Working with a Board Realistic View Object on a Draftsman Document in Altium Designer

 

Parent page: Draftsman Objects

A placed Board Realistic View where the view angle has been taken from the PCB editor using the Camera Position option.A placed Board Realistic View where the view angle has been taken from the PCB editor using the Camera Position option.

Summary

A Draftsman Board Realistic View is a scalable 3D graphic of the current board design generated by the software’s 3D rendering engine, as applied in the PCB Editor and for 3D print outputs. Its graphic style elements are configurable in the Properties panel.

Availability

Board Realistic Views are available for placement in a Draftsman document in the following ways:

  • Choose the Place » Additional Views » Board Realistic View command () from the main menus.
  • Right-click in the drawing workspace then select Place » Additional Views » Board Realistic View () from the context menu.
  • Click the Board Realistic View option () on the additional view objects drop-down on the Active Bar located at the top of the workspace. Click and hold an Active Bar button to access other related commands. Once a command has been used, it will become the topmost item on that section of the Active Bar.
  • Click the button on the Drawing Views toolbar (click Views » Toolbars » Drawing Views).

Placement

After launching the command, 3D drawing data is generated and retrieved from the source PCB file, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and the rendered Board Realistic View is attached to the cursor. Move the cursor to the desired position then click to confirm the placement.

Note that 3D drawing data is retrieved from the PCB document specified in the Source section of the Properties panel when in Document Options mode. To change the panel to that mode, deselect all objects in the workspace (click in free space).

Graphical Editing

Both the position and size of placed Board Realistic View may be graphically modified.

  • A selected Board Realistic View will show editing node handles at each corner of the selection outline, which can be dragged to modify the view's size. The view's dimensions will remain proportional while being resized unless the Maintain Aspect Ratio option is unchecked in the Properties panel.
  • To move a Realistic View, click within the selection then drag and drop it to a new location.
  • As a Realistic View is being dragged, press the Spacebar to rotate the object in 90° increments.

Drag a selected Board Realistic View to change its position. Drag its resize nodes change the drawing scale.Drag a selected Board Realistic View to change its position. Drag its resize nodes change the drawing scale.

The default settings for the Board Realistic View are available on the Draftsman - Defaults page of the Preferences dialog.

Non-Graphical Editing

Properties page: Board Realistic View Properties

The non-graphical method of editing a Board Realistic View is available in the Draftsman Properties panel, which provides a range of editable properties, options and design content settings for placed Draftsman views.

The Properties panel when a Board Realistic View is selected.The Properties panel when a Board Realistic View is selected.

To open the Properties panel and access the properties of a placed Board Realistic View:

  • Double-click on the Board Realistic View object in the workspace.
  • Right-click on the Board Realistic View then select Item Properties from the context menu.

If the Properties panel is already active:

  • Click on the Board Realistic View object to access its properties in the panel.
To manually open the Properties panel, select View » Panels » Properties from the main menus or click the button at the bottom right of the workspace then select Properties from the pop-up menu.
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Note

The features available depend on your Altium product access level. Compare features included in the various levels of Altium Designer Software Subscription and functionality delivered through applications provided by the Altium 365 platform.

If you don’t see a discussed feature in your software, contact Altium Sales to find out more.

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