Documentation

Colours Overview (PCB)

4 min read

The colours dialog defines the colours used on each category of item within the design.

Shortcuts

Default Keys: C

Default Menu: Setup

Command: Colours

Locating this option

Available from: Setup menu > Colours

The Colours Dialog

The colours dialog has a number of tabs which are used to define the colour, visibility and selectability of the design item types. Each tab contains a table which normally has three cells for each type of item.

  • Displayed defines if that type of item should be displayed.

  • Selectable defines if that type of item can be picked (in PCB the item is also drawn in a dimmed colour). This is very useful when you are performing edits in a dense area of the design, or if you do not want to be able to edit certain types of item.

  • True Width defines if that type of item is drawn filled and in its defined width. It not then only the edge or centre line is drawn. This can be useful for decluttering the display, whilst still being able to view and edit the item.

    You can use the Hollow Segments options in Display Options to change non true width segments to be drawn as hollow segments instead of centre line.

    There are three true width commands that can be assigned to shortcut keys to change true width drawing whilst editing the board. These are Toggle True Width Pads, Toggle True Width Shapes and Toggle True Width Tracks.

  • Colour defines the colour the item will be drawn in (specific items may be drawn in other colours due to highlighting, etc). Clicking on the colour cell brings up the colour palette, where you can select a predefined colour, or define a custom colour by selecting Other…

You can change all the cells in a given row or column to the same value, by selecting one of the cells, pressing the right-hand mouse button, and selecting Apply to entire Row/Column from the context menu which will appear.

It is recommended that you set up your colour preferences in your technology files, so that new designs are created with the correct colour settings.

Colour Dialog Tabs

In PCB designs, technology, profiles and footprints the following tabs are defined:

  • Attributes defines the visibility and colour of all attributes
  • Back Drill defines the visibility and colour of the Back Drill symbol on an item that is Back Drilled
  • Boards & Areas defines the visibility and colour of board outline and areas
  • Component Rules defines a colour rule to apply to matching component Doc Shapes and Text
  • Differential Pairs configure each Differential Pair to be drawn in its own colour
  • Doc Shapes defines the visibility and colour of shapes on non-electrical layers, this includes dimensions and text callouts
  • Elec Shapes defines the visibility and colour of shapes on electrical layers, such as tracks, copper shapes, etc.
  • Highlights defines the visibility and colour of various types of highlights which override the normal colour of an item
  • Layers defines the visibility and colour of all items on each layer
  • Nets configure each net to be drawn in its own colour
  • Others a catch all for non-layer based items, the background, origins, etc.
  • Pads defines the visibility and colour of component and free pads
  • Signal Paths configure each Signal Path to be drawn in its own colour
  • Sub Nets configure each sub net to be drawn in its own colour
  • Text defines the visibility and colour of all text entities including errors (but not attributes)
  • Vias defines the visibility and colour of vias according to their layer span (Not available in footprints)

Items with local colours

Individual documentation shapes and text items can have their own colour, overriding those defined in the colours dialog.

Grids also have their own colours and these are defined in the grids dialog.

Save & Load Colours

You can save your colour settings to a file in the Colours folder for later use. This is a convenient way to store and retrieve commonly used colour and visibility settings.

Please see, Loading a Cut Down Colours File on how to create and load a cut down colours file.

Display Options | Technology Files | Shape Properties | Text Properties | Grids | Save Colours | Load Colours

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