pcb-rnd knowledge pool

 

Editing polygons in pcb-rnd

poly_edit by Erich Heinzle on 2018-01-17

Tags: howto, polygon, edit, hole, vertex, direction, break, menufile

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Abstract: Show how the polygons can be drawn, modified, have holes added, and how various settings affect their edges.

  How to create and modify polygons in pcb-rnd.

pcb-rnd treats polygons as a simple geometric feature. Unlike some other EDA tools, polygons have no associated net, and do not act as zones which determine the behaviour of thermals, pins and vias within it. These are just honest to goodness polygons which can be added to silk or copper or anyu other layers to effect the designer's desired artistic, electrical or RF goals.

In this howto, we will begin by showing how to draw a polygon. We begin by selecting the polygon tool in the menu:

Having done this, we now click on the layout at each point a vertex is needed.

The polygon can be completed by double clicking on the first vertex.

If the final edge of the polygon needs to be at an angle other than a multiple of ninety degrees the "all-direction" line setting can be selected in the menu:

Having drawn a polygon, we click on the "select" item in the menu. Hitting escape is another way to go back to the selection mode.

Having gone into select mode, we can now align the select tool on a polygon vertex. Here is another polygon where we demonstrate this:

If we now hit delete on the keyboard, the vertex will be removed from the polygon:

If we click and drag on a vertex, we can stretch it to where we want it:

And we end up with a modified polygon

We can now use the hole tool to add an opening to the polygon. We select the hole tool:

and we now proceed to draw the polygonal opening in the existing polygon:

and we complete the opening by double clicking on the original vertex. The process for drawing a hole is essentially the same process as that used for drawing the original polygon.

We finish by showing how to add another vertex to a polygon. We zoom in by pressing the 'z' key twice or by using the scroll wheel on the mouse. This will make easier to hit polygon edges. We then select the "insert point" tool.

With this tool, we double click along the edge of the polygon to create a new vertex. It should be noted that the all-direction-lines setting should be selected for this tool to work properly.

Returning to the select tool, we can now use it to click and drag the newly created vertex.