Working with the Draftsman Board Assembly View in Altium Designer

A Draftsman board assembly view (Place » Board Assembly View) is an automated graphic composite of the active PCB project's board outline, cutouts, holes, and component graphics with additional notation.

Two placed board assembly views that show the PCB from the top and bottom sides

Drawing representation of a placed board assembly view is configurable in the Properties panel when the view is selected in the design space. General view properties are configured on the General tab of the panel ().

Option	Description
Scale
Scale, Use Custom Scale	Use these options to configure the view's scale. For more information, refer to the Working with Views page.
Title
Title, Location, Font	Use these options to configure the view's title. For more information, refer to the Working with Views page.
Style
Board Line	Use the drop-downs to select the line thickness and pattern used to render the view's border/outline. Available options are defined in the Line Styles region of the Properties panel when no object is selected in the design space. For more information, refer to the Setting Up a Draftsman Document page. Use the associated color button to specify the color of the border/outline lines.
Component Line	Use the drop-downs to select the line thickness and pattern used to render the view's component graphics. Available options are defined in the Line Styles region of the Properties panel when no object is selected in the design space. For more information, refer to the Setting Up a Draftsman Document page. Use the associated color button to specify the color of the component graphic lines.
Font	Use these options to configure the font of component captions. When the Use Document Font option is enabled, the title font used is that defined by the document options (the Document Font entry in the General region of the General tab of the Properties panel when no object is selected in the design space). For more information, refer to the Setting Up a Draftsman Document page. When the Use Document Font option is disabled, use the provided options to choose the desired font type, size, color, and text attributes.
Font Size (Min/Max)	Use these options to set the minimum and maximum font size of component captions and displayed component parameters when their location is set to Center/Fit (in the Component Display Properties region of the panel or Component Display Properties dialog).
Properties
View Side	The direction of view used to render the board drawing. Use the drop-down menu to select from a range of preset view directions. When the Left (True Geometry), Right (True Geometry), Front (True Geometry), or Back (True Geometry) option is selected, the view of the whole board with all components is calculated at once, so these options can result in a more precise view in some cases, while the calculation time might increase. For a side view, it is recommended to use one of these options if their performance is sufficient. Otherwise, use the Left, Right, Front, or Back option.
Rotation	The angle of rotation used to render the view, as applied by the drop-down menu.
Display holes	When the Top or Bottom option is selected for the View Side, use the drop-down to set which board thru-holes will be shown. The color of displayed hole outlines is defined by the color selected for the Component Line options in the Style region of the Properties panel.
Minimum Diameter	When the Top or Bottom option is selected for the View Side, use the field to define the smallest board hole size that is shown when the Display Holes option is selected to Minimum diameter only.
Variation	The design variant, for which the view shows its data. Components set as not fitted for the selected variant are rendered according to configured document options. For more information, refer to the Configuring Variant Display section. When the Document : <VariantName> option is selected as the Variation, a variant specified for the document is applied to the view. The document-level variant is selected using the Variants drop-down in the Source region of the General tab of the Properties panel when no object is selected in the design space. For more information, refer to the Setting Up a Draftsman Document page.
Component Caption	When the Top or Bottom option is selected for the View Side, use the drop-down to select the parameter source for the text captions associated with components (either components' Designator or BOM Item Position). BOM item positions of components are defined in the project's ActiveBOM document. For more information, refer to the Creating the BOM Document page.
Show Silkscreen	Use the drop-down to configure the display of the silkscreen overlay (top or bottom overlay, as determined by the current View Side). You can select to hide the silkscreen (None), show all silkscreen objects (With Components), or show only free objects, i.e. those that are not part of PCB components (Without Components).  Use the associated color button to specify the color of the overlay in the view.
Show No BOM	When the Left (True Geometry), Right (True Geometry), Front (True Geometry), or Back (True Geometry) option is selected for the View Side, use this option to toggle the display of no BOM components (whose Type is set to Standard (No BOM) in the PCB editor) in the view.
Show additional data	When the Top or Bottom option is selected for the View Side, use the checkboxes to toggle the display of the corresponding PCB data associated with the current view side and use color buttons to specify the color of the corresponding layer on the view (). When the Topology checkbox is enabled, the SMD and Through-Hole checkboxes are enabled automatically. When the Topology checkbox is disabled, you can enable the SMD and Through-Hole checkboxes independently. A board with multiple Layer Stack regions, such as a Rigid-Flex design, is likely to have a different topology (outer layers) in each region. Draftsman allows for this by displaying the appropriate outer layer for each region – say, the Top Layer for the rigid region and Mid-Layer 2 for the flex region. The transparency level of a layer color is available in the Define Custom Color part of the color selector as a percentage slider, which might be useful for the solder mask overlay ().
Components	Click the button to open the Component Display Properties dialog, where you can configure the display configuration for components (their geometry and parameters). For more information, refer to the Using the Component Display Properties Dialog section.
Component Display Properties
All Components / Component / Several selected	This entry shows the current scope of changes in this region of the panel. For more information, refer to the Configuring Display of Component Data section.
Component Body	Enable the checkbox to display component body graphics in the view. Use the drop-down to select the data source used for rendering the component body graphics. Use the color button to specify the color of the component body graphics. For more information, refer to the Configuring Component Graphic Source section.
Designator	Enable the checkbox to display component captions (designator or BOM item position, according to the selection in the Component Caption option) in the view. Use the drop-down to select the position of the captions. Use the color button to specify the captions' color. For more information, refer to the Configuring Component Caption section.
Comment	Enable the checkbox to display component comments in the view. Use the drop-down to select the position of the comments. Use the color button to specify the comments' color.
Reference Marker	Enable the component reference marker graphic (on components' pin 1) by selecting Inside contour from the drop-down menu ().
Hatching Pattern	Use to configure the component graphic fill pattern and color, which is used to render the component's profile when displayed in a board section view taken from the selected board assembly view. For more information, refer to the Configuring Component Hatching Patterns for a Board Section View section.
Designator Font Size	When an option other than Center/Fit, Assembly Drawing, or Silkscreen is chosen for the Designator of the selected component (or several selected components), use this field to set the font size for the caption.
Apply changes to all instances of same BOM item	When one or more components are selected in the view, enable to apply subsequent changes in this region of the panel to all components that share the same BOM entry.

The panel's Layers tab provides a tabular listing of the mechanical layers available in the source PCB, along with their visibility and color settings. For more information, refer to the Configuring Display of Mechanical Layer Data section.

Configuring Display of Component Data

The display of components on the selected board assembly view is configured in the Properties panel. Most of the component display properties are configured in the Component Display Properties region of the panel. Changes in this region can be applied to all components in the view or to the selected components only. The current scope of the changes is shown at the top of the region.

❯ ❮ Javascript ID: Draftsman_Pnl_Properties_BAV_ComponentDisplayProperties_Selection

When only the view is selected but not any component in it (i.e., the view has been selected by clicking its area outside of any component), the settings in this section affect all components of the view, and the entry at the top of the region will indicate All components in this case. When a specific component is selected in the view (by clicking within the area of this component in the view), the settings will apply to the selected component only, and the Component field identifies the currently selected component by its designator and footprint name.   Multiple components can be selected (using the Shift+Click technique) in order to adjust properties across various components, and the entry at the top of the region will indicate Several selected in this case.

Configuring Component Caption

Use the Designator options in the Component Display Properties region of the Properties panel to enable/disable visibility of the captions (designator or BOM item position, according to the selection in the Component Caption option), set the caption's position relative to the component graphic, and select the caption's color. The drop-down menu suggests a number of options for the caption's position. Most options (Center, Top Left, Left, Bottom Left, Bottom, Bottom Right, Right, Top Right, Top) configure the captions to be placed close to the component outline in the selected position. Also, the options listed below are available.

The position of component captions can also be graphically modified by dragging and dropping the text to a new location. Use Ctrl+Click, Hold&Drag on a caption to move the text. When dragging, use the Spacebar key to rotate the text through 90° increments. The Manual option is automatically selected for the caption's relative position if the caption is manually moved.

The position of component captions can be changed manually.

The font used for component captions is configured in the Style region of the panel ().

• When the Use Document Font option is enabled, the font used is that defined by the Document Font option in the General region of the Properties panel when no object is selected in the design space (learn more about Setting Up a Draftsman Document).

• When the Use Document Font option is disabled, use the available controls to choose the desired font type and size and enable text attributes.

• Use the Font Size (Min/Max) fields to set the minimum and maximum font size that can be automatically applied to a component when its Designator property in the Component Display Properties region of the Properties panel is set to Center/Fit. When the Assembly Drawing or Silkscreen option is selected, the font size will reflect that defined by the designator on the assembly or overlay layer, respectively. When an option other than Center/Fit, Assembly Drawing, or Silkscreen is chosen for the selected component (or several selected components), use the Designator Font Size option in the Component Display Properties region to set the font size.

Configuring Component Graphic Source

Use the Component Body options in the Component Display Properties region of the Properties panel to toggle the component graphic's visibility, set the data source for rendering the component graphic, and select the component graphic's color. The data source options listed below are available.

❯ ❮ Javascript ID: Draftsman_Pnl_Properties_BAV_ComponentBody

Configuring Component Hatching Patterns for a Board Section View

The Hatching Pattern options available in the Component Display Properties region of the Properties panel for the selected board assembly view are used to configure the component graphic fill pattern and color, which is used to render the component's profile when displayed in a board section view taken from the board assembly view.

The pattern swatch shows the preview of the hatching pattern according to the configured settings. Use the associated color buttons to specify colors for the fill and hatch pattern. Click the associated  button to access other options.

Define the hatching pattern for components shown in the slice of the associated board section view.

Using the Component Display Properties Dialog

You can also use the Component Display Properties dialog accessed by clicking the  button in the Properties region of the Properties panel to change the display properties of components on the selected board assembly view individually, in groups, or through multi-selection (made by using the Shift+Click and/or Ctrl+Click shortcuts).

Access the Component Display Properties dialog to configure component properties in a single location.

❯ ❮ Javascript ID: Draftsman_BAV_Dlg_ComponentDisplayProperties

Use the Show drop-down menu at the top of the dialog to select in which grouping format the component properties will be displayed: Components, Classes, Footprints, or BOM Items. Use the Geometry tab of the dialog to configure the display of the component graphics. Select a pattern entry in the Hatching Pattern column and use its associated  button to open the Fill Style dialog where you can configure the component graphic fill pattern and color, which is used to render the component's profile when displayed in a board section view. The options provided in the dialog are similar to those available in the Properties panel for a selected board assembly view. For more information, refer to the Configuring Component Hatching Patterns for a Board Section View section. Use the Parameters tab of the dialog to configure the display of the component designator and other added parameters. Click the  button at the top right of the dialog to add a new parameter column group (Parameter [n]). Use the drop-down in the Name column to select from the available parameters for the component entry. Select <Remove> from the Name drop-down to remove an added parameter.

Configuring Variant Display

In Altium Designer, you can create variations of a board design (design variants) and pass this variant information on to Draftsman. A placed board assembly view will reflect the variant chosen either on the document level or for this specific view.

For more information about support for design variants in Draftsman, refer to the Setting Up a Draftsman Document page.

In the placed board assembly view, components set as not fitted in the chosen variant are hidden or indicated with a red cross or a definable mesh fill style, as determined by the Variant Display setting in the General region of the General tab of the Properties panel when no object is selected in the design space.

❯ ❮ Javascript ID: Draftsman_BAV_VariantDisplay

When the MeshBox option is selected for the Variants Display, use Pattern options to configure the hatching pattern. The pattern swatch shows the preview of the pattern according to the configured settings. Use the associated color buttons to specify colors for the fill and hatch pattern. Select the associated  button to access other options ().

When the MeshBox or Cross option is selected for the Variants Display, you can optionally define a text that will be shown on not fitted components. Define the required text string in the Not Fitted Text field and use the provided Not Fitted Text options to choose the desired font type, size, color, and text attributes. Use the Font Size (Min/Max) options to set the minimum and maximum font size of the text. 

Configuring Display of Mechanical Layer Data

The Layers tab Properties panel for a selected board assembly view provides a list of mechanical layers available in the source PCB. You can toggle their visibility and configure their color in the selected view.

The draw order of the layers is determined by their order in the list. Use the  and  buttons to specify a layer’s relative list/draw order. The topmost enabled layer in the list is rendered last, on top of the next enabled layer that is lower in the list, and so on – the list order represents the draw order.