Alignment Tools

Modified by Annika Krilov on Jul 23, 2015
Contents

Parent page: Commands


Alignment tools are located in the Tools | Arrange group on the Ribbon.

Summary

Use the Alignment tools to ensure that the objects placed on the schematic sheet are neatly arranged.

Details

Alignment tools are available in the Tools | Arrange |  group on the Ribbon. You can also right-click in the PCB editor workspace and select Align from the right-click menu to view the dropdown options.

Apart from the Align to Grid command, the Alignment tools do not consider the current snap grid. Objects are aligned relative to:

  • one of the selected objects for the Left, Right, Top and Bottom commands, or
  • the outer-most of the selected objects for the Distribute commands, or
  • the center of the sum of the selection rectangles for the Center-type commands

Use the Align to Grid command to push all objects onto the required grid first, then run the required Align command.

Use these tools to:

Command Behavior
Align Left Move selected schematic objects to the left, so that the left edge of their selection rectangle shares the same X coordinate.
Align Right Move selected schematic objects to the right, so that the right edge of their selection rectangle shares the same X coordinate.
Align Horizontal Centers Move selected schematic objects horizontally, so that the centers of their selection rectangles are aligned.
Distribute Horizontally Move selected schematic objects horizontally, so that they are distributed equally between the left-most and right-most objects.
Align Top Move selected schematic objects up, so that the top edge of their selection rectangle shares the same Y coordinate.
Align Bottom Move selected schematic objects down, so that the right edge of their selection rectangle shares the same Y coordinate.
Align Vertical Centers Move selected schematic objects vertically, so that the centers of their selection rectangles are aligned.
Distribute Vertically Move selected schematic objects vertically, so that they are distributed equally between the top and bottom objects.
Align to Grid Move all selected objects to the nearest grid point on the current Snap grid (shown on the Status bar).

Press G to cycle through the available snap grids before running the Align to Grid command. Available Grid Presets are configured in the Schematic - Grids page of the Preferences dialog.

PCBWorks components are created with their pins on a 100mil grid, so they will not fall neatly on a Metric snap grid. Unless there is a compelling reason to use a Metric grid and you plan to create your own component symbols, you are advised to use the default Imperial grid.

 

You are reporting an issue with the following selected text and/or image within the active document: