Creating a Manufacturing Drawing for a Multi-board Design in Altium Designer

Once the Multi-board Assembly is complete, a manufacturing drawing can be created and annotated as required. A manufacturing drawing for a multi-board design is being created in the Draftsman editor.

Setting Up a Manufacturing Drawing Document

To create a manufacturing drawing for the multi-board design, a new Draftsman document (*.MbDwf) should be added to the multi-board project. To do this, right-click the project entry in the Projects panel and then select Add New to Project » Draftsman Document from the context menu (or use the File » New » Draftsman Document command from the main menus). In the New Document dialog that opens, select an available manufacturing drawing template as required and ensure that a correct Project and multi-board assembly Document is selected.

Add a new Draftsman document to a multi-board project using the Projects panel and the New Document dialog.
Add a new Draftsman document to a multi-board project using the Projects panel and the New Document dialog.

Options of a manufacturing drawing document can be configured in the Properties panel in its Document Options mode, which is active when no object is selected in the document's design space. Refer to the Setting Up a Draftsman Document page to learn more.

  • Once the manufacturing drawing document has been created, any changes made in the multi-board assembly can be imported into the manufacturing drawing using the Tools » Import Changes From <MultiBoardAssembly.MbaDoc> command from the main menus or the right-click menu of the design space.
  • Default properties of manufacturing drawing objects can be configured on the Draftsman – Defaults page of the Preferences dialog. These properties will be applied when placing subsequent objects.
  • The Bookmarks panel offers a convenient way to navigate and manage a multi-sheet manufacturing drawing. The panel presents an expandable tree view of the complete document structure and includes all document sheets and the primary view objects within those sheets.

Working with Views

In a manufacturing drawing document, you can place views of the multi-board assembly included in this project.

Multi-board View

A multi-board view is an automated graphic composite of the outlines of PCBs and 3D models constituting the multi-board assembly (*.MbaDoc).

Two placed multi-board views showing the multi-board assembly from the top and front sides.
Two placed multi-board views showing the multi-board assembly from the top and front sides.

A multi-board view is placed in a manufacturing drawing document by clicking the  button in the Active Bar or selecting the Place » Multiboard View command from the main menus.

The properties of a placed multi-board view can be configured in the Properties panel when the view is selected in the design space. Click the Parts button in the Properties region of the panel to open the Parts dialog, from where you can manage the visibility of parts (PCBs and STEP models) constituting the assembly on the selected multi-board view.

The Properties panel when a placed multi-board view is selected. Use the Parts dialog to manage the visibility of the assembly's parts on the view.
The Properties panel when a placed multi-board view is selected. Use the Parts dialog to manage the visibility of the assembly's parts on the view.

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 aligned to the nominated cut point. Any number of section views can be created from a multi-board view.

Note that section views can only be created from a multi-board view whose View Side property is set to Top or Bottom.

Two placed section views created from the same multi-board view
Two placed section views created from the same multi-board view

A section view is placed in a manufacturing drawing document as follows:

  1. Select the Place » Additional Views » Section View command from the main menus.
  2. Position the cursor on the multi-board view, where a vertical cut line (initially A-A) will follow the cursor movement – use the Spacebar to toggle between vertical and horizontal cut lines.
  3. Click to set the position of the cut line.
  4. Move the cursor on either side of the line to set the view direction (as indicated by the cut line arrows) and click to confirm.
  5. Drag and place the new section view in the desired location.

The properties of a placed section view, including its drawing representation style, view direction and labeling, can be configured in the Properties panel when the view is selected in the design space.

If you create multiple section views in your manufacturing drawing, it is a good idea to give them each a unique Label.

The Properties panel when a placed section view is selected
The Properties panel when a placed section view is selected

Board Detail View

A board detail view is a floating, magnified view of a multi-board view's defined area.

Two placed board detail views (with circle and rectangular areas) created from the same multi-board view
Two placed board detail views (with circle and rectangular areas) created from the same multi-board view

A board detail view is placed in a manufacturing drawing document as follows:

  1. Select an option from the  button menu on the Active Bar or via the Place » Additional Views » Board Detail View menu options. Two options are available for the board detail view area: Circle area detail view and Rectangle area detail view.
  2. Click at a point on a multi-board view to specify the center of the target board detail view area.
  3. Move the mouse, then click to specify the radius of the view area (the board detail view source). The board detailed view will appear floating on the cursor.
  4. Click again to set the position of the board detail view expansion.

The properties of a placed board detail view, including its magnification factor (scale), labeling and line attributes, can be configured in the Properties panel when the view is selected in the design space.

If you create multiple board detail views in your manufacturing drawing, it is a good idea to give them each a unique Label.

The Properties panel when a placed board detail view is selected
The Properties panel when a placed board detail view is selected

Board Realistic View

A board realistic view is a scalable 3D rendering of the current multi-board assembly.

A placed board realistic view
A placed board realistic view

A board realistic view is placed in a manufacturing drawing document by selecting the Place » Additional Views » Board Realistic View command from the main menus. The view will initially adopt the Multi-board Assembly editor’s current 3D view.

The properties of a placed board realistic view can be configured in the Properties panel when the view is selected in the design space. When the 3D view of the assembly is changed in the Multi-board Assembly editor, click the Take Current View Configuration button in the Properties region to adopt the current 3D view.

The Properties panel when a placed board realistic view is selected
The Properties panel when a placed board realistic view is selected

Drawing Annotation and Dimensioning

A range of additional annotation, dimensioning and drawing tools are provided to add important information to a manufacturing drawing. These include automated note and highlighting systems, as well as tools to indicate the lengths, sizes, and angles of the object outlines, or the distance between nominated objects. BOM and generic tables are also available.

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