QuickNav - Draftsman Design Objects in Altium Designer
This page provides quick reference information about the drawing objects that can be used in the Draftsman editor when creating manufacturing documentation for your design, giving you a means to quickly navigate to more detailed information about each.
Key Objects Slideshow
The following slides provide a collated visual of the drawing objects available for use in the Draftsman editor, many of which are populated based on real design data.
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The Draftsman editor allows a range of automated production drawings to be placed directly onto a Draftsman document. Shown here are a Board Assembly View, Board Fabrication View, Board Isometric View, Board Detail View and Board Realistic View. The first three views are specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf). A Board Realistic View can be placed in a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf) or Multi-board design project (*.MbDwf). Additional automated design views available - Drill Drawing View, Layer Stackup Legend, Via Type View and Counter Hole View. Note that all of these views are specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf). Additional automated design views available - Board Section View, Board Region View and Component View. The first two views are specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf). A Component View can be placed in a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for either a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf) or a harness design project (*.HarDwf). Shown here is a Multi-board View, which is specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a Multi-board design project (*.MbDwf). Shown here is a Section View, which is specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a Multi-board design project (*.MbDwf). Shown here is a Wiring Diagram View, which is specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a harness design project (*.HarDwf). Shown here is a Layout Drawing View, which is specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a harness design project (*.HarDwf). The Draftsman editor provides a range of data tables, whose data is drawn directly from the applicable source design project document. Shown here are a Bill Of Materials, Table, Drill Table, and Transmission Line Table, the latter two of which are specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf). Also shown are a Wiring List and Connection Table, which are specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a harness design project (*.HarDwf). The Draftsman editor provides a range of additional drawing and annotation tools designed to add important information to a Draftsman drawing document. These include both automated note and highlighting systems. Shown here are a Callout, Center Mark, Note, Datum Feature, Surface Finish, Comment, Feature Control Frame, and Text. Note that use of Comments is specific to a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf). The Draftsman editor provides a range of dimensioning objects. Dimension graphics may be placed on Board Views (Assembly, Fabrication, Section, Details, Wiring Diagram, Layout Drawing, etc...) to indicate the lengths, sizes, and angles of the object outlines, or the distance between nominated objects. Shown here are a Linear Dimension, Radial Dimension, Diametral Dimension, Angular Dimension, and Ordinate Dimension. Also shown are a couple of X,Y Axis Scale objects. All of these objects can be placed in a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf), Multi-board design project (*.MbDwf) or harness design project (*.HarDwf). The Draftsman editor also provides a range of graphical element tools that can be used to place basic, free-form drawing elements in a document. Shown here are a Line, Arc, Circle, Rectangle, Region, and Graphic. All of these objects can be placed in a Draftsman-based manufacturing drawing created for a PCB design project (*.PCBDwf), Multi-board design project (*.MbDwf) or harness design project (*.HarDwf). |
Objects by Functional Grouping
The following is a convenient listing of Draftsman objects grouped in a more functional way.
label. Similarly, those objects specific to a Multi-board manufacturing drawing are highlighted with the 
label, and objects specific to a Harness manufacturing drawing are highlighted with the 
label.
Views |
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| Board Assembly View |
A Board Assembly View is an automated graphic composite of the active PCB project's board outline, cutouts, holes, and component graphics with additional notation. Its drawing representation, information and data sources are all configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Board Detail View |
The Board Detail View feature allows a defined area of a drawing to be brought out to a floating, magnified view of its detail. A Board Detail View can be either circular or rectangular. When creating documentation for a PCB design, Board Detail Views may be added to the Board Assembly View, Board Fabrication View, Board Isometric View, Board Section View, and Drill Drawing View. When creating documentation for a Harness design, Board Detail Views may be added to the Wiring Diagram View and Layout Drawing View. The Board Detail View's magnification factor (scale), labeling and line attributes are all configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Board Fabrication View |
A Board Fabrication View is an automated graphic composite of the PCB project's unpopulated (bare) board, as viewed from the Top or Bottom. The drawing data is sourced from a specified physical board layer and polygon copper fills can be displayed as solid, hatched or as simple outlines. Its drawing representation and data sources are all configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Board Isometric View |
A Board Isometric View is an automated projection graphic composite of the active PCB project's board assembly. Its drawing projection representation and graphic style elements are configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Board Realistic View |
A Board Realistic View provides a high level of purely visual information to Assembly and Fabrication data in a drawing document. Placed as a separate and configurable view object, the Realistic View provides a scalable 3D rendering of the current board design / multi-board assembly. The 3D view is generated by the software’s 3D rendering engine - as applied in the PCB / Multi-board Assembly editor and for 3D print outputs - and may be set to adopt the PCB / Multi-board Assembly editor’s current view angle and configuration. Its graphic style elements are configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Board Region View |
The Board Region View allows a Draftsman document to include an accurate representation of multiple Layer Stack regions in a board design, such as those applied in Rigid-Flex PCB designs. Its graphic style elements are configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Board Section View |
A Board Section View provides a profile slice, or sectional drawing taken from a nominated 'cut' point through a placed Board Assembly View. The section view generator takes the available 3D data from the current PCB to create a standalone section drawing that is aligned to the nominated cut point. Any number of Board Section Views can be created from a Board Assembly View, and its drawing representation style, view direction and labeling are all configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Component View |
A Component View is a drawing object of a single component from the current PCB or Harness design. The view angle, display style and content of a Component View is configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Counter Hole View |
A Counter Hole View provides a representation of a board's pad hole with counter hole features (counterbore and/or countersink). When set as a profile view, the rendered Counter Hole View object includes the related profile section of the PCB. The view angle, display style and content of a Counter Hole View is configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Drill Drawing View |
A Drill Drawing View is an automated graphic composite of the active PCB project's board outline and drill holes. The view is rendered with definable symbols that correspond to hole types and also includes any specified drill layer pairs. The view's drawing representation and content settings are all configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Layer Stack Legend |
A Layer Stack Legend view provides a representation of the board's internal structure as an enlarged sectional view. It includes detailed descriptions and information for each layer in the stack, including the Gerber files associated with each layer. The Layer Stackup Legend's visual style and included information are all configurable in the Properties panel. |
| A Layout Drawing View is an automated graphic composite of the active Harness design project's Layout Drawing (*.LdrDoc). | |
| A Multi-board View is an automated graphic composite of the outlines of PCBs and 3D models constituting the multi-board assembly (*.MbaDoc). | |
| Section View |
A Section View provides a profile slice, or sectional drawing taken from a nominated 'cut' point through a placed Multi-board View. The section view generator takes the available 3D data from the current Multi-board assembly to create a standalone section drawing that is aligned to the nominated cut point. Any number of Section Views can be created from a Multi-board View, and its drawing representation style, view direction and labeling are all configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Via Type View |
A Via Type View provides a representation of a via type according to the IPC-4761 standard, Design Guide for Protection of Printed Board Via Structures. The display style and content of a Via Type View is configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Wiring Diagram View |
A Wiring Diagram View is an automated graphic composite of the active Harness design project's Wiring Diagram (*.WirDoc). |
Tables |
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| A Bill Of Materials is an automatically generated table object that lists the physical assembly items in a PCB/Multi-board/Harness design. The BOM table data is derived directly from the project PCB (or Multi-board assembly or Layout Drawing) file, or if one is present in the current project, an Active BOM document. For a PCB design, the BOM Table can also represent the constituent items from a specified design Variation or a placed Board Assembly View. The BOM table's visual style and included data content is configurable in (or via) the Properties panel. | |
| Connection Table |
A Connection Table is an automatically generated table object that shows the wires connected to every connection point (connector pin, splice, etc.) in the harness. Wire parameters (and their values) specified in the Wiring Diagram are also reflected in the Connection Table. |
| Drill Table |
A Drill Table is an automatically generated table object that contains board drill symbols and data. The Drill Table, combined with Draftsman's Drill Drawing View, provides both tabular and graphic information for the board fabrication process. A Symbol row, representing a specified type of drill hole, can include a range of hole information such as its size, plated construction and population count. Holes types are grouped under symbols as specified in the Drill Symbol Configurations dialog. The table's visual style and data content, including the symbol used, is configurable in (or via) the Properties panel. |
| Table | A Table is a custom object that can contain any text data. The Table object offers a wide range of text and structure editing features, which can be implemented on a cell row or column basis using standard Shift/Ctrl or drag selection techniques. The table's visual style is configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Transmission Line Table |
A Transmission Line Table is a table object that is populated with layer structure and calculated impedance data drawn from the Layer Stack Manager. Transmission Line impedance calculations that apply to all active Impedance Profiles are included in the table. The table's visual style is configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Wiring List |
A Wiring List is an automatically generated table object that displays the start and end points, and parameter values, for each wire in the harness. Wire parameters (and their values) specified in the Wiring Diagram are also reflected in the Wiring List. |
Annotations |
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| A Callout is a graphic pointer that can be placed in a document to provide information about a specific drawing location or object. The information associated with a Callout may be custom text or data sourced from a BOM entry, a Note item, a component Parameter, a board Region, or a via structure. Its drawing style and information source are configurable in the Properties panel. Callouts can have one or more pointers to source points. In a Harness manufacturing drawing, a Callout associated with a connector or a connection point displays BOM item position numbers for its associated parts. The Callout shows the numbers of the connector/connection point and its associated parts. | |
| Center Mark | The Center Mark is a crosshair object that automatically locks to the radius origin of a Circle and Arc in a Draftsman document. A placed Center Mark is available as a reference location for placed dimensioning objects such as Linear and Ordinate dimensions. |
| Comment |
A Comment is a user-added note that is assigned to a specific point, object, or area (as applicable) on a supported document type, and may be replied to by other users. Comments promote collaboration between users without altering the shared data itself, because comments are stored by the connected Workspace independently of that data. Comments are posted, replied to, and managed directly within the main design space using a contextual commenting window in conjunction with the Comments and Tasks panel. |
| Datum Feature | A Datum Feature is a graphic identification object that can be attached to a line, point, or axis of a physical feature in a drawing, such as the edge of board, component, or hole. It acts as a reference on that drawing object so that relative dimension tolerances included in Feature Control Frames can refer to this and other placed datum. When added to the mechanical elements in a Draftsman drawing view, the combined information represented by Feature Control Frames and their related Datum references can fully describe the acceptable manufacturing constraints for those physical elements. |
| Feature Control Frame | A Feature Control Frame is a graphic information object that can be placed on a Draftsman document sheet to define the manufacturing constraints of the physical feature to which it is attached, such as an object face or machined cutout/hole. The tabular frame object applies a specialized range of symbols, tolerance values and location references to specify acceptable manufacturing imperfections as defined by the ASME Y14.5-2009 Dimension and Tolerancing standard. Draftsman Datum Feature objects are used as reference locations in placed Feature Control Frames. Attached machining tolerances, such as the 'straightness' of a feature for example, apply to the specified drawing object face. Attached Dimension tolerances by comparison (such as 'position') are generally specified as relative to one or more placed Datum. When added to the mechanical elements in a Draftsman drawing view, the combined information represented by Feature Control Frames and their related Datum references can fully describe the acceptable manufacturing constraints for those physical elements. The graphic style and dimensioning/tolerancing attributes for a placed Feature Control Frame are definable in the Properties panel. Multiple definition rows may be added to the frame in the Selected Element region of the panel. |
| Note | A Note object is an active text-based list that can be placed in a Draftsman document to provide additional and optionally targeted information that relates to drawing views. The entries in a Note list can include parameters that are available to the project document and individual list entries can be referred to by placed Callout objects. A Callout-Note reference behaves as an active link and, therefore, changes to the Note entry (such as its list number or border graphic) will be reflected in the Callout label. The Note object's visual style and its list entries are configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Surface Finish | A Surface Finish indicator is a graphic symbol with associated parameters that comply with the ISO 1302:2002 International Standard for surface textures in technical product documentation. The standard specifies the rules for the indication of surface texture in drawings based on special symbols and attribute codes that describe the permitted surface material and finish for the product - in this case, a printed circuit board. The symbol style and text attributes for a placed Surface Finish object are configurable in the Properties panel. |
| Text | A Text box is a text container object that can be placed on a Draftsman document sheet and optionally filled with a solid color or ANSI pattern. Text can be single line or multi-line. You can also use special strings (=<SpecialStringName>) as part of a defined text string, to present information derived from the source project. The text string that will be displayed is entered through the Properties panel. |
Dimensions |
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| An Angular Dimension is an automated dimensioning graphic that reports the relative angle between two object faces (or a Center Mark crosshair line) on a Board Assembly View or a Board Fabrication View, or an associated view such as a Board Detail View. The automated dimensioning graphic reports the relative angle between two object faces, such as the sides/edges of a component or board. The dimension graphic style and its text content can be set to a range of formats in the Properties panel when a placed Angular Dimension is selected. | |
| Diametral Dimension | A Diametral Dimension is an automated dimensioning graphic that applies to circular hole objects in a Board Assembly View. The visual style of the dimension lines and the configuration of the dimension text data can be set in the Properties panel when a placed Diametral Dimension is selected. |
| Linear Dimension | A Linear Dimension is an automated dimensioning object that can be placed between the vertices or edges of Draftsman objects, including Board Views and component objects. This allows a dimension to be placed on the side of an object, between two points on an object, or between nominated sides/vertices of two different objects. The visual style of the dimension lines and the configuration of the dimension text data can be set in the Properties panel when a placed Linear Dimension is selected. |
| Ordinate Dimension | An Ordinate Dimension is an automated dimensioning object that is composed of multiple linear dimension elements that are relative to a specified reference point. The dimensions in the ordinate set can be placed on the outlines edges or vertices of Draftsman objects in a Board Assembly View (or its Section View), including the board itself. The indicated dimensions are effectively cumulative as they are placed at increasing distances from the nominated reference point, and can be placed on the outlines edges or vertices of a placed board view or its constituent objects. The visual style of the dimension lines and the configuration of the dimension text can be set in the Properties panel when a placed Ordinate Dimension is selected. |
| Radial Dimension | A Radial Dimension is an automated dimensioning graphic that applies to a circular board object (hole) or an arc on a Board Assembly View or a Board Fabrication View, or an associated graphic such as a Board Detail View. The text of the placed Radial Dimension reports the radius of the object. The visual style of the dimension lines and the configuration of the dimension text data can be set in the Properties panel when a placed Radial Dimension is selected. |
| X,Y Axis Scale | The X,Y Axis Scale object can be used to place a reference scale against any type of View object. Various properties of the object can be customized, including the thickness, stylistic design of the line styles, and font choice. The visual style of the axis scale and the configuration of the axis scale text data can be set in the Properties panel when a placed X, Y Axis Scale is selected. |
Graphical Tools |
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| An Arc is a graphic object that can be placed on a Draftsman document sheet and set to the desired arc angle, radius and line style. A Draftsman Arc can be placed using a center or three-point method. | |
| Circle | A Circle is a graphic object that can be placed on a Draftsman document sheet and optionally filled with a solid color or ANSI pattern. |
| Graphic | A Graphic object is an image container that can be placed on a Draftsman document sheet and populated with a standard image file (*.png, *.jpeg, *.jpg, *.jpe, *.jfif, *.gif, *.bmp, *.svg). |
| Line | A Line is a graphic object that can be placed on a Draftsman document sheet. A Line object can be used to manually create custom graphics, as well as to create templates for items such as an information table, which contains specific data about the document itself. |
| Rectangle | A Rectangle is a graphic object that can be placed on a Draftsman document sheet and optionally filled with a solid color or ANSI pattern. |
| Region | A Region is a closed shape object that can be placed on a Draftsman document sheet to indicate a specific area in a drawing. The Region object shape can include angle-based curved lines and a solid color or ANSI pattern fill. |
A-Z Listing
The following offers a convenient alphabetical listing - no frills, no fuss - to be able to get at more detail for a particular design object in true QuickNav fashion.
label. Similarly, those objects specific to a Multi-board manufacturing drawing are highlighted with the label, and objects specific to a Harness manufacturing drawing are highlighted with the label.- Angular Dimension
- Arc
- Bill Of Materials
- Board Assembly View
- Board Detail View
- Board Fabrication View
- Board Isometric View
- Board Realistic View
- Board Region View
- Board Section View
- Callout
- Center Mark
- Circle
- Comment
- Component View
- Connection Table
- Counter Hole View
- Datum Feature
- Diametral Dimension
- Drill Drawing View
- Drill Table
- Feature Control Frame
- Graphic
- Layer Stack Legend
- Layout Drawing View
- Line
- Linear Dimension
- Multi-board View
- Note
- Ordinate Dimension
- Radial Dimension
- Rectangle
- Region
- Section View
- Surface Finish
- Table
- Text
- Transmission Line Table
- Via Type View
- Wiring Diagram View
- Wiring List
- X,Y Axis Scale