Defining PCB Editor Board Insight Mode Preferences for Altium Designer

The PCB Editor - Board Insight Modes page of the Preferences dialog

Summary

As its name suggests, the PCB Editor – Board Insight Modes page of the Preferences dialog provides numerous controls relating to the functionality of the Board Insight within the PCB design space.

Access

The PCB Editor – Board Insight Modes page is part of the main Preferences dialog that is accessed by clicking  in the upper-right corner of the design space then selecting the Board Insight Modes entry under the PCB Editor folder.

Options/Controls

Display

• Display Heads Up Information - enable this option to turn on the Heads Up Display. The information that is displayed is typically located in the status bar such as grid coordinates, layer, dimensions, and actions. Instead of looking in the status bar, you can now raise your head up and see this information in the workspace.

• Use Background Color - enable this option so that the Heads Up information is displayed with its background transparent. 
• Insert Key Resets Heads Up Delta Origin - enable this option to reset the Delta Origin to 0, 0 at the current cursor position when the Insert key is pressed. The distance horizontally and vertically that the cursor is moved from the Delta Origin can be displayed in the Heads Up display (Shift+D).
• Mouse Click Resets Heads Up Delta Origin - enable this option so that a mouse click resets the Delta Origin to 0, 0 at the current cursor position. The distance horizontally and vertically that the cursor is moved from the Delta Origin can be displayed in the Heads Up display (Shift+D).
• Hover Mode Delay - use this to control how long you want to have the cursor over an item before the hover display information appears. Click on the up or down arrow buttons (increments by 100ms) or use the slide control to increase or decrease the time delay.
• Heads Up Opacity - click on the up or down arrow buttons (increments by 1%) or move the slide control to increase or decrease the level of opacity of the Heads Up display mode, making it less or more visible. The preview panes at the bottom of the dialog show you how the display will appear.
• Hover Opacity - click on the up or down arrow buttons (increments by 1%) or move the slide control to increase or decrease the level of opacity of the hover display mode, making it less or more visible. The preview panes at the bottom of the dialog show you how the display will appear.

Insight Modes

• Grid - this grid lists the available options for which information the Heads Up display modes will show. Enable the checkboxes for the information types you would like displayed in the Heads Up and Hover columns. The Panel column options refer to information that will be displayed in the Properties panel. The Popup column options refer to information that will be displayed when using the object (Shift+X) and violation (Shift+V) pop-up windows. The Font column options control the display text in the Heads Up display modes.
• Heads Up Preview - shows the preview of the Heads Up information.
• Hover Preview - displays a preview of the board information under the cursor when the cursor has been stationary for a set period of time.