Working with Multi-board Schematic Graphical Tools in Altium Designer
The Multi-board Schematic editor provides a range of graphical element tools that can be used to place basic, free-form drawing elements in a multi-board schematic sheet. The type of graphical tool to be placed can be selected from the Place main menu.
Arc
An arc (Place » Arc (By Center) or Place » Arc (3 Points)) is a graphic object that can be placed on a multi-board schematic document and set to the desired arc angle, radius and line style. An arc can be placed using a center or three-point method.
A placed arc
When a placed arc is selected, editing handles/nodes are available at its center, perimeter and start/end points.
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Click and drag the arc's center node to reposition it on the drawing document.
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Click and drag a start or end point node to alter the arc angle.
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Click and drag the perimeter node to change the radius of the arc.
Advanced manipulation of an arc is available by pressing the Ctrl key while moving an editing node:
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Click and drag a start or end point node to alter its location while retaining the arc angle.
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Click and drag the perimeter node to alter the size of the arc while retaining its start and end points.
The visual style of a placed arc is configurable in the Properties panel when the arc is selected in the design space (
).
Region
A region is a closed shape object that can be placed on a multi-board schematic document to indicate a specific area in a drawing. The region object shape can include angle-based curved lines and filled with a specified solid color.
A placed region
The steps to place a region are:
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Select the region placement command (Place » Region). The cursor will change to a crosshair, indicating region placement mode.
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Click to place the first vertex of the region shape.
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Move the cursor then click to place the second vertex of the region shape.
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Continue to place further region vertices to complete the region shape.
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After the final vertex is placed, right-click or press
Escto complete the region shape back to the first-placed vertex. There is no need to manually close the region as the software will automatically complete the shape by connecting the start point to the final point placed.
Straight lines will be drawn between each vertex as they are placed, however, the Shift+Spacebar shortcut can be used to cycle through other line options such as a 90° corner, 45° corner, curved 90° corner, or curved 45° corner. Once an option is selected, use the Spacebar to toggle the direction of the corner.
The size, shape, and location of a placed region can be graphically edited. Select a region by clicking on its fill or outline. Once selected, editing handles/nodes are available at each of the shape's vertices.
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Click, Hold&Dragany part of the region, but not a node, to reposition it on the document. -
Click, Hold&Draga corner vertex node to move it to a new location and alter the region shape. -
Click, Hold&Dragthe center mark of a line to move that line in the perpendicular (maintaining its angle), to a new location. -
Ctrl+Click, Hold&Draga node to delete it from the shape or pressDeletewhile dragging a node to delete it from the shape. -
Ctrl+Click, Hold&Dragon a line, but not its center mark, to add a new node.
The visual style of a placed region is configurable in the Properties panel when the region is selected in the design space (
).
The vertex table available in the Geometry region of the panel provides a tabular list of each vertex (node) in the region shape in their placed order including their (X/Y) locations and associated line arc angles. Each entry may be manually edited to update the rendered region shape.
The Arc Angle entry will define the curve radius of the vertex connection line – from that node to the next. When edited, the resulting curve shape corresponds to the arc segment of an equivalent circle, through the specified angle (
). Enter a negative angle to invert the arc curve.
Using the 
button, you can duplicate the selected vertex entry, which will insert a new vertex (in the same location) into the region shape.
Line
A line (Place » Line) is a graphic object that can be placed on a multi-board schematic document. 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.
A placed line
The visual style of a placed line is configurable in the Properties panel when the line is selected in the design space (
).
Rectangle
A rectangle (Place » Rectangle) is a graphic object that can be placed on a multi-board schematic document and filled with a specified solid color.
A placed rectangle
The visual style of a placed rectangle is configurable in the Properties panel when the rectangle is selected in the design space (
).
Circle
A circle (Place » Circle) is a graphic object that can be placed on a multi-board schematic document and filled with a specified solid color.
A placed circle
The visual style of a placed circle is configurable in the Properties panel when the circle is selected in the design space (
).
Text
A text box (Place » Text) is a text container object that can be placed on a multi-board schematic document.
The text object's text string and visual style are configurable in the Properties panel when the object is selected in the design space (
).
Picture
A picture object (Place » Graphic) is an image container that can be placed on a multi-board schematic document and populated with a standard image file (*.png, *.jpeg, *.jpg, *.jpe, *.jfif, *.gif, *.bmp).
A placed graphic container object with its loaded image
The visual style of a placed picture is configurable in the Properties panel when the picture is selected in the design space (
).