pcb-rnd knowledge pool

Abstract: n/a

Easy: just delete it.

Refdes text is not a special object anymore. No object in pcb-rnd has 'hide' mechanism: you can not hide lines, arcs, polygons - or text objects. Refdes is just a text object, nothing else.

Deleting a text object will not affect the actual refdes of the subcircuit, which is set as a subcircuit attribute.

Display: the subcircuit virtual layer does print a subcircuit ID, that normally contains the refdes ID. Thus the refdes is normally visible on the screen without having to have a text object for it. So you do not need to reproduce the refdes text on the silk layer or on any other layer just to see it on screen. (You can change what's displayed, using the menu: view/Displayed subcircuit ID; with action Display(SubcID,...) you can get any subc attribute displayed.)

Please note: since refdes is just a text object, it can be on any layer. You can delete the refdes text, create it again, create it in multiple instances. It's really just a text object that executes a template, so it can print not only the refdes but any attribute of the subcircuit.