Use the Swap Layer command to flip layer based items to the other side of the PCB board. Components that are swapped also have their image mirrored.
Use this command when adding PCB tracks as an alternative to using a mouse click with the Ctrl key down to swap the track to the other side.
A set of commands are also available to change the layer of the item directly to an electrical layer. See Change Layer for details.
Shortcuts
Default Keys: None
Default Menu: Utilities
Command: Swap Layer
Locating this option
Available from: Utilities menu > Swap Layer option
How to swap an item’s layer
Select the Swap Layer option from the Utilities menu. Any selected items will be swapped to the other side of the board.
Swap Layer can be run in a Latched Mode. This means the operation is invoked when there is nothing selected in the design. The Swap Layer tool will be “latched down” allowing you to swap items as you pick them. This will continue until the Escape key is pressed or another operation is started.
Items will be swapped to the corresponding layer on the other side of the board. If electrical items are on inner layers, they will be swapped to the top electrical layer.
Swapping Components
The Swap Layer command, when applied to components, flips the component to the other side of the board and mirrors it’s image. The PCB design is viewed from the top, so any components that are on the bottom side need to be mirrored to view correctly.
If the component has surface mount pads then after the swap they are on the other side of the board, so any tracks attached are adjusted. The track segment attached to the pad is swapped to the same side as the pad and a via is inserted at the end of the segment to reach the rest of the track’s segments.
Shapes, text and attributes on the component change layer to the layer of the same layer class on the other side of the board. If there is no swap layer, these items will stay on their original layer.
Swapping Track Segments
Whilst in latched mode, use Shift + Left Click to swap the layer of whole tracks. Clicking on individual track segments will swap those segments only. Track segments that have their layer swapped will have vias added or removed from their start and end positions to ensure there are no extra unnecessary vias and that there are no breaks in the track’s signal flow. If the design’s Layer Span data includes buried or blind vias then a via with the best fit layer span will be used when a track segment changes layer.