Fill

The Fill Dialog.

Summary

This dialog allows you to modify the attributes of a Fill object. A fill is a rectangular primitive design object that can be placed on any layer, for any design task requiring a rectangular shape.

Access

The Fill dialog can be accessed prior to entering placement mode, from the PCB Editor – Defaults page of the Preferences dialog. This allows the default properties for the fill object to be changed, which will be applied when placing subsequent fills.

During placement, the dialog can be accessed by pressing the Tab key.

After placement, the dialog can be accessed in the following ways:

• Double-clicking on a fill object.
• Placing the cursor over a fill object, right-clicking and choosing Properties from the context menu.
• Using the Edit » Change command and clicking once over a placed fill object.

Options/Controls

• Corner 1 X/Y - defines the location of the bottom left corner of the Fill, in an un-rotated state.
• Corner 2 X/Y - defines the location of the top right corner of the Fill, in an un-rotated state.
• Rotation - the angle that the fill has been rotated. The fill is rotated around the geometric center. Note that when a fill is rotated, the Corner 1 and Corner 2 values are not changed. The minimum angular resolution is 0.001 degrees.

Properties

• Layer - the layer that the fill is placed on. Fills can be placed on any layer other than the system layers.
• Net - if the fill is a copper object, choose a Net for the fill. All Nets in the current project will be listed in the drop-down list.
• Locked - lock the object so that the object cannot be edited graphically.

• Keepout - check this box to set the fill object as a Keepout. A keepout object is used on a signal layer to create a layer-specific keepout. Layer-specific keepouts are not included during output generation.
• Solder Mask Expansion - this field allows you to enable and control the expansion to be used with respect to the fill on the Solder Mask layer, to create the required opening in the mask. This opening can be larger (a positive expansion value) or smaller (a negative expansion value) than the fill itself. The following options are available:
  • No Mask - no opening in the solder mask.
  • Expansion value from rules - choose this option to have the solder mask expansion for the fill follow the defined value in the applicable Solder Mask Expansion design rule.
  • Specify expansion value - choose this option to override the applicable design rule and specify the solder mask expansion value for the fill.
• Paste Mask Expansion - this field allows you to enable and control the expansion to be used with respect to the fill on the Paste Mask layer, to create the required opening in the mask. This opening can be larger (a positive expansion value) or smaller (a negative expansion value) than the fill itself. The following options are available:
  • No Mask - no opening in the paste mask.
  • Expansion value from rules - choose this option to have the paste mask expansion for the fill follow the defined value in the applicable Paste Mask Expansion design rule.
  • Specify expansion value - choose this option to override the applicable design rule and specify the paste mask expansion value for the fill.