Altium Designer drawing specification: Layer usage

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Altium Designer drawing specification: Layer usage [Copy link]

Author: Cai Lian Modification time: 2020-04-28 PS: Refer to the posts on the Internet and Jialichuang’s standards.

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The meaning of common layers in Altiium Designer drawings

• Signal Layer: Mainly used to place components and traces. It includes:

  • Top Layer: The top layer, usually used as the component layer. When designing a single-sided board, the component layer cannot be wired. The component layer in a double-sided board can be wired.

  • Bottom Layer: Soldering layer. In a single-sided board, the soldering layer is the only working layer where wiring can be done.

  • Mid Layer: The middle signal layer is used for switching routing in multi-layer boards and cannot be used to place components.

  • Internal Planes: Only one network is used, which is a complete piece of copper foil. Usually VCC and GND.

• Silkscreen Layers: Place component numbers and outlines, description text, etc. It includes:

  • Top Overlay: Top silk screen layer.

  • Bottom Overlay: Bottom silk screen layer.

• Masks Layer: Mainly used to process the characteristics of the circuit board surface. It includes:

  • Top Paste: The top solder paste layer. Corresponding to the solder pad of the SMD component, it is used to open the steel mesh to leak tin.

  • Bottom Paste: The top solder paste layer. Corresponding to the solder pad of the SMD component, it is used to open the steel mesh to leak tin.

  • Top Solder: The top solder mask layer. The area with Solder will not be covered with oil, but with tin spraying.

  • Bottom Solder: The bottom solder mask layer. The area with solder will not be covered with oil, but sprayed with tin.

• Other working layers.

  • Keep-Out Layer: A layer where wiring is prohibited. The electrical routing range.

  • Multi-Layer: Multi-layer, which means all signal layers. Components placed on it will be automatically placed on all signal layers. In design work, pads or through-vias can be quickly placed on all signal layers through this layer.

  • Drill Guide: Drill location layer, mainly used to draw drilling maps.

  • Drill Drawing: Drilling layer, used to specify the drilling location.

• Mechanical Layer: The mechanical layer is a physical layer without electrical properties. It includes:

  • Mech1: Mechanical layer. Draw the border, internal hollowing, special-shaped boring holes, process edges, V-cut lines and other external elements of the circuit board.

  • Mech7: various descriptions, instructions, annotations, auxiliary lines, etc.

  • Mech13: AD is used by default to describe the physical appearance of the device and is also used to draw three-dimensional entities.

  • Mech15: AD is used by default to outline the device footprint.

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Notice

• Keep-Out Layer is in the electrical sense, not in the physical sense. The board's borders, holes, slots and other external elements should be drawn on the Mech1 layer. Although the Keep-Out Layer is the board's external layer by default when there is no Mech1, there is still a possibility of error.

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yichun417

Learned

ray372liu

Thanks for sharing.

tt98

Thanks, for the reference!

dfrt5

Very good knowledge, thank you very much for sharing, thank you for your hard work.