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Guide Books

Guide Books

Altium's GuideBooks provide in-depth insights and education for PCB Design.

Properties panel document options in SCH editors The Properties Panel and Document Options in the Schematic Editor The Properties panel provides access to the properties of documents and objects. The contents of the panel change depending on the active document or the selected object. The set of properties completely covers all the necessary parameters and settings of the object. Summary Document options are used to customize the grid, fonts, sheet format, and more. You can access them in the Properties panel. Document options in a SCH library Document Read Article
Migrating to Altium Designer from Siemens Xpedition Enterprise Migrating to Altium Designer from Siemens Xpedition Enterprise Learn how to migrate from from Siemens Xpedition Enterprise to Altium Designer using this detailed guidebook. Learn expert insights, tips, and step-by-step instructions for a smooth transition, unlocking the full potential of Altium Designer's powerful features for PCB Design. Read Article
Unite PCB and Mechanical Designers Unite PCB and Mechanical Designers Unite PCB and Mechanical Designers Effective collaboration between mechanical and electrical designers is crucial for better product design, but language barriers and inefficient data exchange hinder it. Time-to-market pressures drive the need for faster development cycles, cost reduction, and superior product quality. Altium MCAD CoDesigner integrates mechanical designers using Altium Designer into a collaborative workspace, enabling seamless Read Article
Solidworks PCB to Altium Designer Solidworks PCB to Altium Designer Read Article
Moving to Altium Designer from KiCad Making a Smooth Transition to Altium Designer from KiCad Layout In this guide, we’ll focus on importing KiCad Layout PCB designs. Please refer to specific guides if you need to migrate other files. Legacy Translation Before You Begin This guide will show you how to import data from your legacy system into Altium Designer. Before importing all of your legacy data, it’s important to ask yourself, “why do I need to import my legacy data?” Below are Read Article
Design With Manufacturing: A New View on DFM/DFA Design With Manufacturing: A New View on DFM/DFA Download a free ebook on DFM and DFA from Altium and Sierra Circuits. Learn about design WITH manufacturing to help you be successful. Read Article
Managing PCB objects Managing PCB objects The PCB panel allows you to view and edit each object on PCB. A quick search of the desired class or object is provided by the filtering system with several object type modes and flexible customization of displayed results. Quick overview Panel access Use View > Panels > PCB or select PCB from the Panels drop-down menu to access the panel. Panel modes Display management Visual highlighting effects Normal mode - filtered objects are highlighted Read Article
Length Tuning Relative Length Tuning With xSignals High-speed interfaces are commonly constructed as serial buses routed as differential pairs, or as parallel buses that operate at high clock rates. These buses require the traces in the be bus have matched lengths so that the group of signals can arrive at a receiving component within a required clocking window. This length matching is constrained by the length of the clocking signal and the rise time of the signals traveling on the bus. For Read Article
IPC 4761 Via Type IPC-4761 Via Types The document describes the possibilities of supporting several types of adapter protection according to the standardized IPC-4761 via types in Altium Designer with the advantages and disadvantages of each. Read Article
Schematic Compare Schematic Compare A design project doesn’t appear out of nowhere. The design process spreads over time, and project documents change. Schematic documents gradually become more complex, new functional blocks appear, and already finished parts can be modified and updated. The need for compare When the project is released and a series of boards is manufactured, adjustments will probably be made and a new release will be performed. It is always useful to be able to Read Article
OUNTERSINK, COUNTERBORE 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. Quick Overview In most cases, printed circuit boards require mounting holes. Holes with countersink and counterbore allow using different types of Read Article
MIGRATING DATA FROM OTHER VERSION CONTROL SYSTEMS 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 and 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 Read Article
Properties Panel Tuning Length Tuning in the Properties Panel See how to quickly place length tuning segments in single tracks and differential pairs using the PCB routing features in Altium Designer. Read Article
The High-Reliability PCBA Design and Test Challenge The High-Reliability PCBA Design and Test Challenge High-reliability PCBAs require careful design and analysis to ensure compliance with rigorous performance standards. Learn more about testing and evaluation of high-reliability PCBAs in this article. Read Article
View Configuration Panel Altium Designer View Configuration Panel When designing a printed circuit board, you have to deal with a large amount of visual data of different kinds: layers, components, and much more. For efficient work, you should have abilities to display and use only the items that you need right now to solve a current task. The document below explains how to manage the view of your PCB using the View Configuration Altium panel. Master the tools for manipulating what and how is currently Read Article
Guide to Using Ferrite Beads in a PCB Ebook: Guide to Using Ferrite Beads in a PCB Ferrite beads in a PCB are the stuff of myth, but there are legitimate uses for ferrite beads and other ferrite components. In this e-book, we’ll examine some uses of ferrite beads in a PCB, as well as other magnetics. Read Article
Properties panel routing 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. The basis of PCB topology development in Altium Designer. By offering powerful routing tools, the system provides comprehensive settings. All groups of settings are Read Article