Tips for Using PCB Artist Getting Started

Transcription

1 Tips fr Using PCB Artist Getting Started Revisin 1 Mre help is available Frm the PCB Artist Tips & Tls Page and via at layuthelp@4pcb.cm This page is nt intended t replace the Tutrial in PCB Artist, which is fund frm the main menu f PCB Artist under Help>Tutrials>Design Tutrial. The purpse f this dcument is t prvide an verall prcess flw with guidance fr the varius steps in the prcess f designing a printed circuit bard in PCB Artist. Mre specific questins can be answered in the Frequently Asked Questins dcument and als in the main menu f PCB Artist under Help>Cntents. It is recmmended t read each sectin f this guide as ne mves thrugh the successive phases f the design prcess. It is nt necessary t read further in the dcument than yu have prgressed in yur design. Table f Cntents Beginning a Design:... 1 General Navigatin:... 4 Libraries:... 9 Beginning a Design: Determine if the design will be dne using a schematic r if the design will be PCB-nly (meaning that n schematic will be created). Here are sme pints t cnsider in making that decisin: If a design is ging t have a schematic, it must be dne first. The system is nt designed t reverse engineer the cmpleted PCB design back t schematic. Only reference designatin can be back anntated frm the PCB design t the schematic. All electrical changes t be made t a design shuld be made in the schematic and then frwarded t the PCB t keep them synchrnized. This is dne frm the main menu, under Tls>Schematic >PCB>Frward Design Changes.

2 The link between the schematic file and the PCB file is that they bth have the same filename (the same ther than the.sch and.pcb extensin) and that they are in the same directry. If the design will have n schematic, then any cmpnent parts that have t be created can be PCB-nly cmpnents. This can speed the prcess f making cmpnents by eliminating the steps f making r finding a Schematic Symbl and als eliminates the need fr mapping pins and assigning lgic names. One advantage f creating a schematic and then a PCB is t cncentrate first n the purely electrical and then cncentrate purely n the physical aspects f the design. PCB nly designs d have a tl that can imitate that separatin f design aspects. Frm the main menu, use Add>Cnnectin t create cnnectins frm pin t pin t establish electrical cnnectivity withut needing t wrry abut tracks, spaces, layers, etc. The aut ruter can then use thse cnnectins t rut the bard n a PCB nly design. The aut ruter needs thse cnnectins at the minimum t functin. Put tgether a Bill f Materials and determine which parts are in the library r in the nline library. Create any parts nt in the library. See the Cmpnent Library sectin, belw, fr details.

3 When starting a design, g t Settings>Units and change the units as necessary. One imprtant setting that shuld nt be verlked is the Precisin. The Precisin setting cntrls hw many decimal places are allwed t be displayed r entered. When wrking in inches use Precisin 4, in mils use Precisin 1, and with millimeters the Precisin shuld be set t 3. It is imprtant in either PCB r schematic t set the prper wrking grid. Grids are set frm the main menu f PCB Artist under Settings>Grids. Always begin with large grids fr beginning prjects and then make the grids smaller fr fine tuning. Setting the System Origin in the PCB. It is nt a gd practice t create the design in the lwest left extreme f the design wrk area t use the default crdinate rigin. If an item s width crsses utside the wrk area, the applicatin will mve it back int the wrk area and cause many serius issues. The system rigin, grid rigin, and all displayed crdinates can be changed by the user at any time by setting the System Origin. It is a gd practice after a PCB is first created t select the lwer left crner f the bard (the bright green bard utline), right-click and chse Origins>Set System Origin At Item. This will snap the rigin f all crdinates and the grid t an end pint f the selected segment.

4 The System Origin can snap t any item, such as munting hles. A thin, white clred target (in the PCB editr) will appear where the system rigin nw resides. Be aware that changing rigins must be dne with care, s as nt t lse the rigin pint frm which bjects were placed. It is nt a gd practice t change the system rigin after tracks have been ruted as the grid als uses the system rigin. General Navigatin: The higher prcesses and tls are available frm the main menu and many are available in the icn bars and frm shrtcut keys (htkeys). Many itemspecific tls are available frm the cntext menus (right-click menus) when an item is selected. All Icn Bars can be hidden and recalled by a right-click ver an empty space in the gray backgrund at the very tp f the applicatin. A menu will display with check marks indicating which menu bars are displayed and which are nt. Selecting a menu chice will tggle it n r ff.

5 The Interactin Bar serves as a way t quickly access frequently used ptins. It can be brught up r hidden with the <F9> shrtcut key. In a PCB design, ne key functin f the Interactin Bar is the Layers tab in the lwer left f the bar. This can be used t cntrl which layers are currently displayed. The Interactin Bar is als the mst efficient way t add Cmpnents t a design in either a PCB r Schematic as mentined belw in the

6 Schematics sectin. The Add Cmpnent tab f the Interactin Bar is in the lwer right f the bar. The Gt tab f the Interactin Bar is a feature fr finding varius items in the design such as Nets, Design Rule Check Errrs, and specific cmpnents. Items fund are autmatically selected and a duble click n a listed item will select every instance f the selected item type (depending n what type f item is being searched). A right-click ver an list in the Gt tab will display many ptins fr selectin and highlighting.

7 The Status Bar is in the lwer right frame f the applicatin and displays current settings such as the units setting, the current crdinates f the cursr, etc. When an item is selected (such as a pad), a list f infrmatin abut that item is displayed in the Status Bar, such as the pad style, the net f the pad, the layer it exists n. The easiest graphical navigatin is with a wheel muse. Nt nly fr its zm capabilities, but because it can be used mst effectively t pan thrugh the design. A single click n the wheel f the muse (as thugh it were a muse buttn) will re-center the screen t where the cursr was lcated. Clicking and hlding the wheel buttn dwn while mving the muse will allw dynamic panning thrugh the image. Dynamic panning with the wheel muse can als be dne while adding features t the schematic r PCB Design. The

8 characteristics f dynamic panning can be custmized frm the main menu f PCB Artist under Settings>Preferences in the Autpan sectin f that dialg. Many right-click shrtcut menus are available with ptins that change depending n the cntext f yur situatin. Many ptins exist nly in very specific cnditins. Fr example, when a track is selected, the right-click cntext menu will display track-related ptins and will nt shw ptins that wuld be available specifically t pads. If yu are trying t select ne specific bject frm amng many at the same lcatin, click ver the bject and press the <N> buttn (the htkey fr cycling thrugh bjects) and the applicatin will cycle thrugh each bject at the lcatin where the muse was clicked. After making a change, it is smetimes necessary t refresh the screen t see the effect. The htkey fr refresh is <V>. Displaying nets fr reference When in Schematics, wire cnnectins can be given a clr frm Settings>Nets. Nets can be highlighted in bth schematic and PCB frm View>Highlight Net>Brwse. In the Interactin Bar (which is brught up with <F9>), click n the Gt tab at the bttm f that bar and change the tp drp dwn t Net. Clicking n ne f the listed net names will select the net and

9 cause it t flash. If yu right-click ver the list f names, yu are given ptins that including the ability t nly highlight the net and nt select it. Libraries: All Library parts that cme with PCB Artist r frm the nline library are fr example nly. All Cmpnents used frm either f the libraries must be verified by the designer befre use. The best lcatin t search fr library parts is in the Library Manager. The Library manager is available frm File>Libraries in the main menu and als frm the blue bk icn in the tp icn bar. The Online Library can be accessed frm the Library Manager by pressing the Dwnlad Online Library Cmpnents buttn. It is recmmended t use the manufacturer part number primarily fr searching the nline library. The Library Manager has fur tabs in the upper left. These are fr searching the Schematic Symbls libraries, the PCB Symbls libraries, and the Cmpnent libraries. The furth tab is fr managing flders f libraries.

10 It is nt necessary t spend mre than a few minutes searching fr any part in the libraries. Mst parts can be created in a few minutes and that prcess is really quite simple. When creating symbls and cmpnents, first use the Part Creatin Tutrial t becme familiar with the prcess. Help specific t the Online Library is available frm the PCB Artist Online Library Help Guide. There are als guides available n the PCB Artist Tips & Tls page in the Frequently Asked Questins Dcument. On the FAQ Dcument there are guides t the wizards fr each f the symbl types as well as detailed instructins fr manually creating parts that are nt pssible t create with wizards (such as switches and many types f cnnectrs). There are links t these guides in the first sectin f the hyperlinked index f the FAQ. Only Cmpnents can be added t any design. Cmpnents are made f a Schematic Symbl and PCB Symbl and in certain cases can be made f a PCB r Schematic nly symbl. If yu create a PCB symbl, it must be added t a Cmpnent fr it t be available t add t a design. The reasn the PCB and Schematic Symbls are stred separately is t allw the re-use f a symbl that already exists. Fr example, a resistr symbl already exists, but a new PCB Symbl is needed. In such cases the PCB Symbl wuld be created and then the existing Schematic symbl wuld be used in creating the Cmpnent. Part creatin is much easier than it is with ther tls and methds f the past. The PCB Symbl wizard is intended fr creating parts with nly the part datasheet cntaining a diagram f the part itself (as ppsed t a diagram f the ftprint, which is usually nt prvided frm the part vendr). The average PCB Symbl takes nly abut 1 minute t create in the wizard.

11 Cmpnent Values After creating the cmpnent, yu can edit the part values t include the Manufacturer, Manufacturer Part Number, Distributr, and Distributr Part Number. This can be dne in the Library Manager. Click n the Cmpnents tab at the tp f the Library Manager. Change yur library t the ne cntaining the part r parts yu wish t edit. Then click n the Values buttn at the bttm f the middle rw f buttns. These values will be retained fr every design using the part.

12 Cmpnent values can als be changed in the schematic r the PCB design, but the values assigned are retained fr that design nly Warning: Always create a new library f each symbl type (Schematic Symbls, PCB Symbls, and Cmpnents) t stre yur created r mdified Cmpnents and symbls. If it is ever necessary t reinstall the applicatin the exiting libraries will be verwritten and anything in them will be lst. A library created by the user wuld nt be verwritten. Mre help is available Frm the PCB Artist Tips & Tls Page and via at layuthelp@4pcb.cm