Altium Tutorial

Simon Kennedy

2014
CONTENTS Simon Kennedy

Contents

1 General Altium Designer Concepts 1

1.1 Project and File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 .SchDoc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.3 .PcbDoc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.4 .SchLib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.5 .PcbLib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.6 .OutJob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Creating a New Project 3

3 Altium Workspace 4

4 Libraries 5

4.1 Schematic Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4.2 PCB Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4.3 Add a Footprint to Schematic Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4.4 Update Open Documents with Changes Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5 Schematic 11

5.1 Place Components and Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5.2 Draw Wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5.3 Net Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5.4 Text Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.5 Compile for Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5.6 Update Designators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6 PCB 16

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CONTENTS Simon Kennedy

6.1 Transfer Design from Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

6.2 Define Board Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

6.3 Group Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

6.4 Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

6.5 Polygon Pours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

6.6 Designators and other useful Silk Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6.7 Design Rule Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

7 Generating Outputs 22

7.1 Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

7.2 Gerbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

7.3 NC Drill File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

7.4 BOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

8 Tutorial 26

8.1 Schematic Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

8.2 PCB Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

8.3 Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

8.4 PCB Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

8.5 Output Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

A Useful Links and Other Tutorials a

B Tutorial Schematic a

Altium Tutorial ii
LIST OF FIGURES Simon Kennedy

List of Figures

1 Project Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Default Altium Workspace Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3 An Example Schematic Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4 Schematic Symbol Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5 Editing Schematic Symbol Pin Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

6 Editing Schematic Symbol Using Library Component Properties . . . . . . . . . 7

7 An Example Footprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

8 Footprint Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

9 PCBLIB Inspector Workspace Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

10 Adding a Footprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

11 Example Schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

12 Net Label Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

13 Power Port Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

14 Annotate Schematics with Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

15 Annotate Schematic Designators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

16 Example PCB Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

17 Engineering Change Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

18 Newly Imported PCB Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

19 PCB with Defined Board Outline and Grouped Components . . . . . . . . . . . 19

20 Design Rules from ITead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

21 Completed Output Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Altium Tutorial iii

1 GENERAL ALTIUM DESIGNER CONCEPTS Simon Kennedy

1 General Altium Designer Concepts

Altium Designer is a powerful and complicated fully integrated PCB design suite. Altium has
in recent years tried to go beyond just implementing hardware to become more of a complete
design suite. This tutorial is going to teach the basics of using this tool to create a PCB.

1.1 Project and File Types

Altium uses project files to collect the different types of files that are used in your design.
PrjPcb is the file extension. In a project a number of other different files can be included.

The five main file types that make up a PCB project are:

• Schematic Document .SchDoc

• PCB Document .PcbDoc

• Schematic Library .SchLib

• PCB Library .PcbLib

• Output Job .OutJob

Any number of these files may be the member of a PCB Project. The example in this tutorial
will use one of each, but more complicated designs may require many more.

1.2 .SchDoc

The schematic is key to the creation of our useful PCB. Due to the error checking built into
Altium it is very difficult to produce an error that doesn’t have some relation to the schematic
so care and attention here will pay off. Schematic Symbols are inserted into our Schematic
Document which contain pins and parameters to link the symbol to it’s PCB Footprint. These
pins are connected via wires and net names to produce the net list which then generates the
connections for the PCB.

It is important that schematics are drawn in a clear and easy to understand manner.

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1 GENERAL ALTIUM DESIGNER CONCEPTS Simon Kennedy

1.3 .PcbDoc

The PCB file is where the physical implementation lives. Typically a two copper layer FR4
PCB is used although many more layers can and are used in industry. The PCB file is used
to generate the Gerber files which are sent to the manufacturer to make the board. There are
many layers that are present in the PCB document which each have a significance explained
later in this document.

1.4 .SchLib

The SchLib is a library of Schematic Symbols. Library creation is a time consuming but
incredibly important part of good PCB design. It is very important to check the datasheet of
each component to be used to ensure that the schematic symbol matches the device. Schematic
Libraries also contain parameters that can be used to determine where the components can be
purchased from, some key performance parameters and, if used correctly, Altium can find out
if the component is in stock and the pricing information.

1.5 .PcbLib

The PcbLib is a library of Component Footprints. Footprint creation is often difficult as the
engineer needs to determine exactly what should to be included and what size and shape the
pads should be. Different manufacturers use different names for the same footprints. Sometimes
they will use the same name for different footprints. This is why it is very important to check
the data sheet. Components have a number of pad that have a name that correspond to the pins
on the schematic symbol. Other useful information includes pin one location and component
body size. Some examples are included in the tutorial.

1.6 .OutJob

Output Jobs contains a number of output generation macros. Generation of Gerber files, NC
Drill Files, Bill of Materials (BOM), Schematics and PCB prints. This enables quick and easy
generation of files to be sent to the manufacturer.

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2 CREATING A NEW PROJECT Simon Kennedy

2 Creating a New Project

To create a new PCB, project needs to be created and to this added the various files.

To create a new project File → New → Project → PCB Project

In your workspace, there will now have a empty project called PCB Project1.PrjPCB

Lets now add a schematic document File → New → Schematic

This will add a blank schematic document to the project.

It is a good idea to save as you go with Altium as the application sometimes likes to lock up
just when most inconvenient.

Projects should generally be saved in their own folder to keep path references correct. A good
place to save the documents is C:\Projects\PCB Name

Add and save a schematic library, PCB library and PCB document in much the same way.

In the case of our example project, Line Tracer, the Projects tab will look like figure 1.

Figure 1: Project Files

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3 ALTIUM WORKSPACE Simon Kennedy

3 Altium Workspace

Altium uses a series of docked windows known as workspace panels around the active workspace.
These workspace panels can be opened from the View → Workspace Panels menu. The
default setup is a good place to start and often a good place to return to if a window gets closed
accidentally. To restore the Altium window to its default appearance click View → Desktop
Layout → Default. These workspace panels can float or can be docked by dragging to the
sides of the screen. Figure 2 shows the default window layout.

Figure 2: Default Altium Workspace Layout

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4 LIBRARIES Simon Kennedy

4 Libraries

Whilst not the most most interesting of topics, a lot of time can be wasted if errors are present
in libraries. Altium does have quite a few built in libraries. but generally it is quicker to make
the components you want to use yourself. You also gain confidence that the symbol or footprint
is going to be correct. A PCB won’t be able to exist without library information. Most large
companies will employ a least one person to manage their libraries and keep them correct.
Seeing that there is just you, this important job falls upon your shoulders.

4.1 Schematic Library

Figure 3: An Example Schematic Symbol

Schematic Libraries are straight forward to construct. Key to producing understandable

schematics is producing meaningful and easily understood symbols. The simple creation flow
is:

• Name the Component (part number)

• Draw a Symbol

• Add pins and name or number them

• Add parameters. At a minimum you should include: Manufacturer 1, Manufacturer Part

Number 1, Supplier 1, Supplier Part Number 1, Comment, Default Designator

• Add a footprint

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4 LIBRARIES Simon Kennedy

Figure 4: Schematic Symbol Editor

To add a new component to our library click Add on the SCH Library workspace panel as
shown in figure 4. Draw the symbol in the workspace. Using the tools in the Place menu.
In the case of an IC it is often best to draw a rectangle. Add pins to our symbol using the
Place→ Pin tool. Altium has the ability to use keyboard short cuts in a lot of places which
can help speed up a lot of tasks. In this case P then P is the same as Place Pin. Click to
place on the schematic and use the Spacebar to rotate.

To change the parameters of the pin right click on the pin and select Properties. The Pin
Properties window will be displayed as in 5. A short cut to display this window is pressing
Tab before placing the pin. The Display Name needs to be changed to what the pin will be
called or what it does. Sometime this might get in the way of a clear symbol and it can be
hidden by clicking on Visible. Also change the Designator to match the pin name on the
footprint. Generally this will just be a number. The other parameter that is useful is Length
which changes the length of the pin.

To add parameters to the schematic symbol, click to select on the component name in the View
→ Workspace → SCH → SCH Library workspace panel and select Edit. The Library
Component Properties window will appear as in figure 6. Default Designator should be changed
to for a resistor for example: R?. The ? means a yet to be defined designator number. The
component should have a reasonable Comment, Description (Digi-Key component pages are
a good source) and Symbol Reference, a good system is the part name and package name.
Supplier connection should be set up with the Parameters.

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4 LIBRARIES Simon Kennedy

Figure 5: Editing Schematic Symbol Pin Parameters

Figure 6: Editing Schematic Symbol Using Library Component Properties

In the example of our MBR230 diode the parameters are set as shown:

• Manufacturer 1 = ON Semiconductor

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4 LIBRARIES Simon Kennedy

• Manufacturer Part Number 1 = MBR230LSFT1G

• Supplier 1 = Digi-Key

• Supplier Part Number 1 =MBR230LSFT1GOSCT-ND

Examples are included the Line Tracer Project or in the Tutorial.

4.2 PCB Library

Figure 7: An Example Footprint

PCB Libraries and footprint creation can be challenging. Referring to the data sheet for the
component is essential for creating an effective footprint. The simple creation flow is:

• Name the footprint (e.g. 0805)

• Draw the pads and position correctly

• Add extra information on the other layers. There should at least be something Silkscreen
and 3D mechanical layer.

An example layer usage:

• Top Layer (Copper Land Pads)

• Top Overlay (Text and Orientation Information)

• Top Soldermask (Location of removal of soldermask)

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4 LIBRARIES Simon Kennedy

• Mechanical 4 - Assembly Drawing (.Designator and .Comment)

• Mechanical 13 - 3D Body (Component Outline and 3D Body)

• Mechanical 15 - SMD Outline (Minimum Clearance between Components also known as

Component Courtyard)

Figure 8: Footprint Editor

To add a new component to our library click Add on the PCB Library workspace panel as
shown in figure 8. Key to footprints are the pads. To place Pad select the Place → Pad or P
then P tool. Before placing these in the workspace press Tab to enter the Pad window. The
dimensions and shape are defined here as well as the designator. Click place the component
and set its location on the grid.

The PCBLIB Inspector workspace panel is very useful for aligning pins around the origin.
This tools being is shown in figure 9. The Inspector workspace panels are powerful a way to
make changes to all of the selected items and can save a lot of time and clicking.

Select between layers using the tabs at the bottom of the PCB Library editor window. To add
lines to the Top Overlay, select the Top Overlay tab at the bottom and then place a line using
the Place → Line or P then L. Do this for any other layers that you want to add features
to. To change layers using the keyboard use + and - on the number pad to scroll between all
layers and use * on the number pad to scroll between copper layers.

4.3 Add a Footprint to Schematic Symbol

The newly created footprint needs to be associated with the schematic symbols in the schematic
library window. Go back to the schematic library window and click the Add Footprint button
circled in figure 4. Browse and select the correct footprint. This window is shown in figure 10.

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4 LIBRARIES Simon Kennedy

Figure 9: PCBLIB Inspector Workspace Panel

4.4 Update Open Documents with Changes Made

If a schematic symbol or PCB footprint is changed between our initial placement and release
then the easiest way to update the document is to right click on the changed symbol or footprint
and click Update Schematic Sheet or Update PCB with .... Be aware that this tool will
update all devices in the schematic with the same Symbol Reference. Be aware that if there
have been any changes to parameters in schematic editor these will all be lost i.e. component
value. This is why it is best to have a separate item for each value and size of component as
in the Line Tracer library and the Tutorial. Also, these tools will only update elements that
appear in currently open documents so make sure that all of the sheets of schematic or PCBs
that use the device are open before clicking update.

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5 SCHEMATIC Simon Kennedy

Figure 10: Adding a Footprint

5 Schematic

Drawing a schematic in Altium is extremely straight forward. The process flow here is:

• Place Components

• Draw Wires between Components

• Place Net Labels and Power Ports

• Annotate Schematic

• Compile Project to Check for Errors

5.1 Place Components and Connect

To place components in the schematic document click Place → Part or P then P. Browse
the library and select the component that you want to place. Click a location on the schematic
to drop the part in that location. To rotate the component use the Spacebar and mirror in
the x plane using X and in the y plane using Y. To continue to place the same component click
again. To exit this mode use the Esc key.

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5 SCHEMATIC Simon Kennedy

Figure 11: Example Schematic

5.2 Draw Wires

Once the required components have been placed connect the pins on the schematic using the
wire tool Place → Wire or P then W. Click and draw the wires that are needed by clicking
onto the schematic sheet.

5.3 Net Labels

To produce a neater schematic net labels can be used to connect various pins and wires together.
Place these using the Place → Net Label tool or P then N. Press Tab or if already placed
Right Click to bring up the Net Label box as shown in figure 12 and change the Net name.
Also very useful are power ports which can be used to signify VCC and GND. Use this tool via
Place → Power Port or P then O. Press Tab to bring up the Power Port box as shown in
figure 13 and change the Net name.

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5 SCHEMATIC Simon Kennedy

Figure 12: Net Label Box

5.4 Text Annotations

If text annotations are required then these can be placed via the Place → Text String or P
then T. Press Tab to bring up the Annotation box as shown in figure 14 and change the text.

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5 SCHEMATIC Simon Kennedy

Figure 13: Power Port Box

5.5 Compile for Errors

To ensure that all nets are connected it is important to use the No ERC directive to ensure
that errors are not reported when not needed. Place these using Place → Directive → No
ERC or P then V then N.

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5 SCHEMATIC Simon Kennedy

Figure 14: Annotate Schematics with Text

5.6 Update Designators

To update the component designators automatically, use the Annotate Schematic tool. This
is located in Tools → Annotate Schematic. To update all of the designators click Update
Changes List then click Accept Changes (Create ECO) then click Execute Changes.
This is shown in figure 15.

To compile the schematic to check for errors click Project → Compile Project .... If any
errors or warnings are present these will appear in the Messages workspace panel. Don’t
ignore these errors or warnings otherwise it is very likely issues will arise during layout or
testing.

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6 PCB Simon Kennedy

Figure 15: Annotate Schematic Designators

6 PCB

Finally the time comes to begin designing our PCB. This step has been made much easier
due to the hard work that has been done so far. At this point the footprints should match
the component package physical dimensions and the schematic should connect the correct pins
together. PCB layout can be broken down into the following steps:

• Add the Components to the PCB document

• Define Board Shape and begin to Floorplan

• Group Components and begin placement

• Track nets, starting with the highest priority and working down.

• Add Polygon Pours

• Complete Layout and Tracking

• Add and Organise Designators and other Silk Screen Text

• Run Design Rule Check

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6 PCB Simon Kennedy

Figure 16: Example PCB Layout

6.1 Transfer Design from Schematic

First the netlist and footprints need to be transferred from the schematic editor into the PCB
document. To do this click Design → Update PCB ... An Engineering Change Order
(ECO) window will appear and click Execute Changes. Ensure to note if any errors occur.
Most commonly these will involve missing footprints from the PCB library. Resolve these errors
and repeat the process again.

6.2 Define Board Shape

In the PCB document now the board will appear as the default size with all of the component
footprints located to the side of the PCB as in 18

The Board Outline should be defined. Most simply, this is done by drawing a series of lines
on Mechanical 1 layer. Select this layer at the bottom of the screen and draw the tracks to
produce an area of the desired dimensions. Place outline lines by using the Place → Track
or P then T. After placing these lines, select them all by clicking each whist holding Shift.
Define the Board Outline by using Design → Board Shape → Define from selected
objects. The area within this outline will now appear black and the outline has been defined.

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6 PCB Simon Kennedy

Figure 17: Engineering Change Order

Figure 18: Newly Imported PCB Document

Alternative methods exist such as importing a .dxf CAD file but these are not covered here.

6.3 Group Components

Referring to the schematic to determine functional groups and begin to organise components
into functional groups. Select components by clicking and the are able to be moved by clicking
and dragging the component to the desired location. Components can be rotated by using
Space. Groups of components can be moved by selecting a larger number of components,
either by clicking and dragging a box around them or by clicking on multiple components
whilst holding down Shift. Once these functional groups have been put together arrange the
components to untangle the web of unrouted nets displayed by the white lines. Move these
organised functional groups to their desired location of the board.

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6 PCB Simon Kennedy

Figure 19: PCB with Defined Board Outline and Grouped Components

6.4 Tracking

Track in order of priority. Start with nets such as USB or other high speed signals, analog high
impedance nets, high current nets such as a battery input, crystals and decoupling capacitors.
Tracks can be placed by Design → Interactive Routing or P then T. Snapping is a useful
way of getting tracks to connect to the centre of pads. Ensure this is turned on by checking
boxes in Design → Board Options or D then O. Ensure that Snap on all Layers and
Snap to Board Outline are selected. Select the track tool then click on the centre of a pads
and drag the mouse to draw the track. To enforce a location click and the track will be locked
to that location. Continue to draw the track until it is completed. Tracks can be moved by
clicking and using the grab points.

Vias are placed to change layers. They are plated drill holes that are conductive. Boards almost
always need more than one layer to successfully route all of the nets. To place a Via Design
→ Via or D then V.

As with almost everything in Altium, pressing Tab before placing the via or track can change
the options. This can also be achieved via the PCB Inspector workspace panel or by right
clicking on the object and selecting properties.

To move into and out of single layer display mode use Shift + S. This enables the user to

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6 PCB Simon Kennedy

see just the current layer. Holding Ctrl and clicking will highlight all copper connected to
the clicked net. Exiting can be done by Ctrl clicking outside the board. Components can be
located on the top and bottom sides. They can be moved between the layers by right clicking
and selecting Properties and changing the content of Component Properties → Layer.

6.5 Polygon Pours

Polygon Pours are planes of copper that can be used as a low impedance way to connect ground
or any other signal but generally are used for power nets.

Two methods for defining the area of the polygon pour are:

• Creating a series of tracks around the boundaries of the desired pour boarder then using
the snapping to make the edges neat. Place polygon pours using Place → Polygon
Pour or P then G

• Selecting the board outline or already existing complete shape of tracks and using Tools
→ Polygon Pours → Define from selected objects

The Polygon Pour properties window includes some important options:

• Fill Mode should be set to Solid

• Name should be Layer - Net

• Layer should be the desired Layer

• Connect to Net - Desired Net

• Select Pour over All Net Objects

• Select Remove Dead Copper i.e. areas of copper not connected to the desired net

Polygon pours can be re-poured when other tracks are changed or components moved. This is
done via the Tools → Polygon Pours → Polygon Manager. The Polygon Manager also
sets the priority or order with which polygon pours are poured so that pours outline areas may
overlap but pours don’t.

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6.6 Designators and other useful Silk Screen

Designator text is located on the Silk Screen. These are by default quite large and should be
reduced in size to make it simpler to located them on the board. Silk Screen text should also
contain the board name and any other useful information such as pin out of connectors. These
can be placed by Place → String or P then S. This will place the string on the currently
selected layer. Be careful what layer this is placed on.

6.7 Design Rule Check

Design rules can be pretty annoying. They are however essential to ensure that the PCB
functions as designed. Key to this is ensuring that the selected design rules are realistic.
Figure 20 shows some typical design rules from a cheaper manufacturer.

Rules need to be set in Altium for the checker to compare with. They can be set in Design →
Rules. Check that these rules matches the PCB manufacturer or have bigger clearances and
widths.

Online DRC runs by default highlighting violations green. To run the full Design Rule Check
click Tools → Design Rule Check. Click Run Design Rule Check. Review the output
report and fix the errors. Only once all of these errors are fixed should the PCB be released.

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7 GENERATING OUTPUTS Simon Kennedy

Figure 20: Design Rules from ITead

7 Generating Outputs

Altium files are not a very good way of transferring manufacturing data to the manufacturer
therefore documents in industry standard formats should be generated from these files to release.

Typically released files:

• Schematic Drawing in PDF format (Released to the Engineers working on Project)

• PCB Assembly Drawing in PDF format (Released to Assembler and Engineers on Project)

• Bill of Materials (BOM) (Released to Assembler and Engineers on Project)

• Gerber Files (Released to PCB Manufacturer)

• NC Drill File (Released to PCB Manufacturer)

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7 GENERATING OUTPUTS Simon Kennedy

Figure 21: Completed Output Job

• Placement File (Released to Assembler)

• Solder Paste Gerber File (Released to Assembler)

For the purposes of simple projects schematics, BOM, Gerbers and NC Drill files are needed.
To simplify this process Altium includes an Output Job .OutJob file which includes settings
to generates these with one click.

7.1 Schematic

To output the schematic to a PDF:

• Click Add New Documentation Output → Schematic Prints → [Project Phys-

ical Documents]

• Check the box at the right of the line Enable

• Right Click on the Schematic Prints line and configure the Page Setup for A3 and Colour

• Click on the PDF Button on the right to export

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7 GENERATING OUTPUTS Simon Kennedy

7.2 Gerbers

To output the PCB to Gerber Files:

• Click Add New Fabrication Output → Gerber Files → PCB Name

• Check the box at the right of the line Enable

• Right Click on the Gerber Files line and click Configure

• Select each of the used layers in the second tab Layers

• Select Plot all used layer pairs twice in Drill Drawing tab

• Click Ok

• Export the Gerbers by clicking on the Folder Structure Generation Button on the right

Generally it is best to use what every units you worked in, i.e. mm or mil. The format 2:3,
2:4 and 2:5 corresponds to the resolution of the Gerbers. It is generally best to use the highest
resolution that is possible (2:5) unless the manufacturer complains. Ensure to open Gerbers
and review each layer to ensure they have been output correctly. It is very common to have
designators or other erroneous information on the wrong layer. The free Gerbv viewer is quite
easy to use if the Altium one seems too complicated to use.

7.3 NC Drill File

To output the PCB to NC Drill Files:

• Click Add New Fabrication Output → NC Drill Files → PCB Name

• Check the box at the right of the line Enable

• The default configuration is suitable

• Export the NC Drill Drawing by clicking on the Folder Structure Generation Button on
the right

Altium Tutorial 24 of 27
7 GENERATING OUTPUTS Simon Kennedy

7.4 BOM

To output the Bill of Materials:

• Click Add New Report Output → Bill of Materials → [Project]

• Check the box at the right of the line Enable

• Right Click on the Bill of Materials line and click Configure

• Add the desired columns and order by dragging

• Export the Bill of Materials by clicking on the Folder Structure Generation Button on
the right

Altium Tutorial 25 of 27
8 TUTORIAL Simon Kennedy

8 Tutorial

The tutorial involves producing PCB with a non-inverting Operational Amplifier and two volt-
age regulators. The following tutorial should help the user learn how to use Altium effectively
and independently.

The project files have been included for your use. The task is to complete this design

8.1 Schematic Library

An almost complete schematic library has been included for your use. It contains everything
but the positive adjustable voltage regulator that we will use. The schematic symbol for the
LM317EMPX/NOPBCT need to be produced. This part has three legs and a tab. Check the
data sheet to find out what to connect this tab to. The footprint has four pins numbered 1-4
with 4 assigned to that tab. Tasks:

• Get the datasheet from www.digikey.com

• Create the Symbol and Pins

• Complete the parameters

• Add the correct footprint to the symbol (SOT-223-4)

8.2 PCB Library

An almost complete PCB library has been included for your use. It contains everything except
for the footprint for the AD8661ARZ-REEL7 operational amplifier that we will use.

Tasks:

• Get the data sheet from www.digi-key.com

• Create the footprint with all four pins.

• Add Silk Screen and Component Body

• Add this footprint to the AD8661ARZ-REEL7 schematic object.

Altium Tutorial 26 of 27
8 TUTORIAL Simon Kennedy

8.3 Schematic

You have been provide with a schematic with only the tiles of the blocks inserted for you to
complete. A complete version of what you should produce is attached to this document.

Tasks:

• Place Components

• Connect components with net labels and wires

• Compile project and check and resolve errors

8.4 PCB Layout

You have been a blank PCB with predefined board outline and mounting holes.

Tasks

• Import Components from Schematic

• Place Components

• Connect Components with Tracks

• Place Polygon Pours

• Organise designators and finalise the layout

• Run Design Rule Check

8.5 Output Files

Generate output files by creating an output job and producing the output Gerbers.

• Add Output Job to Project

• Configure Output Job to generate Gerbers, NC Drill Drawing, Schematic and BOM

• Generate Files

• Review Output files

Altium Tutorial 27 of 27
B TUTORIAL SCHEMATIC Simon Kennedy

A Useful Links and Other Tutorials

http://ecee.colorado.edu/~ecen4610/wiki/images/6/61/Altium_Workshop_Basic_Capstone.
pdf

http://ecee.colorado.edu/~ecen4610/wiki/images/f/fa/Altium_Schematic_Tutorial.pdf

http://ecee.colorado.edu/~ecen4610/wiki/index.php/PCB_Design

http://techdocs.altium.com/display/ADOH/Altium+Designer

http://techdocs.altium.com/display/ADOH/Tutorial+-+Getting+Started+with+PCB+Design

http://techdocs.altium.com/display/ADOH/Getting+Started+with+Altium+Designer

B Tutorial Schematic

Altium Tutorial a
 1 2 3 4
Operational Amplifier +5V Voltage Regulators
PIC101
COC1
C1
PIC102 100nF
A
PIC201 A
GND COC2
C2 COIC1
IC1
PIC202 100nF LM317 SOT-223
+12V 4 +5V

ADJ
PIIC104 IN
-5V 3 2
PIIC103 IN OUT PIIC102
PIR101
PIC301 COR1
R1 PIC401 PI05V0LED0A
COC3 COC4
C3
PI C10 120R
C4

1
10uF PIR102 10uF CO05V0LED
+5V_LED
+5V PIC302 50V PIC402 50V PI05V0LED0K
7

COH1
H1 PIU107 COU1
U1 COH2
H2 PIR201 PIR301
COR2
R2 COR3
R3
3 V+ AD8661 COH3
H3
1 PIH101 PIU103 1 PIH201 1k 1k
6 PIR202 PIR302
2 PIH102 PIU106 PIH301 1 2 PIH202
PIR401 PIR701
2 COR4
R4 COR7
R7
PIU102 PIH302 2 3 PIH203
Header GND V- GND 1k 1k GND
PIU104 GND Header Header PIR402 PIR702
4

-5V
COR5
PIC501 PIR601
PIC601 PI05V0LED0A
R5 COC5 COC6
C5
PI C201 COR6
R6
C6

1
PIR501 PIR502
10uF 10uF -5V_LED
B 10k 120R B
PIC502 50V 3
IN OUT
2 PIR602 PIC602 50V PI05V0LED0K

ADJ
PIIC203 PIIC202
PIR802 4
COR8
R8 PIIC204 IN
10k -12V -5V
PIR801 COIC2
IC2
LM337 SOT-223
GND
C C
D D
Title: Altium Tutorial
Main Sheet
Client: Designed By:25739891
Monash Unversity Simon Kennedy
Date: 17/03/2014 Time: 10:50:24 AM
Revision: A Sheet 1 of 1
File: Altium_Tutorial.SchDoc
1 2 3 4