Chapter 3
Setting Up a Design
©
National Instruments Corporation
3-5
Tip
You can show or hide individual ratsnests from the
Show Ratsnest
column in the
Nets
tab of the
Spreadsheet View
, and also from the
Net Edit
dialog box. Refer to the
section of Chapter 5,
Working with Traces and Copper
, for more
information.
To change the color of the elements in a layer, click the color box beside
the layer name and, from the dialog box that appears, choose a color. All
existing elements on that layer, and any elements added to that layer, are
displayed in that color, with the exception of shapes where you can chose
the line or fill color from the toolbar prior to placing them. Refer to the
section of Chapter 4,
, for
more information.
Working with the Board Outline
The
Board Outline
layer is empty for new designs. You can create a board
outline in one of the following ways:
•
Draw a board outline using the drawing tools. Refer to the
Drawing Tools to Create a Board Outline
section for more information.
•
Import a DXF file. Refer to the
section for more
information.
•
Place a pre-defined outline from the database. Refer to the
section for more information.
•
Use the
Board Wizard
. Refer to the
for more information.
Using the Drawing Tools to Create a Board Outline
Complete the following steps to create a new board outline using the
drawing tools:
1.
Double-click the
Board Outline
layer in the
Layers
tab of the
Design Toolbox
.
2.
Using
Place»Shape
, draw the shape you want for your board outline.
For example, choose
Place»Shape»Rectangle
and drag the mouse
until the rectangle is the desired height and length. Click to anchor it
in place.
Note
To draw the shape based on precise coordinates, press the asterisk key (*) on the
numeric keypad, or press <Shift-8>. The
Enter coordinate
dialog box appears. Enter the
X
and
Y
coordinates and press
OK
. Continue to use the asterisk key (*) or <Shift-8> for
the remaining coordinates. You can mix the use of the asterisk key (*) or <Shift-8> and
clicking to position each corner.
