PlacePolygon

Created: June 08, 2017 | Updated: October 19, 2017 | 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 Polygon

Applied Parameters: None

Summary

This command is used to place a polygon object onto the active document. 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.

For detailed information about this object type, see Polygon.

Access

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.
- Locate and use the Polygon 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 » Polygon from the context menu.
Schematic Library Editor - the following commands are available:
- Choose Place » Polygon from the main menus.
- Locate and use the Polygon 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 » Polygon from the context menu.

Use

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.

At any time during placement, press the Tab key to access the Properties panel, from where properties for the polygon 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.

Tips

For information on how a placed polygon 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.