Altium Designer Documentation
...
Dialog Reference
A to F
Drill-Pair Properties
This document is no longer available beyond version 18.1. Information can now be found here: Defining Blind, Buried & Micro Vias for version 25
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.
The Drill-Pair Properties dialog
Summary Copy Link Copied
The Drill-Pair Properties dialog provides controls to configure a drill pair for the active layer stack in terms of start and stop layers. Drill pairs must be configured when blind, buried, or build-up type vias are to be used, with a drill pair for each layer-pair that a via spans. The dialog is also used for defining back drill start stop layers for a design that uses back drilling.
Access Copy Link Copied
The dialog is accessed from the PCB Editor through the Drill-Pair Manager dialog in the following ways:
- Click the Add button.
- Select a currently-defined drill pair (other than the Top Layer - Bottom Layer drill pair when the active stack is the default Board Layer Stack, which cannot be edited) then click the Drill Pair Properties button.
Options/Controls Copy Link Copied
- Drill-Pair Properties - the following fields collectively define the drill pair:
- Start Layer - the start layer for the pair. Choose from any of the currently defined signal and plane layers for the board as configured and enabled in the active layer stackup.
- Stop Layer - the stop layer for the pair. Choose from any of the currently defined signal and plane layers for the board as configured and enabled in the active layer stackup.
- Back drill pair - enable this option to define this pairing of start and stop layers as the layers that will potentially be back-drilled through. One of the Start/Stop layers must be a surface layer (Top Layer or Bottom Layer); the other layer can be any internal layer. To learn more about back drilling, refer to the Controlled Depth Drilling, or Back Drilling article.
Tips Copy Link Copied
- Drill pairs must be defined to suit the layer stack-up style. This should be done in consultation with your board manufacturer to ensure that your design matches their fabrication technology.