Glossary of Design Terms

Now reading version 20. For the latest, read: Glossary of Design Terms for version 22

Technical jargon and terminology is something that typically 'goes with the territory' for most involved in the design of electronic products. But different design tools often adopt a terminology all their own, associated with the features and functionality they deliver.

In some cases, moving from one tool to another would be a breeze, if only the terminology - for similar features - were the same, or at least explained. While the former is not going to happen any time soon, the latter can be handled effectively through use of a Glossary.

This page aims to satisfy this very requirement, and presents the meanings behind various terms that appear while designing with Altium Designer, clustered into suitable categories.

By no means exhaustive, this glossary of terms associated to designing with Altium will continue to grow over time, but all the while helping to demystify the unfamiliar jargon you may encounter.

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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.