PCB design with Altium Designer

Create a new Altium Designer project, organize folders for docs and MCU code, then add a schematic and PCB, using parameters like designer and start date.

Explore schematic properties in Altium Designer, including units, visible and snap grids, sheet borders, sheet size and title block settings, and how grid snapping affects component placement.

Learn how to select components, wires, pins, and connections in Altium Designer using lasso select, inside/outside area, touching rectangle, and touching line to efficiently manage PCB layouts.

Explore filters in Altium Designer to selectively select components, wires, and other objects using the properties panel, toggle options, and both left-to-right and right-to-left selection rectangles.

Create a professional schematic in Altium Designer by building a battery-powered circuit, adding a header and five-volt and ground ports, wires, capacitors with a 1206 footprint, and color-coded nets.

Explore the new way to document schematics in Altium using text frames, colors, borders, and embedded notes, with versatile text positioning and image embedding.

Explore component properties in Altium designer by editing designators, comments, values, and footprints; annotate with numbers, position text, set 1206 package, and add voltage parameters for bill of material.

Download the 1117 regulator datasheet and study its three pins—input, output, and adjustment—and note the fixed-output variant and required capacitors: 10 µF input and 100 µF output.

Create an integrated library in Altium Designer, add a schematic library, define a component with design item ID Elm 1117, add a datasheet link, and save for reuse.

Create a schematic component by building a schematic library, add and name pins, set parameters for output voltage, and prepare a PCB footprint in a PCB library for the project.

Explore designing a 3.3 volt power supply in Altium designer by building schematic library, placing a low dropout regulator, and selecting capacitors with 10 micro input and 100 micro output.

Create a PCB footprint in Altium Designer by building a PCB library, defining the top overlay on the top layer, and placing pins for a pin sort standard package.

Learn to create pads for pins, set designators, adjust pad size and shape, set the footprint origin to the middle, and align three pads on the top layer.

Create and size a PCB footprint, align pins to the schematic component, and set designators to match, then use footprint manager and compile to link the schematic and PCB models.

Annotate the schematic to assign and update component designators, resolving duplicates and undesignated ports. Validate the PCB project to ensure no warnings remain and designators read clearly.

Explore creating and resizing a PCB in altium designer by drafting schematics, footprints, and libraries, adjusting origin, and resizing the board using keepout and board shape tools.

Add schematic components to your pcb project in Altium Designer, update the pcb document, validate and execute changes, organize components with rooms and footprints, and customize designator fonts.

Learn practical tricks for placing components on pcb using altium designer, including managing net colors, top and bottom layer visibility, schematic to pcb cross probing, and precise placement.

Align components precisely in Altium by using vertical centers, top alignment, and top overlay to synchronize capacitors with connectors. Use shortcuts and grid controls to distribute and space components evenly.

Align pads and components in Altium Designer by using shift-select and T or C placement shortcuts, position the regulator and capacitor near the output, and align vertically and distribute horizontally.

Use interactive routing in Altium Designer to draw traces, adjust widths, and connect pads while applying design rules such as minimum 10 mil and maximum 30 mil.

Discover how to locate and install Altium's unified component libraries from the internet, download microcontrollers and footprints, and manage libraries for efficient PCB design.

Design multi-sheet schematics in Altium Designer by adding a microcontroller, importing its data sheet, selecting the library footprint, and linking main and power supply sheets to update the PCB.

Design the MCU power supply in Altium Designer by selecting compact 0402/0805 bypass capacitors (100 nF and 4.7 µF) and wiring Vdd and Vss to a 3.3 V rail.

Learn how to select and integrate an external eight megahertz crystal for an MCU, including two load capacitors, datasheet pinouts, and finding a footprint in Altium Designer.

Learn to use net labels in Altium Designer to connect MCU pins to crystals, automatically create routes, and reposition nets, while understanding external versus internal oscillator options.

Learn to design crystal oscillator circuits in Altium Designer, placing an 8 megahertz crystal with two 10 pF capacitors and a resistor, wired to the MCU.

Implement the MCU reset circuit with a 0.1 µF capacitor on the reset pin, an internal pull-up, and a ground-connected push button to reliably reset the MCU during noise.

Learn to configure boot options in Altium by wiring the boot zero pin and boot warm option bit to select boot from user flash, system memory, or embedded as.

Discover how to set up MCU debugging and programming in Altium by locating the debug port, mapping swd pins, and wiring a four-pin header for ground, vcc, and swd signals.

Annotate schematics and update the PCB, expanding the room for the MCU and resolving clearance constraints, batch change fonts to true type, and revise clearance from ten to six.

Learn the most important pcb design rules in Altium Designer, including short circuit rules, unconnected pins, routing topology, layer limits, and silk-to-silk clearance for reliable traces.

Place bypass capacitors on the bottom layer, close to the MCU, so they have a low resistance track to the MCU.

Master advanced Altium Designer rules to place capacitors near the MCU and crystal, align components across top and bottom layers, and ignore C12 with a higher-priority clearance rule.

Place reset capacitor as close as possible to reset pin and position reset switch near microcontroller to ensure reliable resets, using bypass capacitor to suppress noise.

Learn to route crystals, bypass capacitors, and reset circuits in Altium Designer using interactive routing, layer management, and path alignment for clean, reliable microcontroller circuits.

Learn to create vias in Altium Designer and set via diameter rules (minimum, maximum, preferred). Visual clearance halos show you how close you can place tracks.

Learn multilayer design with Altium: use the layer stack manager to add ground and 3.3 volt planes, assign GMT and 3.3 volt layers, and enable direct plane connections.

Master room management in Altium Designer by using room actions to wrap around components, edit vertices, and slice rooms, then route over rooms and apply class rules with schematic updates.

Leverage Altium Designer tools to measure distances, primitives, and selected objects, verify footprint dimensions against datasheets in millimeters or mils, and apply linear dimensions for precise board sizing.