Soldermask

• IPC Standards Tree (IPC-SM-840)
• Soldermask Registration Accuracy (+/- 3mils)
• Soldermask Expansion (+/- 4mils)
• Soldermask and Fine Pitch QFPs 
• LDI Soldermask Tolerances
• Soldermask on vias and ENIG Finish
• Soldermask Via Encroachment
• Silkscreen to Soldermask Rules
• Soldermask Relieved Vias Script
• Soldermask 3D View
• Soldermask Regions
• Soldermask Dots

Primitive Soldermask

Fills
Tracks
Regions

Smart Soldermask
Polygons ?

Regions with soldermask expansion.

Soldermask Dots (soldermask polygon with cutouts)

Vias can be tented with soldermask rules.

click on image to view

Example: Vias with Soldermask Mask Expansion value from rules. (David Carmody)

Note that if the expansion value is specified, the specified expansion will be used vice the rule.

When vias are first placed in a design the default is to follow the rules.


Soldermask Relieved Vias (Soldermask Encroachment)
Hole size +5mils.  

Soldermask Expansion = ((Pad - (Drill + Relief)) /2) *-1


Soldermask Defined Pad

Mounting Little Foot - Datasheet

User defined soldermask rule for soldermask defined pads.

Altium Tips and Tricks

Webcast Recordings - Altium

'via Blog this'

True Variants | Online Documentation for Altium Products

True Variants | Online Documentation for Altium Products:

'via Blog this'

Mechanical Constraints 101 - Board Shape

It is well known that the PCB world and the mechanical world must collide and sometimes they do so violently.  PCB layout tools are very well suited for layout and can do most anything necessary for drafting purposes, but they are often not streamlined for mechanical design. Therefore, knowing several ways to accomplish the same work is very helpful depending on the situation.  This will be a small series that may be helpful to you when starting your next design.


Defining the Board Shape
The ability to simply draw the outline to whatever shape you would like is long gone.  For this reason alone, it is reccomended that you always have a mechanical layer dedicated for a board outline.  We use mechanical 1 for ease of use (M1 is how all instructions below will be referenced), but whatever you like will work.  Here are various ways to define the board shapes and the most common ways to use them.

Manual Creation
If you just have a simple rectangle, it is often easiest to just draw 4 lines on M1 and then set the board shape to those lines.  Here are the steps...
1. Select M1 and draw the rectangle to the desired size.
2. Use a shortcut command SY.  It is for Select all on laYer.  This will select all 4 lines for you.
3. Go to the menu Design->Board Shape->Define from selected objects or DSD for short.
4. Remember to clear the selection filter with Shift+C so that you can continue to work.
That's all there is to it!  If you want to change the board shape, just drag a line or 2 and repeat steps 2-4 above.

Create from DXF
More complex board outlines often come to the layout specialist in the form of a DXF.  For this process it is very similar to above, but now there is an import procedure for the DXF.
1. While in the PCB, go to File->Import...
2. Select the DXF file from the browse dialog
3. Select the appropriate input such as scale, line width and location.
4. If it is only the outline, you may choose to import everything direct to M1.  Since DXFs often come with dimensions, showing component outlines, etc. you will probably be better off choosing an unused mech layer and then copying the board outline only to M1.
5. Once your board outline and only your board outline is on M1, the same steps 2-4 in Manual Creation can be used.
A couple of hints for this method:
1. Make a union of the board outline primitives to more easily manipulate it
2. When placing parts and mounting holes, set the active layer to where ever the DXF was imported.  This way components can be picked up and snapped to the correct location.

Create from STEP model
If you get a good STEP model, it too can be used to create the board area very quickly.  There is a small drawback to this method at this time though.

Mounting holes and pins of all shapes will show up and Altium saves them as free pads in a union.  This is handy to snap components to, but then pieces will have to be removed as you will end up with 2 holes in one place.  The same is true for mounting holes, unless they are not defined as components in the schematic.  In this case though, only a plated hole comes through with no annular ring so the data will still need to be manipulated.

Still, a complex shape can be created accurately and quickly from a STEP file now.
1. Import the STEP file by going to Place->3D Body.
2. Set the top radio button to Generic STEP Model and down below select the Embed STEP Model button.
3. Browse to the file and press Open.
4. Click the location to set down the STEP model where you want it.  If you miss, just move it to where you would like it.
5. In 3D mode, go to Design->Board Shape->Define from 3D body
6. A small thick cursor shows up.  First click the object that you would like to use, then click the surface you would like to use.  Note that while picking a surface, Altium will highlight the surface shape in blue.
7. Choose how to align the model to the board surface and click Close.
You may now exit 3D mode and clear the filter.

Create Primitives from Board Shape
To be added


Board Cutouts
Unfortunately, board cutouts don't always automatically appear when using the Define from selected objects command.  If the construction lines are already down though, it should be fairly easy to trace them, snapping to corners by using the Define Board Cutout command.
1. Go to Design->Board Shape->Define Board Cutout
2. Draw the shape for the cutout tracing and snapping if possible.
3. Close the shape and check the cutout.  What Altium does is define a region and set it as a board cutout.  It can be manipulated/removed just as any other region.

Auto-Position Sheet
To be added

Hope this helps and happy designing,
David

Show Via Nets

Recently I reviewed a design where the Net names where not displayed in the Vias.


I prefer to see the net names.

To display the net names press "L"  and select Show Via Nets in View Options.

click on image to view

PCB Library Expert 2015

PCB Libraries Expert - for Altium Designer

Click on image to view

PCB Libraries is my favorite tool for designing Altium footprints.

PCB Library Expert Overview - Video

"The new V2015 “PCB Library Expert” by PCB Libraries, Inc. has a new Altium Script Interface that imports both the Footprint and 3D STEP Model simultaneously and imports the Height and Description attributes straight from the FPX file. 

PCB Library Expert to Altium via Script - User Guide

Altium layer assignments are user definable. Also, the 3D Model rotates the same as the Footprint (if you rotate the footprint in Library Expert the 3D model will match the rotation). 

You can import one part or 10,000 parts at a time to create an entire new library using your personal library construction preferences."

Source: PCB Libraries - Tom Hausherr

Toolbars

Restore Custom Toolbars

After upgrading from AD13 to AD14 my custom toolbar which I created in AD13 was missing.



To restore my custom toolbar in AD14,  I copied the following three files from AD13 : 

DXP.RAF
DXP.RCS
UserTools.TLT

AD13 Location:
"C:\Users\Your User Name \AppData\Roaming\Altium\AD {xxx . . .}"

AD14 Location:
"C:\Users\Your User Name \AppData\Roaming\Altium\Altium Designer {xxx . . .}"

Tip: Altium must be closed while you copy the files, because the files are over written when a session of Altium is closed.

Just to be safe create copies of the AD14 files before overwriting them.

Restore Default Toolbars

It was also pointed out that if you delete all of the files in this folder that Altium will rebuild the files using out of the box defaults. This should restore the Toolbars to the default setup.

I suggest you make a backup copy of the entire folder, just in case . . .

Then close Altium and delete the Altium AppData folder, restart Altium and the AppData folder will be rebuilt using the out of the box settings.