Working with a Polygon Object on a Schematic Sheet in Altium Designer

This document is no longer available beyond version 21. Information can now be found here: Polygon for version 24

 

Parent page: Schematic Design Objects

A placed PolygonA placed Polygon

Summary

A polygon is a non-electrical drawing primitive. It is a multi-sided graphical object that can be placed on a schematic sheet. A polygon must have at least three sides and can be filled or unfilled.

Availability

Polygons are available for placement in both Schematic and Schematic Library Editors:

  • Schematic Editor - the following commands are available:
    • Choose Place » Drawing Tools » Polygon from the main menus.
    • Click the Polygon button () in the graphic objects drop-down on the Active Bar located at the top of the design space. (Click and hold an Active Bar button to access other related commands. Once a command has been used, it will become the top-most item on that section of the Active Bar.)
    • Right-click in the design space and choose Place » Drawing Tools » Polygon from the context menu.
    • Click the  button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.
  • Schematic Library Editor - the following commands are available:
    • Choose Place » Polygon from the main menus.
    • Click the Polygon button () in the graphic objects drop-down on the Active Bar menu located at the top of the design space. (Click and hold an Active Bar button to access other related commands. Once a command has been used, it will become the top-most item on that section of the Active Bar.)
    • Right-click and choose Place » Polygon from the context menu.
    • Click the  button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.

Placement

After launching the command, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and you will enter polygon placement mode. Placement is made by performing the following sequence of actions:

  1. Click or press Enter to anchor the starting point for the polygon.
  2. Position the cursor then click or press Enter to anchor a vertex, move the mouse and repeat as often as required to define the shape of the polygon.
  3. After placing the final vertex point, right-click or press Esc to complete placement of the polygon.
  4. Continue placing further polygons or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.

While attributes can be modified during placement (Tab to access the Properties panel), keep in mind that these will become the default settings for further placement unless the Permanent option on the Schematic - Defaults page of the Preferences dialog is enabled. When this option is enabled, changes made will affect only the object being placed and subsequent objects placed during the same placement session.

Graphical Editing

This method of editing allows you to select a placed polygon object directly in the design space and change its size and/or shape graphically.

When a polygon object is selected, an editing handle (vertex) will appear at each corner as shown in the image below.

A selected Polygon
A selected Polygon

  • Click and drag on a vertex to move that vertex.
  • Click and drag on an edge to move that edge of the polygon.
  • Right-click on a vertex point then choose the Edit Polygon Vertex n command to access the Vertices tab of the Polygon dialog, with the entry for the nth vertex selected ready for editing.
  • Click and hold on a vertex, then press Delete to remove that vertex.

With the polygon selected, click on an edge to individually select that edge. This polygon 'sub-selection' is distinguished by the associated editing handles for the edge becoming red in color.

Individual edge sub-selection.
Individual edge sub-selection.

The associated vertices for the edge can then be edited directly using the List panel, with any changes appearing immediately on the schematic.

To move an entire polygon, click and hold on the un-selected polygon then move it to the new location.
If attempting to graphically modify an object that has its Locked property enabled, a dialog will appear asking for confirmation to proceed with the edit. If the Protect Locked Objects option is enabled on the Schematic – Graphical Editing page of the Preferences dialog, and the Locked option for that design object is enabled as well, then that object cannot be selected or graphically edited. Click the locked object to select it then disable the Locked property in the List panel or disable the Protect Locked Objects option to graphically edit the object. 

Non-Graphical Editing

The following methods of non-graphical editing are available.

Editing via the Region dialog or Properties Panel

Panel page: Polygon Properties

This method of editing uses the associated Region dialog and the Properties panel mode to modify the properties of a polygon object.

The Region dialog, on the left, and the Region mode of the Properties panel on the right The Region dialog, on the left, and the Region mode of the Properties panel on the right

After placement, the Region dialog can be accessed by:

  • Double-clicking on the placed polygon object.
  • Placing the cursor over the polygon object, right-clicking then choosing Properties from the context menu.
  • Placing the cursor over a vertex of the polygon object, right-clicking then choosing Edit Polygon Vertex n from the context menu.

During placement, the Region mode of the Properties panel can be accessed by pressing the Tab key. Once the region is placed, all options appear.

After placement, the Region mode of the Properties panel can be accessed in one of the following ways:

  • If the Properties panel is already active, by selecting the polygon object.
  • After selecting the polygon object, select the Properties panel from the Panels button in the bottom right section of the design space or select View » Panels » Properties.
If the Double Click Runs Interactive Properties option is disabled (default) on the Schematic - Graphical Editing page of the Preferences dialog, when the primitive is double-clicked or you right-click on a selected primitive then choose Properties, the dialog will open. When the Double Click Runs Interactive Properties option is enabled, the Properties panel will open. 
While the options are the same in the dialog and the panel, the order and placement of the options may differ slightly. 

Editing Multiple Objects

The Properties panel supports multiple object editing, where the property settings that are identical in all currently selected objects may be modified. When multiples of the same object type are selected manually, via the Find Similar Objects dialog or through a Filter or List panel, a Properties panel field entry that is not shown as an asterisk (*) can be edited for all selected objects.

Editing via a List Panel

Panel pages: SCH List, SCHLIB List, SCH Filter, SCHLIB Filter

List panel allows you 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 you to target and edit multiple design objects with greater accuracy and efficiency.

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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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