Working with a Component View Object on a Draftsman Document in Altium Designer

Parent page: Draftsman Objects

Two placed Component Views, used to illustrate mounting information for the LCD1 component shown in the lower Board Assembly View.

Summary

The Draftsman Component View feature allows a specified component from the current PCB design to be placed as a single drawing view object – the view includes the related profile section of the host PCB. The view angle, display style and content of a Component View is configurable in the Properties panel.

Availability

The Component View command is available when one of the main Draftsman views (Board Assembly View, Board Fabrication View, etc.,) has been placed in a Draftsman document. The placement command for the Component View is accessed from the Draftsman Editor as follows:

• Choose the Place » Additional Views » Component View command from the main menus.
• Click the Component View option () in the view 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 topmost item on that section of the Active Bar.
  
• Right-click in the drawing design space then select Place » Additional Views » Component View from the context menu.
• Click the  entry on the Drawing Views toolbar (View » Toolbars » Drawing Views to enable).

Placement

After launching the command, drawing data is retrieved from the source PCB file, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and the rendered Component View is attached to the cursor. Move the cursor to the desired position then click to confirm the placement.

A default component is initially shown, however, the view selection can be changed in the Properties panel to specify any available component from the source PCB design.

Graphical Editing

The position of a placed Component View may be graphically changed by selecting the object in the design space then dragging it to a new location.

Non-Graphical Editing

Properties page: Component View Properties

The non-graphical method of editing a Component View is available in the Draftsman Properties panel, which provides a comprehensive range of editable properties and graphic options for placed Draftsman views.

The Properties panel when a Board Component View is selected.

To open the Properties panel and access the properties of a placed Component View:

• After selecting the Component View object, select the Properties panel from the Panels button at the bottom right of the design space or select View » Panels » Properties from the main menus.
• Double-click on the Component View object in the design space.
• Right-click on the Component View then select Item Properties from the context menu.

If the Properties panel is already active, click on the Component View object to access its properties in the panel.

Editing Multiple Objects

The Properties panel supports multiple object editing, where the property settings that are identical in all currently selected objects can be modified.