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Parasitic Extraction for your traces
Blog •
Parasitic Extraction with an Electromagnetic Solver in PCB Routing

Parasitic extraction: the integrated circuit design community must grapple with this task on a daily basis, especially once gate features are reduced below ~350 nm and chips run at high switching speeds. The PCB community also has to deal with this idea in order to better design power delivery networks, interconnects with precise impedance, and properly quantify crosstalk and coupling mechanisms.

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How to work with Variants •
Types of Component Variations

Altium Designer allows you to implement several different types of component variations. We’ll show you the differences between fitted, modified parameters, not fitted, and alternate Part variations, as well as how to add and manage these variations for your design.

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PCB
Blog •
Ebook: PDN Simulation and Analysis Guide

Most designers don’t realize they need to worry about power integrity until they have a power integrity problem. Other designers might build boards that can’t handle the demands of modern digital and high frequency components, and they may not realize the problems that lurk in their power delivery network (PDN). Although the basic concepts involved in designing for power integrity are well-known, myths about power integrity abound, and designers need tools to help them evaluate and qualify power integrity in a PDN.

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Query Language •
Query Language: Basic Concept Part III

Often the criterion for searching certain objects in Altium Designer is matching parameters to some string (text) values. Learn from this video how to use substitution symbols in queries and increase your productivity when working on projects

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DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints •
Solder Mask Expansion and Minimum Sliver

Using the solder mask expansion and the minimum solder mask sliver rules, you can make sure your solder mask layer doesn’t interfere with any of your exposed copper and is manufacturable.

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Ferrites in PDN Simulation
Blog •
Ferrite Beads and Transfer Impedance in a PDN Simulation

The use of ferrites in a PDN is one design recommendation that is fraught with unclear guidance and over-generalized recommendations. If you see an application note or a reference design that recommends placing a ferrite in a PDN, should you follow this in your specific design, or should you ignore this and focus on adding capacitance? 

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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 webinar, we’ll review some of the must-have checks before sending your output data for fabrication.

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PCB Design Outputs
Blog •
Overview of PCB Design Output Files

Before your board can be put into production and prepared for assembly, you have to generate a set of files that assist your manufacturer. These are your PCB design output files, also known as manufacturing files, fabrication data, assembly files, and a host of other names. Before you send your design file off to a manufacturer in an email, make sure to get a list of their required fabrication and assembly files first. If you’re a new designer, take some time to read over the basic PCB manufacturing file extensions below.

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Query Language •
Query Language: Basic Concept Part II

Do you want to learn how to make more complex queries consisting of several commands? This video is about auxiliary operators that exist in the Altium Designer query language, and how to combine and use them together.

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DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints •
Teardrops for DFM

If you need to increase the width to any primitive, but need to maintain manufacturability, you can use teardrops. We’ll show you how to create a teardrop and specify the shape and size.

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How transformers work
Blog •
Transformer Theory Made Simple

Transformers can provide very effective signal isolation and are used to manipulate AC voltage and current levels. They can achieve all this with a greater than 95% power efficiency, which is why we commonly see them used in bench power supplies, audio gear, computers, kitchen appliances, and wall-warts. However, transformer theory can be unintuitive and in this article we answer on questions about them

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How to work with Variants •
Creating a New Design Variant

You can create variants and allow various changes to your design while maintaining all other versions in Altium Designer. We’ll show you how to create new variants using the variant manager and what you need to know to configure your variants correctly.

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Take advantage of the VCS-based workflow in Altium 365
Blog •
Using Altium 365 Over Your Vanilla Version Control System

There are all sorts of version control systems (VCS) 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.

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Embedded thumbnail for Query Language: Basic Concept Part I
Query Language •
Query Language: Basic Concept Part I

In this video you will learn types of query language commands and what they can be used for.

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DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints •
Configuring the Vias Annular Ring

The minimum dimension from the wall of the aperture to the edge of the pad is called an annular ring, and we can configure it with Altium Designer. We’ll show you how to get started and manage the annular ring in your design rules.

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Recovering Copper Losses
Blog •
Recover Conductor Losses By Clearing Your PCB Ground Layer

Controlled impedance routing at high frequencies is difficult enough, and it's important to make sure that you stay within your loss budget on long routes or in lossy media. When you have to route a long trace or a long differential pair to a connector or another component, what can you do if you're reaching the end of your loss budget? In this article, we’ll take a look at the skip reference routing method and explain how it can help recover some loss budget in a lossy interconnect.

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Stackup Manager in Altium
On-Demand Webinar •
Mastering The Layer Stack Manager

What most people don’t seem to grasp is that every aspect of the PCB is critical. It all plays a significant part in the operation of the final product. The layer stack is no different. We need to keep in mind materials and the intricacies therein, including thickness, weave, dielectric constants, and more. A proper layer stack is needed for each and every design, so it's important to know how to navigate the layer stack manager and all of its features.

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Altium 365 SOC 2 Type 1 Certified
Blog •
Announcing SOC 2 Type 1 Certification for Altium 365

We are pleased to announce that Altium 365 is officially SOC 2 Type 1 certified. System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 is a widely recognized attestation of security compliance defined by the AICPA and is considered the standard for ensuring data security and operational maturity. A SOC 2 certification provides valuable information for companies to assess the quality of the security provided by a service such as Altium 365.

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RF PCB Design •
Design RF PCB: RF Materials for PCB

Unlike an ideal environment, PCB materials introduce losses into the propagated signal. In this, we tried to figure out what materials to choose for RF printed circuit boards.

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Embedded thumbnail for Design for Manufacturing (DFM) Overview
DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints •
Design for Manufacturing (DFM) Overview

During your design process, there are simple steps you can take to focus on Design for Manufacturing, or DFM. Altium Designer has a unique set of tools you can use to make the DFM process efficient ensuring manufacturability. In this overview video, we’ll talk about some of topics covered in upcoming videos about the DFM tools Altium Designer offers you.

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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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How-To's •
How to work with cursors in the simulation results?

Cursors are one of the most indispensable tools for modeling results. They do not require long study, are easy to use and give an instant answer to the main questions.

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How-To's •
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.

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How-To's •
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.

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How-To's •
PCB Classes overview

Are there too many primitives on the board? Having trouble creating design rules? This video gives a brief overview of the classes of primitives that can be created on the board, as well as the possibilities for their further use.

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Embedded thumbnail for Creating a BGA Footprint with the Footprint Wizard
How-To's •
Creating a BGA Footprint 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 work with Pad Classes on PCB?
How-To's •
How to work with Pad Classes on PCB?

Sometimes it is required to set different design rules for a different set of pads on the board. The easiest way is to use pad classes and in this video we'll show you how easy it is to create and apply them.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to work with multivariate calculations?
How-To's •
How to work with multivariate calculations?

Additional modes for obtaining temperature, parametric dependencies and probabilistic distribution by the Monte Carlo method are performed together with basic calculations and allow expanding the possibilities for analyzing design results.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to calculate Transient Analysis?
How-To's •
How to calculate Transient Analysis?

Transient Analysis simulates the reaction of a circuit over a period of time. It can be supplemented by Fourier Analysis and the use of Initial Conditions.

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How-To's •
BOM Comments

Convenient interaction and coordination of the Active BOM with the help of comments is possible both from the web version of the project and from the Altium Designer between participants of the same and different roles.

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Embedded thumbnail for Query Language: What is It For?
How-To's •
Query Language: What is It For?

A PCB project contains many different objects. How to manage them? How to find the right ones quickly and efficiently? This video starts the series about query language. Learn the language commands and how to use them and expand your possibilities!

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Embedded thumbnail for PCB design with BGA: Via-in-Pad
How-To's •
PCB design with BGA: Via-in-Pad

We’ll teach you how to use Via-in-pad to reduce inductance, improve signal integrity, and improve power distribution system performance.

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Embedded thumbnail for Design RF PCB: Distributed-Element Circuits
How-To's •
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!

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Embedded thumbnail for How to work with components on a rigid-flex board in MCAD
How-To's •
How to work with components on a rigid-flex board in MCAD

With MCAD Codesigner you can quickly add and move components from your MCAD tool and update the design automatically in Altium Designer. We’ll show you how to. Add a new component, move components, and change a component’s region in MCAD, and update it to your design in Altium Designer.

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Embedded thumbnail for LSM: Impedance profile
How-To's •
LSM: Impedance profile

Creating Impedance profiles for transmission lines and how to apply them to the board

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Embedded thumbnail for Multichannel Schematic: Creating Channels
How-To's •
Multichannel Schematic: Creating Channels

Altium Designer makes creating single and multichannel designs effective and quick. We’ll show you how to create and annotate output and input channels in your design.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to efficiently use Blankets?
How-To's •
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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