Parent page: PCB Commands
The following pre-packaged resources, derived from this base command, are available:
Define Board Shape From Selected Objects
Applied Parameters: Mode=BOARDOUTLINE_FROM_SEL_PRIMS
Summary
This command is used to redefine a board shape using a closed boundary made up of selected track and/or arc objects.
Access
This command is accessed from the PCB Editor when configured in 2D Layout Mode by choosing the Design » Board Shape » Define from selected objects command from the main menus.
The current viewing mode for the PCB document can be changed using the corresponding commands from the main View menu. To switch to 2D Layout Mode, use the command of the same name or use the 2 keyboard shortcut.
Use
Place a closed boundary, using tracks and arcs (typically placed on a mechanical layer) to define the outline of the board shape that you want to create. Ensure that all constituent track and arc primitives of this boundary are selected.
After launching the command, the current board shape will be modified to fill the area defined by your selected boundary.
Tips
- The software will attempt to find the shape based on the centerline of the selected objects. If the coordinates for the end of one track/arc segment do not exactly match the coordinates of the next track/arc segment then the boundary identification algorithm will fail and a message will be displayed showing the failure location and will offer to use a tracing algorithm instead. Note that the tracing algorithm follows the outer edge of the track/arc objects so the board shape will be slightly different than the one created from the centerlines. Only choose this option if your design can accept the impact of this difference.