PCB_Dlg-ChangeCoordinateCoordinate_AD

The Coordinate Dialog.

Summary

This dialog allows you to modify the attributes of a Coordinate object. A coordinate is a group design object, used to mark the X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) distance of a point in the design workspace relative to the current origin.

Access

The Coordinate dialog can be accessed prior to entering placement mode, from the PCB Editor – Defaults page of the Preferences dialog. This allows the default properties for the coordinate object to be changed, which will be applied when placing subsequent coordinates.

During placement, the dialog can be accessed by pressing the Tab key.

After placement, the dialog can be accessed in one of the following ways:

• Double-clicking on the placed coordinate object.
• Placing the cursor over the coordinate object, right-clicking and choosing Properties from the context menu.
• Using the Edit » Change command and clicking once over the placed coordinate object.

Options/Controls

• Line Width - specify the width of the two line segments used to mark the coordinate location.
• Size - specify the length of the two line segments used to mark the coordinate location.
• Text Width - the current display text stroke width (the "thickness" of the lines used to produce the lettering).
• Text Height - the current height of the display text characters. The character width used to display or print the text is automatically proportioned to this height. A minimum height of 36mil (0.9mm) will allow the string to be legibly photoplotted.
• Location X - specify the X location of the coordinate marker.
• Location Y - specify the Y location of the coordinate marker.

Properties

• Layer - the layer the coordinate is currently assigned to. Coordinates can be assigned to any available layer, click on the list to view and select a different layer, from all those currently defined for the board.
• Unit Style - select how the Units should be displayed. Available options include:
  • None: no units are displayed, only the coordinates [eg. 1220, 3400].
  • Normal: units are displayed after each value [eg. 1220mil, 3400mil].
  • Brackets: units are displayed in brackets at the end of the coordinate [eg. 1220, 3400 (mil)].
• Locked - enable this option to protect the coordinate from being edited graphically.

• Font - use this field to choose the type of font used for the coordinate's text, either Stroke or TrueType. The dialog will present options based on the chosen type.

Select Stroke Font

This area of the dialog and its asscociated option are presented only when the Stroke option is chosen for the coordinate text's Font.

• Font Name - use this field to choose the required Stroke font. Available options are Default, Serif, and Sans Serif. The Default style is a simple vector font which supports pen plotting and vector photoplotting. The Sans Serif and Serif fonts are more complex and will slow down vector output generation, such as Gerber.

Select TrueType Font

This area of the dialog and its asscociated options are presented only when the Truetype option is chosen for the coordinate text's Font.

• Font Name - use this field to choose the required TrueType font. The drop-down list is populated with TrueType and OpenType (a superset of TrueType) fonts found in the \Windows\Fonts folder. Note, the list will only include entries for detected (and uniquely named) root fonts. For example, Arial and Arial Black will be listed but Arial Bold, Arial Bold Italic, etc will not. Use the Bold and Italic options to add emphasis to the text.
• Bold - enable this option to make the coordinate text bold.
• Italic - enable this option to make the coordinate text italic.