document will help you to learn how to manage your routing effectively and use it to its fullest extent.

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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.

Quarter-Wave Transformer Design For Real and Reactive Loads
Blog
Quarter-Wave Transformer Design For Real and Reactive Loads

RF systems operate with specific impedance values across entire interconnects, including on PCBs. Not all RF components are packaged in integrated circuits with defined impedances, so impedance matching circuits and line sections are needed to ensure signal transmission between different sections of an interconnect. One of these impedance matching techniques is the quarter-wave impedance transformer, which can be implemented as a printed trace with specific impedance.

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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.

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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. 

Schematic
Blog
Altium Designer 22.10 Update

We are happy to announce that the Altium Designer 22.10 update is now available. Altium Designer 22.10 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!

Component Warpage Causes in a PCB
Blog
Component Warpage Causes in a PCB

A staff member at a PCB manufacturer once explained to me that they thought we were having an issue with a package warping. Unfortunately, component warping can occur both in a PCB and in components. In this article, we'll give an overview of warpage in a PCB, specifically in the circuit board and in the components.

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On-Demand Webinar
8 Reasons to Store Your Components in Altium 365

Working with local libraries seems like a simple solution, but we often don’t take into account the added time spent maintaining libraries and sharing them between team members. There is no good way to avoid duplicate efforts with component creation and no standardization to ensure consistent naming. Worst of all, there is no way to identify the latest component revision, and library files can be easily corrupted or misplaced. This webinar showcases the advantages of component storage in Аltium 365 to resolve the issues of local libraries and component management.

Link Budget Calculator
Blog
RF Signal Chain and Link Budget Basics

If you're designing a wireless IoT device, and you know how to calculate the link budget, you can reasonably estimate whether your signal will reach its destination and be read by the receiver. To calculate the link budget, the designer needs to know something about all other sources of gain and loss in the system. Once link budget is determined, the designer can judge whether some modification is needed in their RF signal chain. 

Embedded thumbnail for Adding Additional Views in a Draftsman Document
How to Work with Draftsman
Adding Additional Views in a Draftsman Document

If you need additional views in your documentation, Altium Designer’s Draftsman Document editor can help. We’ll show you how to add and configure different views including the component view, the section view, the detail view, the isometric view, variants, the legend for the layer stack, the board region view, and the board realistic view.

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Blog
Pi.MX8 Project - Board Layout Part 4

We invite you to explore a new chapter in the PiMX8 Project, focusing on the final stages of PCB layout design for the Pi.MX8 compute module. This installment covers critical topics such as routing power planes and signal delay tuning, essential for ensuring proper functionality and performance.

Blog
How Thermoformed Flex PCB’s are Designed and Fabricated

Thermoformed flexible PCBs are specially designed and fabricated by heating and molding them into specific shapes, making them suitable for compact and complex applications like automotive dashboards and wearable devices. This process involves precise temperature control and careful handling to ensure durability and quality. Discover more from Tara Dunn's new article.

Blog
Boost Connection Integrity and Design Efficiency with Wire Bonding

Altium Designer's wire bonding feature enhances PCB design by supporting chip-up configurations for Chip on Board (CoB) designs. It offers easy validation of bond wiring in 3D views, ensuring accurate and efficient design processes. Check more about this feature on Altium's new feature page.

Blog
How High Frequency SMD Passives Work in a PCB Layout

High-frequency surface-mount device (SMD) passives like resistors and capacitors play a crucial role in PCB layouts, particularly in circuits operating above 1 GHz. Our article explores how these components function at high frequencies, their operational limits, and the importance of considering parasitic elements in design.

Blog
Essential DFM Tips for Aerospace Projects

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is a crucial aspect of aerospace projects. This process ensures high-quality designs that meet the unique challenges of the aerospace industry, such as extreme conditions and stringent reliability standards. Learn more about essential DFM tips in our brand-new article.

Altium 365 New Website
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Altium 365 now has its own website!

Discover everything you need to know about Altium 365 and experience our suite of applications for secure, seamless, and streamlined collaboration. Visit now to explore how to streamline your electronic product development.
 

Blog
Altium Designer: Leading the Charge in PCB Design Innovation

In the dynamic field of electronics design, Altium Designer stands out as a pioneer, continuously advancing the boundaries of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) design. Discover the latest innovations in 3D-MID design, high-speed design, and interactive routing in this new article by David Marrakchi.

Blog
What Is Solder Mask Expansion and Which Value Should You Use?

Check out our new article explaining how to ensure sufficient pad area for soldering, manage misregistration tolerance, and maintain proper solder dams between components. It also highlights the role of collaboration with fabrication houses and the use of CAD tools in defining land patterns for advanced electronics designs.

Blog
Pi.MX8 Project - Board Layout Part 3

We continue our exploration of the Pi.MX8 open-source computer module project. In this new installment, we focus on routing planning and then cover all the layers' routing with all the details you need to know if you want to prepare a similar project.

Blog
Mastering Blind and Buried Vias

Check our compilation of essential resources you'll need to use blind and buried vias successfully in an HDI PCB. In our brand new article, we present the main and most valuable information about this technology, which may not be new but is still highly useful in High-Density Interconnect projects.

Blog
Make Sure to Clean Your No-Clean Flux

No-clean flux has become popular due to its convenience. Learn more about why this solution is used, why cleaning might still be necessary, and how to remove no-clean flux residues. We will try to dispel all these doubts in this brand new article.

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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.

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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.

Embedded thumbnail for Altium Tutorial: Harness Design to Multi-Board Assembly Workflow
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!

Embedded thumbnail for Engineering collaboration across Disciplines with Altium 365 and Design+Industry
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.

Embedded thumbnail for Kickstart Your Rigid-Flex Journey: Part IV - MCAD Integration
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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