Contact Us
Contact our corporate or local offices directly.
Installation of any software application should be straightforward, intuitive and, perhaps above all, fast. Furthermore, when you have that software installed, you want to be able to update it as and when you deem necessary, and in a streamlined fashion.
Altium Designer provides a fast, efficient Installation Management System that caters for this very need - a system that not only expedites the initial installation process, but lets you handcraft the features available to that soft
ware at any time after installation.Main article: Installing Altium Designer
Initial installation of Altium Designer is performed using the Altium Designer Installer. This wizard-based installer is accessed by running a small (approx. 24.0MB) executable - AltiumDesignerSetup<Version>.exe
. This executable is downloaded from the Downloads page of the Altium website, and can be saved anywhere on your hard disk.
There are two key elements to installation, definable across the various pages of the installation wizard, allowing you to control what gets installed, and where:
PCB Design
option provides the base software and core technologies required to perform PCB design. It is always installed and cannot be deselected. Use the remaining options to tailor the install to suit your needs. This will also have an impact on the initial installation time too!The installation itself is streamlined and expedient. This allows you to get installed, and up-and-running in the quickest time possible. Once installed, you can further refine your installation, in terms of available features and functionality.
Main article: Altium Designer Licensing System
Altium Designer includes a streamlined licensing system, enabling you to get licensed and up-and-running with your Altium Designer Software in a timely and efficient manner. The system offers various licensing types to meet, and suit, your licensing needs :
*.alf
).Main article: Extending Altium Designer
Facilitating the ability to enhance your Altium Designer instance, customization of the software is made possible through the concept of Extensions. This is a key concept of the system to understand. An extension is effectively an add-on to the software, providing extended features and functionality. A core set of features and functions are installed and handled transparently as part of the initial install, referred to as System Resources. In addition, Optional Extensions are available - packets of functionality that are optionally installed or removed by the user as required. It is the extension concept that enables the installation to be handcrafted in accordance with design needs.
Customization of an Altium Designer installation essentially boils down to management of the available extensions. Install, update, or remove available extensions as and when you need to. Many extensions are available from Altium for use with Altium Designer. In addition, and with the Altium Developer extension, you can extend the functionality of Altium Designer yourself through use of the Altium Designer SDK (Software Development Kit) - creating your own extensions for the software.
And inherent to the Altium Developer extension is the dedicated Developer Interface - the user interface for manging custom extensions. Part of this interface is a publishing feature that enables you to share those extensions securely with a wider audience through release to a global repository of extensions (a Global Extensions Gallery, if you will). This is a cloud-based Altium Repository and opens up the possibility for third party developers to offer and trade extensions for Altium Designer, through secure distribution, licensing, and installation of the extensions they craft.
Within Altium Designer, management of extensions for the software is performed from within the dedicated Extensions & Updates view, accessed by clicking on the control at the top-right of the workspace and choosing the Extensions and Updates command from the menu.
We all can appreciate using examples to get us up and running with specific aspects of the software. At times, such examples showcase a feature or set of features that makes the learning curve a little less steep. In a similar fashion, we like to have access to a pre-developed set of libraries, giving us a boost in the choice of components we can use 'out-of-the-box'.
A selection of example designs are installed as part of the initial installation. In a standard default installation of the software, these can be found in the \Users\Public\Documents\Altium\AD19\Examples
folder of the installation. Further reference designs, design components, and board templates are available through various sections in the Design Content area of the Altium website:
Once the base version of Altium Designer is installed on a computer (e.g., 19.0.x), you can either update to a subsequent version (e.g., 19.0.x +1), or that subsequent version can be installed as a fresh and distinct instance. The installation system supports the concurrent installation of different instances of the software. The beauty of installing different version instances is that it enables you to quickly access a previous version directly, and independently, whereas an update effectively replaces the earlier version with the later one.
When running the installer for a subsequent version of Altium Designer, an additional page of the Altium Designer Installer wizard will be available - Installation Mode. This page gives you the choice of either updating an existing version instance of Altium Designer or installing as a separate new version instance. Choose the New installation option to maintain separate version instances of the software on the same computer. Remember to specify different destination folders for the new instance later in the wizard.
There are two important factors that facilitate the installation of multiple individual version instances of the software:
The following is a summary of the default installation folders for Altium Designer 19.x (Windows 7 and above):
\Program Files\Altium\AD19
\Users\Public\Documents\Altium\AD19
\ProgramData\Altium\Altium Designer <GUID>
\ProgramData\Altium\Altium Designer <GUID>_Security
For two example instances, the paths might therefore be (inserting example GUIDs):
\ProgramData\Altium\Altium Designer {7DF7280E-CD03-40A9-A6A4-DDD057140F70}
\ProgramData\Altium\
Altium Designer
{7DF7280E-CD03-40A9-A6A4-DDD057140F70}_Security
\ProgramData\Altium\
Altium Designer
{566C1AFA-49CA-4B17-B7CB-70A2042D8DAC}
\ProgramData\Altium\
Altium Designer
{566C1AFA-49CA-4B17-B7CB-70A2042D8DAC}_Security
DXP.rcs
, UserTools.tlt
, AdvPCB.dft
, AdvSch.dft
, last workspace) for a particular instance can be found in the following directory:\Users\<ProfileName>\AppData\Roaming\Altium\Altium Designer <GUID>
For two example instances, and a user profile of Des.Igner
, the paths would therefore be:
\Users\Des.Igner\AppData\Roaming\Altium\Altium Designer {7DF7280E-CD03-40A9-A6A4-DDD057140F70}
\Users\Des.Igner\AppData\Roaming\Altium\Altium Designer {566C1AFA-49CA-4B17-B7CB-70A2042D8DAC}
\Users\<ProfileName>\AppData\Local\Altium\Altium Designer <GUID>
For two example instances, and a user profile of Des.Igner
, the paths would therefore be:
\Users\Des.Igner\AppData\Local\Altium\Altium Designer {7DF7280E-CD03-40A9-A6A4-DDD057140F70}
\Users\Des.Igner\AppData\Local\Altium\Altium Designer {566C1AFA-49CA-4B17-B7CB-70A2042D8DAC}
For the main program installation and shared documents folders, you have the ability to give those folders meaningful names, which can come in very handy for a machine containing multiple different version instances of the software. But for other folders, they are only distinguished by their GUID. Being able to tell you have the right folder for the right version instance suddenly becomes more difficult. However, help is at hand. By using the Preferences dialog, you can quickly identify the GUID used for the currently open instance of the software and, armed with that knowledge,you can pick the right folder through Windows Explorer.
The GUID can be identified on the follow pages of the Preferences dialog (in a standard default installation of Altium Designer):
During initial installation of Altium Designer, you have a choice over the core design functionality you want to be installed. This choice is not 'set in stone', however, and can be modified at any time after installation. This can be performed from two places:
Altium Designer
and use the Change command from the context menu.Updating to a later version can be performed from two places:
Updating your current instance of Altium Designer to a later version is performed during installation of that later version.
AltiumDesignerSetup<Version>.exe
file associated with the latest version of the software.Uninstalling Altium Designer is performed using the Altium Designer Uninstaller. This wizard-based uninstaller is accessed from the standard Programs and Features page (accessed from the Control panel in Windows 7 and above). Right-click on the entry for Altium Designer
and use the Uninstall command from the context menu.
Three actions are provided, facilitating varying degrees of 'uninstall' as follows:
Choose the uninstall action required. If you want to cancel out of the uninstall, click Cancel. To go ahead and proceed with the uninstall, click Next. The page will change to Uninstalling Altium Designer and the chosen action will be processed. Once the uninstall is complete, click Finish on the Uninstallation Complete page of the Uninstaller.
Contact our corporate or local offices directly.
If would like to speak with a representative, please contact your local Altium office.
Copyright © 2019 Altium Limited
If would like to speak with a representative, please contact your local Altium office.
Copyright © 2019 Altium Limited
Got it. You actually don’t need an evaluation license for that.
Click the button below to download the latest Altium Designer installer.
If would like to speak with a representative, please contact your local Altium office.
Copyright © 2019 Altium Limited
Please fill out the form below to get a quote for a new seat of Altium Designer.
By clicking “Get Your Free Trial”, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
You may receive communications from Altium and can change your notification preferences at any time.
If you are on Altium Subscription, you don’t need an evaluation license.
If you are not an active Altium Subscription member, please fill out the form below to get your free trial.
By clicking “Get Your Free Trial”, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
You may receive communications from Altium and can change your notification preferences at any time.
If would like to speak with a representative, please contact your local Altium office.
Copyright © 2019 Altium Limited
You came to the right place! Please fill out the form below to get your free trial started.
By clicking “Get Your Free Trial”, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
You may receive communications from Altium and can change your notification preferences at any time.
Great News!
Valid students can get their very own 6-month Altium Designer Student License for FREE! Just fill out the form below to request your Student License today.
By clicking “Get Your Free Trial”, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
You may receive communications from Altium and can change your notification preferences at any time.
Got it. You can download a free Altium Designer Viewer license which is valid for a 6 months.
Please fill out the form below to request one.
By clicking “Get Your Free Trial”, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
You may receive communications from Altium and can change your notification preferences at any time.
That’s great! Making things is awesome. We have the perfect program for you.
Upverter is a free community-driven platform designed specifically to meet the needs of makers like you.
Click here to give it a try!
If would like to speak with a representative, please contact your local Altium office.
Copyright © 2019 Altium Limited
Got it. You can download a free Altium Designer Viewer license which is valid for a 6 months.
Please fill out the form below to request one.
By clicking “Get Your Free Trial”, you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
You may receive communications from Altium and can change your notification preferences at any time.