In the workshop – Tip #7
Place and Drag multiple tracks the smart way
Summary
September 2006
Author: Phil Loughhead
Altium Designer 6 features a powerful new multi-track placement command and
multi-track support for track dragging. Read how these deliver a substantial
boost in productivity when developing today’s complex board designs, though
the ability to place or modify an entire set of tracks in one operation.
In line with Altium’s policy of continuous
product development, Altium Designer 6
sees the addition of a powerful new
multi-track placement command, and
multi-track support for track dragging.
These deliver a substantial boost in
productivity when developing today’s
complex board designs though the
ability to place or modify an entire set of
tracks in one operation.
Multiple Trace placement is launched
Multiple Trace placements allow you to make light work of routing multiple
signals in a single action.
from the Place menu. Before choosing
the command, select the set of pads to be routed (hint: press S to select, then try the new select Touching Line or
Touching Rectangle commands). When you run the Multiple Trace command you will be prompted to pick a reference
pad, that’s the one you will be holding as you route the set of nets. The command includes an intelligent auto-gather
feature, note how the gather style changes as you move the mouse. To control the gather separation press the Tab key.
From there you click to place multiple traces, as easily as you route a single net. To route between two components with
different pad spacings you just route from either end using the same track separations and meet in the middle – it’s nifty
and acts very intuitively.
You will often find yourself needing to move already-placed tracks to make room for more routing or another component.
Smart Dragging is the name given to the ability to move a track segment while maintaining the correct angles to
connected segments. Now you can Smart Drag a set of track segments just as easily as a single segment. Smart Drag
also incorporates a simple yet elegant feature for extending an unconnected track end – dragging on the end vertex adds
a new segment, correctly angled away from the existing segment. You can also use successive drags to continue to add
new segments. Select the segments first, then click and Smart Drag!
These recently-added multi-track placement and dragging capabilities represent just the first stage in the development of
a complete bus routing strategy in Altium Designer. Stay tuned for more developments in upcoming releases.
See multi-track placement and dragging in action >
Read more about multi-track placement and dragging >
© 2006 Altium Limited
Place and drag multiple tracks the smart way
Page 1 of 1