PCB Design Rules Reference

In the PCB Editor, design rules are used to define the requirements of the design. These rules cover every aspect of the design – including routing widths, clearances, plane connection styles, routing via styles, and so on. Rules can be monitored as you work, and you can also run a batch test at any time to generate a DRC report.

These design rules are not attributes of the objects, they are defined independently of the objects. Each rule has a scope that defines which objects it must target.

Multiple rules of the same kind can be defined, they are applied in a hierarchical fashion. For example, there could be a clearance rule for the entire board, then a second clearance rule for a class of nets, then a third for one of the pads in a class. Using the rule priority and the scope, the PCB Editor can determine which rule is to be applied to each object in the design. This powerful and flexible design rule system gives the designer complete control over the specifications of their design.

This section describes each design rule; use the navigation tree on the left to locate a specific rule, or press F1 when the cursor is over that rule in the PCB Rules and Constraint Editor.

Rules are clustered into the following Rule Categories:

• Electrical Rules
• Routing Rules
• Mask Rules
• Plane Rules
• Placement Rules
• Manufacturing Rules