Guide Books

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

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 Solidworks PCB to Altium Designer In this migration guide we are going to focus on importing SOLIDWORKS PCB designs to Altium Designer. If you need to migrate from another tool, please refer to their specific migration guide below or explore our Documentation page for tips on importing your designs. Migrating from Autodesk EAGLE to Altium Designer Migrating from Cadence OrCAD to Altium Designer Migrating from Siemens PADS to Altium Designer Read Article

CADSTAR to Altium Designer Smooth Transition from CADstar to Altium Designer For the purpose of this migration guide we are going to focus on importing CADstar Schematic and PCB Designs, if you require other files migrated please refer to their specific guide. Legacy Translation Before You Start to Import This guide will show you how to import data from your legacy system into Altium Designer. What it will not ask is “why do you want to do it?” Customers frequently ask 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

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

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 Type Via protection is an important part of modern PCB design. It provides additional benefits in PCB manufacturing and assembly, increasing the number of acceptable products. There are several types of vias protection detailed in the IPC-4761 Design Guide for Protection of Printed Board Via Structures and on pages 5-11 of this document. Advantages of Via protection Common situations where vias protection is required: Support for via types in Altium 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

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

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