Multisim Tutorial
Basics of Schematic Capture
[ Parts ]
By
James P. O’Rourke, D.Sc.
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Getting started with NI Multisim
J.P.O’Rourke
Loading Multisim :
From Non ECE PC’s : (Click)
Start
|__Programs
|___ Accessories
|___ Communications
|___ Remote Desktop
|___ ohm.ece.wpi.edu
From ECE PC’S : (Click)
Start
|___ ECELABS
|____ National Instruments
|____ Circuit Design Suite 11
|____ Multisim
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To get started with Schematic Capture, open a file called Multisim, under Programs as noted
under the menu tree below. Note there is also a Getting Started Tutorial and complete
documentation on the software under Documentation.
National Instruments
|_______ Circuit Design Suite 11
|_________ Multisim
|_________ Documentation
When Multisim first launches, it opens with a Circuit Window called “Circuit 1”, noted on the
top left of the screen and just below the bottom left of the Circuit window
Virtual Toolbar
Component Toolbar
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Figure 1
About default software settings.
If your default screen does not have the Virtual Toolbar present, the 2nd of
the next two slides will explain how to generate it. Since the software is
actually on the ECE department PC’s, default settings can be changed by
the last person who used it. So if you find everything setup already, great
and if not I have listed a procedure to obtain the desired format.
ECE DEPARTMENT SERVERS with MULTISIM on them.
1. ohm
2. mho
3. amp
These two servers are our latest additions and should have adequate
capacity to handle our Remote Desktop needs.
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The first step in Schematic Capture would be placing appropriate components in the Circuit
Window. However, to assist in component placement the following are just some suggested
settings to make NI Multisim easier to use. There are many additional optional setting under
these Menus that may also be activated as the need arises.
Typical setup of the Circuit Window :
Click  Options
|_____ Global Prop.
|_________ Save  Create Security copy
Auto-backup
Save simulation data
There are other settings under the Global Prop. menus that may be
activated which control operations in the Circuit Window if you find
the default window, not to your liking.
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Click  Sheet Prop.
|______ Circuit
|____Net Names  Check off
“ Show All “
Again here, there are other menu tabs which controls operations on
the workspace that you may activate as the need arises.
Click  View
|_____ Toolbars  Virtual
Components
Standard
View
Main
Simulation switch
Simulation
Instruments
This is a basic set of the most used toolbars. Note activating all the Toolbars
will take space away from the “Circuit Window”.
• Working with the “Circuit Window :
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If the “Toolbars” stack vertically above the Circuit Window, they may
be spread out horizontally. To do this, move the mouse pointer to the right
hand edge of the window to be moved and drag it to a new location,
efficiently using all the available horizontal space. This will maximize the
Circuit Window size for the “Toolbars “ that were chosen.
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Closing the “Spreadsheet Window” below the circuit will also aid in
maximizing the “Circuit Window”. When finished the Circuit Window
should look similar to
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The default window is generally called “Circuit 1 “ unless something
was already saved using that name. If “Circuit 1” has been used then
“Circuit 2” etc will be the default window. This might be a good time to
rename this window under “Save As” so it doesn’t get accidentally saved
as “Circuit 1”.
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Getting started tutorials :
If you would like some “On Line Tutorials” instead of the tutorial that comes with the software, go to
the “Web” and search for “ni.com”, main website( National Instruments – Test and Measurement). Click
under the menu items “Support”. Under search, “all support resources”, type the Keyword “ multisim
tutorial web cast”, then “go”. Click “ Circuit Design and Simulation : Educator and classroom resources”.
This will allow access too many tutorials.
Now that we have gotten all this preliminary stuff out of the way, lets get started placing some
components in the Circuit Window.
Go to the Virtual Toolbar, shown in figure 1 and click on the arrow to the right of the Battery
symbol(Power Sources box). This will activate a drop down menu listing all the components available in
the battery toolbox. The menu contains to types of grounds, a Digital Ground(called DGND) and the
standard Analog Ground right below it. Digital Grounds are used with digital circuits and Analog Grounds
with analog circuits.
Click on an Analog Ground symbol, labeled “Place Ground”, shown below. This will select a Ground that
will follow your mouse movements around the Circuit Window till you locate it somewhere and then, left
click the mouse to place it. Note that as soon as this is done the menu will automatically close. Don’t
worry about it’s location since it can be moved later to any new location by holding down the left mouse
button, moving to the new location and releasing. This method works for moving all components in the
Circuit Window.
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Some helpful suggestions:
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If you need to select many items from a toolbox, having the window close
automatically every time a component is selected can be annoying. This situation
can be remedied by left clicking on the battery symbol itself. This will launch a
toolbox on the Circuit Window that will stay there until you close it by left clicking
on the little “x” in the upper right hand corner of the toolbox. This method of
selecting components is generally preferred and will be used throughout this
tutorial.
In Multisim the circuit design components are chosen from the Components and
Virtual Toolboxes, shown in figure 1. In most general designs and simulations,
where no PC board layout is required, it is suggested that passive components be
chosen from the Virtual Toolbox and the active components from the
Components Toolbox. The choosing of Virtual passive components( resistors,
capacitors and inductors) is suggested as a time saving feature since the
component value is much easier to change by using this method.
This basically concludes the preliminary setup and use of the Circuit Window.
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