Altium Designer

About this release

Altium's central idea is that a board is one design, not a schematic plus a layout plus a set of output files that somebody has to keep in agreement. Everything lives in one project with one component model, so a part changed on the schematic is changed on the board, in the bill of material and in the fabrication output, and the class of error where the built board matches an older revision of the drawing simply does not arise.

The layout side is where the hours go and where the tooling shows. Interactive routing pushes and shoves existing tracks out of the way rather than refusing to place a new one, differential pairs route as pairs with the gap held automatically, length tuning adds serpentine sections to match timing across a bus, and the design rule system checks continuously as you work instead of producing a report of everything you did wrong at the end.

It carries the whole design in three dimensions. The board and its components exist as solids, so mechanical clearance, connector positions, board outline and enclosure fit are checked in the same environment, and mechanical models exchange with the mechanical package the enclosure is being designed in. Finding that a capacitor fouls a heatsink before fabrication rather than after is worth a great deal.

Output is complete and automated. Fabrication and assembly files, drill data, pick and place, bills of material, assembly drawings and documentation generate from an output job configuration, so releasing a revision produces a consistent package every time rather than a folder somebody assembled by hand. Simulation, signal integrity analysis and supplier component data are integrated rather than bolted on.

What it does

One unified project

Schematic, layout, bill of material and outputs share one component model and cannot drift apart.

Interactive routing

Push and shove routing, differential pairs and length tuning as first class tools rather than afterthoughts.

Continuous rule checking

Design rules are enforced while you work rather than reported once at the end.

Three dimensional board view

Mechanical clearance and enclosure fit checked in the same environment, with model exchange to mechanical packages.

Automated output jobs

Fabrication, assembly, drill, pick and place and documentation generated as one consistent release package.

Integrated analysis

Simulation and signal integrity available inside the project rather than as a separate round trip.

Changed in this version

• Faster rendering on very dense multilayer boards.
• Improved push and shove behaviour around tightly packed connectors.
• Output job configuration reworked with clearer per target settings.
• Expanded supplier component data coverage.
• Better handling of large mechanical models imported from enclosure design.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a short path without spaces.
2. Run the installer and select which design capabilities to include.
3. Let the component libraries finish deploying before first launch.
4. Set up an output job configuration for your fabricator before releasing a revision.

Worth knowing before you start

File details