Altium Designer Cheat Sheet

Hotkeys

Legend: Essential 🟥

Nice-to-know 🟨

Hotkey	Description	Window	Importance
[shift] + (left click drag)	Copy and move selected components		🟥
[ctrl] + (right click drag)	Move components with breaking connections		🟥
[g]	Toggle grid size	Both	🟥
[spacebar]	Rotate object	Both	🟥
[o]	Options sub-menu		🟥
[Tab]	Edit objects properties while placing	Both	🟥
[ctrl] + [w]	Place wire	Both	🟥
[s]	Select menu		🟨
[x]	Flip object on x-axis		🟨
[y]	Flip object on y-axis		🟨
[z], [a]	Zoom to fit all on screen		🟨
[shift] + [s]	Single layer to multi-layer	PCB	🟨
[shift] + [c]	Reset selection		🟨

Project Workflow

Part 1: Schematic

1. Open Altium.
2. Create new project, schematic and PCB file.
3. Save these files under the same directory, give the directory a unique name e.g. Power supply (This will be the only thing to identify the project).
4. Rename files: <first-name>_<last-name>_<student-id>_<lab-number> Labs: Monday, Lab1; Tuesday, Lab2; Wednesday, Lab3
5. press [o], [t] and update document parameters. Revision, DrawnBy
6. Fill in the Title block in the bottom right. DocumentName, SheetNumber, SheetTotal, Revision, DrawnBy
7. Go through an place all of the components out, the trick here is that if there is more than one of the same component then right click the component in the menu and click place <component> , then edit its parameters to the correct values and the name. If done correctly, components will be named in a sequential manner.
8. Look at your bill of materials (BOM), ensure that it matches the given projects BOM exactly (it is generated from the same preview).
9. Group and space out components.
10. Make connections and make the document neat as you go, using [ctrl]+(left click drag) where needed to it look tidy.
11. Create nets and use [shift]+(left click drag) to quickly copy and place (for a line above the net: e\x\a\m\p\l\e).
12. Verify document! [d], [u] (Design → Update PCB document → validate).
13. Double-check everything, mainly labels and values.
14. Add rules to the schematic

Common mistakes:

• Overlapping wires (look for junctions)
• Open circuits
• Unnamed or incorrectly named components or nets
• Incorrect pins connected

Part 2: PCB

1. Set the origin in the bottom LHS of the board. Edit → Origin → Set or hotkeys [e], [o], [s]
2. Define the PCB shape.
   1. Click the Mechanical 1 layer.
   2. Using the line or rectangle tool, copy the given dimensions. You can right-click the shape and then click properties to change the dimensions of the shape.
   3. To cut this shape out, select your shape and click: Design → Board shape → Define board shape from selected objects or the shortcut is [d], [s], [d]
3. Define the keep-out layer: Select the previous shape and copy, click a reference point on the shape then click Edit → Paste Special → Paste
4. Change the label size according to the project. (usually 40mil Text Height and 8mil Stroke Height)
   1. right click label
   2. click Find similar objects…
   3. Change text width and height to be same

Installing Altium at Home

1. Download Altium Designer here https://www.altium.com/products/downloads
2. Register here for a license https://www.altium.com/education/student-licenses

The rest is self explanatory, just open Altium, login and enter your license. You will also need to install the AUT Altium libraries to be able to do work at home, see below.

Installing Component Libraries

1. Download the libraries AltiumLibraries and save it in a good place. from the AUT computers: K:\WELLESLEY COPY\DESIGN & CREATIVE TECHNOLOGIES\School of Engineering\Electrical & Electronic Engineering\Resources\AltiumLibraries
2. From the components window click the top RHS hamburger menu (If you can’t see this click Panels → Components in the bottom RHS corner).
3. Click File-based library preferences…
4. Click on the Installed tab, then Install...
5. Navigate to the file you downloaded and select all of the files and click open.
6. Then just close and you’re done!

Common issue: Searching Components

To see extra filtering, you must ensure you’ve done these two things:

1. Made the components window wide enough.
2. clicked the top LHS bulleted hamburger menu in the components window.