Working with a Rectangle Object on a Multi-board Schematic Document in Altium Designer

Parent page: Multi-board Schematic Objects

A placed Rectangle

Summary

A Rectangle is a graphic object that can be placed on a multi-board Design schematic document and filled with a specified solid color.

Availability

Rectangles are available for placement in the Multi-board schematic editor as follows:

• Choose the Place » Rectangle command from the main menus.
• Click the  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 topmost item on that section of the Active Bar.
• Right-click in the drawing design space then select Place » Rectangle from the context menu.

Placement

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

1. Click to anchor the first corner of the rectangle.
2. Move the cursor to adjust the size of the rectangle and click again to complete placement.
3. Continue placing further Rectangles or right-click or press Esc to exit the placement mode.

Graphical Editing

This method of editing allows a placed Rectangle object to be selected in the design space and graphically edit its size, shape or location.

Select a Rectangle by clicking on its fill or outline. Once selected, editing handles/nodes are available at its center and perimeter.

A selected Rectangle

• Click and drag a node to reposition it and alter the size of the Rectangle.
• Click and drag the rectangle object to reposition the rectangle in the schematic.

Non-Graphical Editing

Properties page: Rectangle Properties

The non-graphical method of editing a Rectangle is available in the Multi-board Properties panel, which provides editable property fields for the item that is currently selected in the design space.

The Properties panel when a Rectangle object is selected.

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

• After selecting the Rectangle 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 Rectangle object.
• Right-click on the Rectangle then select Item Properties from the context menu.

If the Properties panel is already active, click on the Rectangle 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 may be modified. When multiples of the same object type are selected, a Properties panel field entry can be edited for all selected objects. If values of a property are different for objects in the selection, the appropriate field will be shown as an asterisk (*); a new property value will be applied to all selected objects.