PlaceEllipse

Created: June 07, 2017 | Updated: January 29, 2019 | Applies to versions: 18.0, 18.1, 19.0, 19.1, 20.0, 20.1 and 20.2

Parent page: Schematic Commands

The following pre-packaged resource, derived from this base command, is available:

Place Ellipse

Applied Parameters: None

Summary

This command is used to place an Ellipse object onto the active document. An ellipse is a non-electrical drawing primitive that can be placed on a schematic sheet. It can be filled or unfilled.

For detailed information about this object type, see Ellipse.

Access

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

Schematic Editor - the following commands are available:
- Choose Place » Drawing Tools » Ellipse from the main menus.
- Locate and use the Ellipse command () on the Active Bar.
  If the command has been recently used from the Active Bar, it will become the active/visible button. Where other commands are available, this is indicated by a triangle at the bottom-right corner of the button. Click and hold on the active button to access a menu of all associated commands for that grouping.
- Click the button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.
- Right-click and choose Place » Drawing Tools » Ellipse from the context menu.
Schematic Library Editor - the following commands are available:
- Choose Place » Ellipse from the main menus.
- Locate and use the Ellipse command () on the Active Bar.
  If the command has been recently used from the Active Bar, it will become the active/visible button. Where other commands are available, this is indicated by a triangle at the bottom-right corner of the button. Click and hold on the active button to access a menu of all associated commands for that grouping.
- Click the button on the Utility Tools drop-down () of the Utilities toolbar.
- Right-click and choose Place » Ellipse from the context menu.

Use

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

Click or press Enter to anchor the center of the ellipse.
Move the cursor to adjust the horizontal radius of the ellipse, then click or press Enter to set it.
Move the cursor to adjust the vertical radius of the ellipse, then click or press Enter to set it and complete placement.
Continue placing further ellipses or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.

At any time during placement, press the Tab key to access the Properties panel, from where properties for the ellipse can be changed on-the-fly. Pressing Tab pauses placement, allowing you to interact with the panel (or other area of the software) directly. To resume, click the pause symbol that appears over the workspace.

Additional actions that can be performed during placement – while the ellipse is still floating on the cursor, and before the center point of the ellipse is anchored – are:

Press the Alt key to constrain the direction of movement to the horizontal or vertical axis, depending on the initial direction of movement.
Press the Spacebar to rotate the ellipse counterclockwise or Shift+Spacebar for clockwise rotation. Rotation is in increments of 90°.

Tips

For information on how a placed ellipse object can be modified graphically, directly in the workspace, see Graphical Editing.
While attributes can be modified during placement (Tab to bring up the Properties panel), bear in mind that these will become the default settings for further placement unless the Permanent option on the Schematic - Defaults 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.