Working with a Polygon Object on a Schematic Sheet in Altium Designer

Using Altium Documentation

Created: July 27, 2015 | Updated: September 26, 2016

Now reading version 16.1. For the latest, read: Polygon for version 21

Contents

Summary
Availability
Placement
Graphical Editing
Non-Graphical Editing

All Contents

Parent page: Schematic Objects

A placed Polygon.

Summary

A polygon is a non-electrical drawing primitive. It is a multi-sided graphical object that can be placed on a schematic sheet. A polygon must have at least three sides and can be filled or unfilled.

Availability

Polygons are available for placement in both Schematic and Schematic Library Editors:

Schematic Editor - the following commands are available:
- Choose Place » Drawing Tools » Polygon from the main menus.
- Click the button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.
Schematic Library Editor - the following commands are available:
- Choose Place » Polygon from the main menus.
- Click the button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.

Placement

After launching the command, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and you will enter polygon placement mode. Placement is made by performing the following sequence of actions:

Click or press Enter to anchor the starting point for the polygon.
Position the cursor and click or press Enter to anchor a vertex, move the mouse and repeat as often as required to define the shape of the polygon.
After placing the final vertex point, right-click or press Esc to complete placement of the polygon.
Continue placing further polygons, or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.

While attributes can be modified during placement (Tab to bring up associated properties dialog), bear in mind that these will become the default settings for further placement unless the Permanent option on the Schematic – Default Primitives page of the Preferences dialog is enabled. When this option is enabled, changes made will affect only the object being placed and subsequent objects placed during the same placement session.

Graphical Editing

This method of editing allows you to select a placed polygon object directly in the workspace and change its size and/or shape, graphically.

When a polygon object is selected, an editing handle (vertex) will appear at each corner, as shown in the image below.

A selected Polygon.

Click and drag on a vertex to move that vertex.
Click and drag on an edge to move that edge of the polygon.
Right-click on a vertex point and choose the Edit Polygon Vertex n command to access the Vertices tab of the Polygon dialog, with the entry for the nth vertex selected ready for editing.
Click and hold on an edge, then press Insert to add a vertex at that point.
Click and hold on a vertex, then press Delete to remove that vertex.

With the polygon selected, click on an edge to individually select that edge. This polygon 'sub-selection' is distinguished by the associated editing handles for the edge becoming red in color.

Individual edge sub-selection.

The associated vertices for the edge can then be edited directly using the Inspector or List panel, with any changes appearing immediately on the schematic.

To move an entire polygon, click and hold on the un-selected polygon, then move it to the new location.

If attempting to graphically modify an object that has its Locked property enabled, a dialog will appear asking for confirmation to proceed with the edit. If the Protect Locked Objects option is enabled on the Schematic – Graphical Editing page of the Preferences dialog, and the Locked option for that design object is enabled as well, then that object cannot be selected or graphically edited. Double click on the locked object directly and disable the Locked property or disable the Protect Locked Objects option, to graphically edit the object.

Non-Graphical Editing

The following methods of non-graphical editing are available:

Via an Associated Properties Dialog

Dialog page: Polygon

This method of editing uses the Polygon dialog to modify the properties of a polygon object.

The Polygon dialog.

The Polygon dialog can be accessed prior to entering placement mode, from the Schematic – Default Primitives page of the Preferences dialog. This allows the default properties for the polygon object to be changed, which will be applied when placing subsequent polygons.

During placement, the dialog can be accessed by pressing the Tab key.

After placement, the dialog can be accessed in one of the following ways:

Double-clicking on the placed polygon object.
Placing the cursor over the polygon object, right-clicking and choosing Properties from the context menu.
Using the Edit » Change command and clicking once over the placed polygon object.

The Polygon dialog includes a Vertices tab, where you can edit the individual vertices of the currently selected polygon object.

Via an Inspector Panel

Panel pages: SCH Inspector, SCHLIB Inspector, SCH Filter, SCHLIB Filter

An Inspector panel enables the designer to interrogate and edit the properties of one or more design objects in the active document. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering - by using the applicable Filter panel, or the Find Similar Objects dialog - the panel can be used to make changes to multiple objects of the same kind, from one convenient location.

Via a List Panel

Panel pages: SCH List, SCHLIB List, SCH Filter, SCHLIB Filter

A List panel allows the designer to display design objects from one or more documents in tabular format, enabling quick inspection and modification of object attributes. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering - by using the applicable Filter panel, or the Find Similar Objects dialog - it enables the display of just those objects falling under the scope of the active filter – allowing the designer to target and edit multiple design objects with greater accuracy and efficiency.