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Altium CircuitStudio
Altium CircuitStudio Forum How do you Add/Remove design layers
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How do you Add/Remove design layers

jstrautman
jstrautman over 7 years ago

My problem is, I imported a PADS design and it shows a lot of mechanical layers that were probably present in the original design.  The problem is, I don't really want those layer names and I really want to add a layer named "Outline" so I can add my PCB outline tracks.  I see the dialog box where I can view and change layer colors, but I don't see anywhere on there where you can add a new layer (that you define the name for) or remove layers.  This seems like a very simple function and I hope I'm just missing it.  Does anybody know how to accomplish this?  I have already disabled the checkbox in the mechanical layers window to show all layers even ones that are disabled and none of the normal Altium layers are there.

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  • e14softwareuk
    e14softwareuk over 7 years ago in reply to jstrautman +1 suggested
    The mechanical layers can be renamed by bringing up the "View Configurations" dialog (e.g. right click layer tab > Layer Colours...). Click once on the layer name to highlight it, press F2 to enter edit…
  • e14softwareuk
    0 e14softwareuk over 7 years ago

    Have you tried the Layer Stack Manager under the Home tab on the PCB editor? This gives you the ability to add, delete and rename layers although I haven't tested this on an imported design.

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  • jstrautman
    0 jstrautman over 7 years ago in reply to e14softwareuk

    I don't think the layer Stack Manager will solve this problem because I believe the layer Stack Manager is just for editing the physical layers.  What I am talking about are the design layers, such as "Top Layer", "Assembly Text Top", "Outline", "3D Top", etc.

     

    The design layers are used to create the physical layers depending on how you set up the build properties.

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  • e14softwareuk
    0 e14softwareuk over 7 years ago in reply to jstrautman

    The mechanical layers can be renamed by bringing up the "View Configurations" dialog (e.g. right click layer tab > Layer Colours...). Click once on the layer name to highlight it, press F2 to enter edit mode which allows the layer to be renamed. An alternative to F2 is to click again on the name text but make sure this is a second click rather than double click action.

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  • jstrautman
    0 jstrautman over 7 years ago in reply to e14softwareuk

    I had also seen that I can rename layers like you say, but this dialog doesn't seem to allow for adding/deleting layers.  It seems you should also be able to add/delete layers, but I haven't figured out how.  Any help/suggestions on that?

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  • e14softwareuk
    0 e14softwareuk over 7 years ago in reply to jstrautman

    I don't believe it is possible to add or remove mechanical layers. One option would be to disable the unwanted layers using the Enable box. If you deselect "Only show enabled mechanical layers" it should show the unused spare mechanical layers, one on which you can enable and rename to "Outline".

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  • tarribred61
    0 tarribred61 over 7 years ago

    I think Peter Barnard was close.  In addition, try using the view configurations function. Left click on the color box for the layer selections to open View Configurations.

     

    image

    In the mechanical layers section, untick the Enable box.

    image

     

    If there are primitives from components on that layer then it shouldn't delete.  However, if it is something like a mechanical layer only (like say, imported DXF) then it should ask if you want to delete.

    image

    You can test this by enabling an unused mechanical layer, drawing something there and then attempting to un-enable it.

     

    Hope this helps.

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  • tarribred61
    0 tarribred61 over 7 years ago in reply to tarribred61

    Added: alternative ways to open the View Configurations window are:

    1) right-click on the PCB design space, click Options, then click mechanical layers or Board Layers and Colors.

    2) right-click on the layer tab then left click on Layer Colors.

    3) easiest is to single left click on the color box near the LS text. In AD the LS box would bring up your saved layer views but that doesn't work in CS.

     

    Layer Colors in #2 above and Layer Colors in #1 (Options) are not the same and it is part of the learning curve of finding your way around AD and CircuitStudio.

     

    The OP asked about how to add a layer; until the Only show enable mechanical layers box and then tick the Enable and Show boxes on an unused layer.

     

    To rename a mechanical layer, highlight the layer name with a left click. Then left click again.  You can left click a third time to get the editor cursor for single character changes.

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