Use this to set up preferences that affect both the display and performance of design data.
Shortcuts
Default Keys: O
Default Menu: Tools
Command: Options
Locating this option
Available from: Tools menu > Options > Display page
Using the Display Tab
All of these options are saved to the registry, so they apply to all the designs you load into the application. Some of the preferences allow you to trade speed of operation against the amount of resources (memory) the program uses.
Fast Redraw
When checked, causes a graphics data model to be generated for each design. This may slow load times slightly, but causes redraw times to be significantly improved. The effect will be more noticeable for large, complex PCB designs therefore different settings can be used for Schematics and PCB. Using this option causes slightly more memory to be consumed.
Draw in Layer Order
This is only relevant to layered designs (e.g. PCB), and as a consequence of using Fast Redraw. It specifies that ALL layer based items are to be draw in layer order, so for example, tracks and copper on the top layer will appear on top of tracks and copper on an inner layer, which in turn will appear on top of tracks and copper on the bottom layer. The down side is a slight increase in the amount of memory consumed and to the redraw time. (Also see Reversed View).
Draw Current Layer On Top
This is only relevant to layered designs (e.g. PCB), and as a consequence of using Fast Redraw, making it feasible to draw items on the ‘current’ layer on top of the other graphics, for the duration of a particular command, for example when inserting a track. There is no further impact on resources, but drawing the current layer adds to the redraw time.
Dim Other Layers
This is only relevant to layered designs (e.g. PCB), and as a consequence of using Draw Current Layer On Top, which enables the layers other than the current layer to be drawn in dimmed colours. This makes it much easier to see obstacles on the current layer, but at the same time, not losing sight of items on other layers.
All Dim in One Colour
Check this box to dim (lowlight) while editing using a uniform colour for all items. Thus a black background will show all dimmed items as dark grey, a white background shows very light grey, etc.
Declutter
This preference works by varying the amount of detail, for certain design items, shown at different zoom levels. When items become too insignificant to be meaningful at lower zoom levels, they will not be drawn. The degree of declutter (point at which items are no longer drawn) can be varied by using the slider. Decluttering insignificant items will reduce the screen redraw time. This option is relevant in the PCB design editor only and has no impact on Schematic designs.
By default, the slider is set to the Low setting indicating no declutter will occur. Using the Reset button will return the slider back to this default position.
The slider setting will be to your own preference; you can control how you want it to behave. A mid range setting just to the right of centre works well for large designs for example.
This feature does not affect the design contents at all. All data will still be in the design regardless of whether it is displayed or not and when you are zoomed in to a particular area of the board all data is shown. This feature is purely to control what you see on the screen at lower zoom levels and is particularly suited to larger designs.
PCB Drawing
Draw Drill Holes
This preference is only relevant to designs which can contain drill holes (e.g. PCB). It only affects drawing to the screen and not post processing. Redrawing speeds may be slightly enhanced by turning off drill holes (Never). The default is to draw drill holes when a displayed layer has a class with drill holes shown (By Layer Class). You can also choose to always draw drill holes when a pad is drawn (Always).
Merge Colours
When checked, causes overlapping areas of different colours, to merge to produce a third ‘mixed’ colour. Colour merging only occurs if the background colour is black.
Note: Merge Colours is automatically de-activated when Hardware Acceleration level two is selected (equivalent of the old Enhanced Graphics option being enabled).
Step Orthogonal PCB Connections
This preference is only relevant to PCB designs. Use this to display orthogonal connections stepped away from the direct pad to pad line. This can make it easier to see connections between aligned components. These connections will always revert back to point to point lines whilst the connection is dynamic (being moved).
Only Draw Connections Ending In View
This preference is only relevant to PCB designs. Use this to declutter the display by only drawing connections which end within the current view.
Highlight Tracks Using Stripe
This switch specifies how items are highlighted, for example when using Mark Net. If set, the highlight colour is drawn down the centre of the item, with the rest of the item left in it’s ‘natural’ colour. This can be useful, for example, if you wish to see tracks highlighted in a PCB design but still be able to see their different layer colours. If this switch is unchecked, the whole item is drawn in the highlight colour.
Simulated TrueType Fonts (True Scale)
This switch specifies how TrueType text is to be drawn. The default system drawing of fonts is often not very accurate and can result in text strings which are drawn much wider at some scales. Checking this option ensures that the TrueType text is drawn and plotted at a consistent width. This may result in loss of detail particularly on intricate fonts. You can use different options for Schematics and PCB because you may want better detailed fonts for Schematics, but more accurately scaled fonts for PCB where the relative positioning of items is more important. If you output to Gerber or Pen Plot, then the simulated TrueType will be used to produce the shapes required to plot the text.
Note: This option is not applicable when using Hardware Acceleration levels 3 to 5 as these already include accurate scaling of TrueType fonts.
Draw Pads in Top Most Visible Layer Colour
This switch causes pads to be drawn in the top most visible colour, instead of the Side or Through Board colour. So a through hole pad might be drawn in the top electrical layer colour if this were the top most visible layer.
Show Blind/Buried Via Layers
This switch causes the ‘outer’ most track colours within a blind and buried via stack to be drawn in the via to show the layers that they connect to for easier identification. This also includes Micro-vias and Composite vias.
Translucent Copper
When checked, this option causes all copper in a PCB design to appear translucent on screen allowing items underneath to be visible through the copper. The slider allows the translucency level to be varied according to your particular preference. The Reset button resets the translucency to the default level.
Draw Hollow Segments when ‘True Width’ off
Use these check boxes to allow you to draw copper, track and other shape segments that are not set as “True Width” in the Colours dialog as hollow outlines instead of single centre lines.
Note that there is also a Toggle All Hollow command which can be assigned to a keyboard shortcut key and will toggle all hollow segment options on or off simultaneously.
As well as individual ‘hollow’ commands for each hollow item, a command is also available to enable you to toggle all hollow items on or off in one button press. This command can be assigned to a shortcut key.
Patterned Tracks
Use this option to affect how tracks are displayed on screen. When checked, all tracks will still be drawn in their appropriate colour but instead of being a solid colour, will use a semi transparent patterned format, similar in appearance to a hatched style that can be used for copper shapes. Other design items beneath the track will be visible through the pattern.
The Cross Pattern option can be used to change the track pattern from hatched to a cross-hatched.
Hardware Acceleration
The Hardware Acceleration setting replaces the Enhanced Graphics option. It allows you to set the level of hardware acceleration used when rendering graphics in a design window and balances the competing needs of initial graphics setup time, pan and zoom performance and amount of memory used. The effect of this setting may vary depending on the type of video adapter being used.
The slider provides five possible settings:
- The left most position one, indicates minimal hardware acceleration.
- Position two (moving left to right on the slider), provides improved drawing quality but not performance improvement.
- Positions three to five indicate varying degrees of drawing optimisation utilising the GPU on your system. The further right the slider position, the more improved the pan and zoom performance will be, but at the cost of a potentially greater initial graphics setup time and increased memory usage.
Using the furthest right High setting does not necessarily make everything faster. Pan and zoom will be the fastest it can be, but at the cost of longer graphics setup times. For large designs with many layers, this can affect not only design load times but also the time taken to switch different layer sets on and off. If this is a concern, then the default mid range level three setting provides the best all round performance at the cost of slightly reduced pan and zoom performance.
Note: the highest two settings can mean that lines with minimal width line styles can become faint and even disappear when zoomed right out because of the sub-pixel anti-aliasing used by the GPU. Unfortunately, this is an issue with the Windows operating system and there is no way around the problem at the moment without seriously degrading the level 4 and 5 performance. Although using the special Line Style width of zero defines a line with a nominal width that will always remain visible on screen.
The Use for Dynamic Items option should be enabled to ensure that the hardware acceleration setting is also applied when interactively moving or dragging items with the mouse meaning faster, more precise graphics with less artifacts.
‘View All’ On Opening Designs
When enabled, the View Extents command is performed whenever you open any design file.
Draw Dynamic Text Origin
When enabled, this switch causes a small cross to be drawn at the origin of any moving text. This may help with alignment when placing text.
Draw Grids Underneath Items
Check this box to draw the grids before drawing actual design items. This has the effect of drawing the grids ‘underneath’ everything else. This may help when using horizontal or vertical construction lines where drawing grids as lines has the effect of hiding them.
Calibrate Actual Screen Width
within the design, it can be advantageous to view your design actual size. When using the command, View Actual Size this will use the Actual Screen Width defined on this dialog to accurately display designs. By default, the screen width is calculated from system parameters and this value is shown here in the dialog as a non-editable field. If this value is not correct you can type in the Actual Screen Width using the Units of your choice. It is advised to use small increments based on the suggested system value and try it in the design each time you adjust it.
Clearing the Actual Screen Width: value will return the value to the calculated system value. Note that this is the width of the display area, not the diagonal, as often quoted by manufacturers; and it may include a distance outside the visible screen if your display does not have the correct horizontal adjustment.
Schematic Drawing
Simulated TrueType Fonts (True Scale)
This switch specifies how TrueType text is to be drawn. The default system drawing of fonts is often not very accurate and can result in text strings which are drawn much wider at some scales. Checking this option ensures that the TrueType text is drawn and plotted at a consistent width. This may result in loss of detail particularly on intricate fonts.
Note: This option is not applicable when using Hardware Acceleration levels 3 to 5 as these already include accurate scaling of TrueType fonts.
Only open the last active page
On initial opening of a schematic, only show the last active page. This can save a lot of time when opening large multi-page designs.
Preview - Drawing Scale
A drawing scale appears on most preview windows. You can specify the text font and height to be used. The height is given in the current design units, but you can specify a different unit when typing in. You can turn off the scale by setting the text height to 0. You can choose to show scale using the length units defined in the symbol, or using the current design units.
Mark Net
If the Show Invisible Net Items option is checked then design items on the marked net, that would otherwise not be visible, are displayed highlighted in the Mark Net colour.
Marked tracks on non visible layers are shown using a patterned format so they are distinguishable from tracks on visible layers.
Other Options Tabs
| General Options: | Design Backups | Edit Shape | File Extensions | Find | Folders | General | In-Place Names | Macros | Move | Multi-Screen | Pan & Zoom Resolve Net Names | Select | Synchronisation | Tooltips | Warnings |
| PCB Options: | Edit Track | Interaction | Online DRC | Track Length Limits |
| Schematics Options: | Edit Connection | Interaction | Online ERC |
| Footprint Options: | Edit Breakout |
Related Topics
Edit Mode| Insert Track | Layer Class | Reverse View | Reverse Layer Order | View Actual Size