Altium Designer 18: Creating a Cutout Polygon

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In Altysmum Designer's latest version, engineers can expect enhanced features and improvements that streamline their PCB design workflow. One such feature is the ability to create complex shapes using polygonal objects.

This article will focus on creating a cutout polygon in Altium Designer 18 specifically for Rigid-Flex designs. We'll cover each step of this process while highlighting key settings and options available within the software's user interface.

Step 1: Creating a New PCB Project

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To begin, open Altium Designer 18 and select 'File' > 'New...' from the top menu bar. In the subsequent dialog box, choose 'PCB Board (Schematic + Layout)' under the project type drop-down list.

Give your new project an appropriate name and click on the 'Next>' button to proceed with setting up your PCB design parameters.

Step 2: Adding Components

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With a newly created PCB board open in Altium Designer, you're now ready to add components. To do this:

1. Double-click anywhere within the component library panel (located at left-hand side of the workspace) and search for 'Rigid-FFlex SMT Pad' under the 'Schematic Symbols & Footprints'.

2. Once found, drag-and-drop a required number of these pads onto your PCB layout.

Step 3: Modifying Polygon Properties

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With all necessary components added to your design, let's now focus on creating our cutout polygon:

1. Select the desired pad by double-clicking it with left mouse button.

2. Go to 'Edit > Pad properties...' from top menu bar (or press Ctrl + Shift + P on Windows or Command + Option + P on Mac).

3. In the resulting dialog box, navigate down through various tabbed pages until you reach the 'Shape' section.

4. Under this heading, checkmark the radio button next to 'Polygon' and click OK when prompted with a warning message asking if changes will affect all pads in selection.

Step 4: Placing Polygon Vertices

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With our polygon shape selected, we can now place its vertices:

1. Right-click anywhere inside of bounding box around active component (or press Ctrl + Spacebar on Windows/Linux or Command + Spacebar on Mac).

2. In context menu that appears, hover over 'Place' and then click on the desired vertex option from drop-down list.

3. Use mouse to drag-and-drop new vertices at required positions while holding down left button.

Step 5: Routing Polygon Edges

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With all necessary vertices placed for our polygon shape:

1. Right-click inside of bounding box again (or press Ctrl + Spacebar on Windows/Linux or Command + Spaceout on Mac).

2. In context menu, hover over 'Route' and then select the desired routing option from drop-down list.

Step 6: Finalizing Polygon Shape

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With our polygon shape fully routed:

1. Double-click anywhere inside of bounding box to enter edit mode.

2. Use mouse or keyboard shortcuts (e.g., arrow keys + Shift for selection, Enter/Return key to finish editing) as needed to fine-tune the final appearance and dimensions of your cutout polygon.

Congratulations! You have successfully created a complex shape using Altium Designer 18's advanced features in Rigid-Flex PCB design.

Altium designer 18 cutout polygon