Altium Designer Documentation
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((Design Objects Reference))_AD
Schematic Design Objects in Altium Designer
Working with a Bezier Object on a Schematic Sheet in Altium Designer
Parent page: Schematic Objects
A placed Bezier curve.
Summary
A Bezier curve is a non-electrical drawing primitive. It is a free-form curved line that can be placed on a schematic sheet. The curve is defined by a series of vertex points that 'pull' the line into a curved shape.
Availability
Beziers are available for placement in both Schematic and Schematic Library Editors:
- Schematic Editor - the following commands are available:
- Choose Place » Drawing Tools » Bezier from the main menus.
- Click the
button on the Utility Tools drop-down (
) of the Utilities toolbar. - Right-click and choose Place » Drawing Tools » Bezier from the context menu.
- Schematic Library Editor - the following commands are available:
- Choose Place » Bezier from the main menus.
- Click the button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.
- Right-click and choose Place » Bezier from the context menu.
Placement
After launching the command, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and you will enter Bezier placement mode. Placement is made by performing the following sequence of actions:
- Click or press Enter to anchor the starting point for the curve.
- Move the cursor and click or press Enter to place a series of vertex points to define the curve. As you move the cursor the curve will be continually redrawn to indicate how it would look if you placed a vertex at the cursor position.
- After placing the final vertex point, right-click or press Esc to complete placement of the curve.
- Continue placing further Bezier curves, or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.
Additional actions that can be performed during placement are:
- Press the Tab key to access an associated properties dialog, from where properties for the Bezier can be changed on-the-fly.
- Press the Alt key to constrain the direction of movement to the horizontal or vertical axis, depending on the initial direction of movement.
Graphical Editing
This method of editing allows you to select a placed Bezier object directly in the workspace and change its size and/or shape, graphically.
When a Bezier object is selected, the following editing handles are available:
A selected Bezier curve.
- Click and drag an editing handle to "bend" the curve.
- Click anywhere on the Bezier – away from editing handles – and drag to reposition it. While dragging, the Bezier can be rotated (Spacebar/Shift+Spacebar) or mirrored (X or Y keys to mirror along the X-axis or Y-axis respectively).
Non-Graphical Editing
The following methods of non-graphical editing are available:
Via an Associated Properties Dialog
Dialog page: Bezier
This method of editing uses the Bezier dialog to modify the properties of a Bezier object.
The Bezier dialog.
The Bezier dialog can be accessed prior to entering placement mode, from the Schematic – Default Primitives page of the Preferences dialog. This allows the default properties for the bezier object to be changed, which will be applied when placing subsequent beziers.
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 Bezier curve.
- Placing the cursor over the Bezier curve, right-clicking and choosing Properties from the context menu.
- Using the Edit » Change command and clicking once over the placed bezier object.
Via an Inspector Panel
Panel pages: SCH Inspector, SCHLIB Inspector, SCH Filter, SCHLIB Filter
An Inspector panel enables the designer to interrogate and edit the properties of one or more design objects in the active document. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering - by using the applicable Filter panel, or the Find Similar Objects dialog - the panel can be used to make changes to multiple objects of the same kind, from one convenient location.
Via a List Panel
Panel pages: SCH List, SCHLIB List, SCH Filter, SCHLIB Filter
A List panel allows the designer to display design objects from one or more documents in tabular format, enabling quick inspection and modification of object attributes. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering - by using the applicable Filter panel, or the Find Similar Objects dialog - it enables the display of just those objects falling under the scope of the active filter – allowing the designer to target and edit multiple design objects with greater accuracy and efficiency.