Thermal Connections for Custom PadsĬustom pads are often created for components that have larger, unusually shaped pads. Since Altium Designer is able to detect and resolve routing connections to any copper object, there are no specific limitations on how you route to a custom pad.
ALTIUM 10 CUSTOM PAD SHAPE FULL
The following image shows a printed button that has the solder mask opening defined by a manually placed full circle arc, placed on the Top Solder Mask layer. Keep in mind that the Solder Mask is defined in the negative, that is, the placed objects define openings in the Solder Mask layer. In this case you place suitable design objects on the required Mask layer. When the mask opening requirements are not simply an expansion or contraction of the copper shape, it will not be possible to use a calculated mask. This is achieved enabling the appropriate Mask Expansion setting in the object's dialog, as shown in the image below.
If the pad shape requires a shape defined at specific locations that do not fall onto a grid, it can be more efficient to define linear or point guides, and then place on these guides. Alternating surface mount and through-hole pads were added on alternating ends of each zig-zag to define the connection points.
This was then copied the required number of times to define the copper area of the capacitive slider footprint. The following footprint was created by first setting the grid to suit the zig-zag requirements of the copper, and then placing one region object to give a single zig-zag shape.
ALTIUM 10 CUSTOM PAD SHAPE SERIES
Choose the object to suit the shape required, for example, the copper contact area for the switch shown below has been created from a series of track objects, surrounded by two arc objects.įor complex shapes, the Solid Region object is ideal as a polygonal object it can be used to create virtually any shape. A small pad is included within the shape to define the connection point in the pad, and if required, the drill hole location and size.Īny Altium Designer design object can be used to build up the required copper shapes needed for the pads. Custom pad shapes are created by placing other design objects, such as arcs, fills, lines, or regions, to build up the copper shape required for the pad. To create a different shape from those listed above, you must create a custom pad shape. However, there is a huge variety of pad shapes needed for component footprints, and standard pads are not always enough.
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