Here you can do impedance tuning and add different via types. Go to Tools->Presets->2 Layer, and you will get a standard 1.6mm 2 layer pcb. This should be compliant with PCBWay Design Capabilities.Īnother thing that is optional, is the layer stack manager, this is important in more advanced multi layer designs. Navigate to the Altium Lib folder you downloaded from Github earlier, and choose the 2 layers rule. In the next window select all by CTRL+A, and hit OK Right click on the left, choose import rules. The default design rules are absolute garbage! To change them go do Thewhite areas indicate the distance required to comply with the design rules. If possible to autoroute the last step hit CTRL+ENTER to autoroute the last step. Using the Multi routing, you first need to select the pads, by holding shift + click. Here you can switch between different view modes, like a black pcb, purple pcb, 2D transparent is by far my favorite when you are working in cross layers!Ĭyan on Matte Black, or Light Green on White are stunning combinations! I'm still looking for a PCB manufacturer that can do dual or tri Overlay colours, might this be something for PCBWay? Transparent Solder mask is also pretty cool, since you can see the traces )
Go to panels, in the bottom right corner.->View Configuration-> View Options The most important feature, is changing the colour of the PCB: PROTIP: In 3D, click CTRL+F to rotate the model, 0 to center it, 9 and 8 for different views. After reporting the polygon it is now visible in 3D view as a golden Graphic! :) Make your polygon and change what layer you want it on. In 2D, click on the new polygon button, holding it in gives you several options. In order to show the copper below, you need a polygon with copper pour. The graphic will change color to the layer it's on, and will be visible in 3D mode. If you want it on the silkscreen layer, select the Top overlay in properties, If you want it to remove the green mask, to expose the copper layer below, choose Top Solder. It means that your project is open source. This is the logo for the Open Hardware Association. Select an area where you want it, and select the image that comes in my Altium Lib folder. I will go over the most important things, most things you will easily learn by just using the program. PROTIP: In layout view, changing between the different views, click 2 for 2D, 3 for 3D and 1 for planning mode. It will give you a message if something is wrong Here you can change the footprint to a different variantĪfter finishing your schematic, and changing the PCB layout, go to Design->Update PCBĬlick Execute changes to export the changes to the Layout. PROTIP: Double clicking on a component selects it and opens properties Some components have the same schematic, but different footprints, the footprints can be selected at the bottom here, or later in schematic after selecting the component and going into properties Select the component you want to place, and make your schematic.
You can also install the library’s so you no longer need to import them into your projects. If you added the library files in the first step, you can now select them here. On the right side, this panel will pop up. In the schematic click place part in order to get the parts view on the right side. These can be compiled and installed into altium, but I usually just add them to projects manually.ĭrag them under your project in order to access them in the components view.Ĭreating a new project is easy, go to Files->NEW->ProjectĪdd a schematic with right clicking on the project, add new to project and schematic. To import a library just double click it or drag it into Altium. The 3D models are incorporated into the library, but if you are looking for a 3D model, they can usually be found in the 3D model folder.
It includes both footprint and schematic symbols.
Here you will find my component library, I update it with new components regularly. The included ones are absolutely garbage, so I made my own library that I've posted to Github The hard part with Altium is the component library. So far I have 3 friends that have obtained the license, and the initial feedback is that it's smoother than KiCAD and user friendly.
Student licenses are now free for Altium so I will recommend getting a license even if you are a beginner. Leave a comment if you start using Altium based on this article, and let me know what you think!Īltium has a huge forum for customer feedback on the product, so if you want anything changed, leave a comment there.įirstly we will need to get a Altium License: