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What’s New in Altium Designer

What’s New in Altium Designer

Explore new features, enhancements, and important changes introduced in the latest version of Altium Designer, or see what we’re working on now for upcoming releases.

Altium Designer 25

Import Clearance Rules Automatically into the Clearance Matrix

When importing clearance rules from schematic design directives or migrating projects from the legacy design rules dialog, clearance rules are now placed in the Clearance Matrix within the Constraint Manager, rather than being assigned to the Advanced Rules section.

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Gain More Control Over Your Harness Design Settings

You now have more control over harness design settings. A new preference lets you set the default blank sheet size for wiring diagrams and layout drawings. Length units have been standardized and can be customized at different levels, including preferences, documents, and tables like BOMs and connection lists. You can also filter connection tables to show only ‘no connect’ objects. Additionally, a fix ensures that specified units now apply correctly to all wires, including those not part of a cable.

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Generate and Place QR and Data Matrix Codes on your PCB

You can now generate and place QR and Data Matrix codes directly in your PCB design, making it easier to add scannable data for tracking, identification, and automation.

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Use Qualified Models and Access Detailed Part Information

Categorizes part models as ‘Generic’ or ‘ECAD Ready,’ with detailed model information available in the Manufacturer Part Search panel and related dialogs.

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Make Automated xNets for Serial Component Pin Configurations

Enhanced xNet generation for serial components automates the creation of xNets in the Constraint Manager based on the pin configurations of components, supporting dual-inline, single-inline, and odd-pin configurations.

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Generate an Intentional Shorts List with ODB++ v8.1 Support

Adds support for generating a list of intentional shorts (Net-Ties) in ODB++ v8.1 output, including a new option in the ODB++ Setup dialog.

Enable Collaborative BOM Management with BOM CoDesign

Through the Altium 365 Workspace, designers and procurement specialists can collaborate on related BOM snapshots, allowing for detailed comparisons between managed BOMs and the design’s ActiveBOM.

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Experience Clearer Terminology in the Auto Tuning Dialog

The Auto Tuning Process dialog has updated terminology, including “Tuning Goal” replacing “Pattern” and revised names for “Accordion” and “Sawtooth” to reflect their specific matching purposes.

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Export and Import Your Constraints with Unified Commands

The export and import processes for constraints and constraint sets have been streamlined into single commands.

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Place Die Pads by Height with Wire Bonding Support

Die pads are now bound, by height, to the 3D body they are placed on instead of the highest 3D body in the die pad location.

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Use External Components in Your Multi-board Designs

Multi-board design now has support for placing external peripherals/components that are not part of the regular child PCB board assemblies.

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Override the Calculated Wire Length in Your Layout Drawing

Harness Layout Wire Length Override allows you to manually adjust the wire length on a Layout Drawing within a harness design.

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Design in Custom Components with Donut Pad Support

You can now create true round donut pad shapes in the properties panel.

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Altium Designer 24

Automatically Narrow Traces in Tight Spaces with Auto-shrinking

 

The Auto-shrinking feature in the interactive router reduces the width of a trace to ensure it can be routed in tight spaces.

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Simplify Chip-on-Board Design with Wire Bonding Support

Wire Bonding Support allows for designing hybrid boards using chip-on-board (CoB) technology, enabling seamless integration of dies directly onto PCBs with bond wires connecting to other components.

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Gain Insight with Harness and Multi-board View Only Mode

Harness & Multi-board View Only Mode in allows users with a Standard Subscription or Viewer License to access and explore Harness and Multi-board projects without editing rights.

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Ensure Signal Integrity with the SI Analyzer by Keysight

This downloadable software extension allows you to perform signal integrity analysis directly within your design environment in Altium Designer.

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Enable or Disable Rules Directly in the Constraint Manager

Easily manage your PCB design rules with the ability to enable or disable basic rules directly from the All Rules view in the Constraint Manager from the PCB.

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Release Your Harness Design Projects

Simplify your Harness Design release process with Altium Designer’s Project Releaser. Automate and manage releases with one-touch ease, reducing errors and saving time, whether working online with Altium 365 or offline.

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Modify Tracks or Add New Vertices to Your 3D-MID Design

Refine your 3D-MID designs with Altium Designer’s new track editing features. You can click and drag to modify tracks or add new vertices, giving you more control and precision in your design process.

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Update 24.8

Set Layer-Specific Width Constraints from Your Schematic

When accessing the Constraint Manager from the schematic, it is now possible to choose and configure specific width constraints per layer for any PCB document in the same design project, and independently across layer stacks defined for a chosen board.

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Specify Strip and Pull Off Length for Your Crimps

You now have the ability to specify the ‘Strip Length’ and ‘Pull Off Length’ when defining a crimp-type cavity in the Wiring Diagram.

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Select and Drag Multiple Components in 3D-MID Design

3D-MID Design now includes the ability to select and drag multiple components on the substrate. This enhancement allows users to easily reposition multiple components simultaneously on the 3D substrate.

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Design Single-Layer PCBs with Integrated Layer Stack Management

The Single Layer PCB Support feature in Altium Designer allows users to create single-layer PCBs, with full integration in the Layer Stack Manager and related outputs.

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  • To learn more about Layer Stack Manager in Altium Designer, visit the documentation page.

Select Alternate Parts in Variants Without Changing Symbols

You now have the ability to choose alternate components in variants without changing the schematic symbol or PCB footprint.

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Import or Export Your Constraint Sets

The Constraint Manager has been upgraded with features such as exporting/importing constraint sets, a global ‘Ignore Pad to Pad clearance within a footprint’ option, and improved rule cell highlighting within the PCB.

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Control Cavity Information in Connection Tables

Harness Layout Wire Length Override allows you to manually adjust the wire length on a Layout Drawing within a harness design.

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Place Components with Intricate Footprints for Your 3D MID Designs

Support for complex-shaped footprints and natural gridlines on 3D substrates, plus snapping priority override, makes designing easier and more efficient.

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Promote Favorite Filters for Your Components

Add favorite filters in the Manufacturer Part Search panel and preserve component lifecycle states when releasing new revisions for enhanced data management.

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  • To see an overview about the Manufacturer Part Search, visit the feature page.

  • Visit the documentation page to learn about the searching and placing components.

Import KiCad Designs from Version 7 or 8

Ensure a smooth transition to Altium Designer and reduce manual tasks when importing your latest KiCad projects.

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Import Values from Directives in the Constraint Manager

Now, with a new dialog summarizing imported values from the schematic in the Constraint Manager, visualizing constraints becomes more intuitive. Additionally, imported directives are easily distinguished within the design space by their blue coloring and distinct symbols, with corresponding rules accessible in the properties panel.  With support for creating xNets and xNet classes directly within the Constraint Manager from the PCB, bidirectional E-C-O propagation simplifies the synchronization between PCB and schematic sides. Furthermore, selecting the Custom topology for a 2-pin net automatically adds its pins as nodes to the topology editing area, facilitating quicker selection of proposed xSignals.

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Create a Harness Design Template

You can create, upload, edit, and reuse Harness Wiring Diagram and Harness Layout Drawing templates within a connected Altium 365 Workspace, eliminating redundant efforts on your part. Additionally, Altium Designer offers enhanced control over your designs with the incorporation of a ‘Type’ field for objects in the Wiring Diagram and labels and coverings in the Layout Drawing, enabling precise management of their inclusion in the BOM. Moreover, shield objects can now be assigned a library ID, enhancing organization and accessibility. Simplifying wire color definition, Altium Designer now utilizes a single-color parameter in the Wiring Diagram, reflecting secondary and tertiary coloring for improved visibility and clarity. Furthermore, the introduction of an ‘Include Cut’ parameter for wire objects grants you control over their inclusion in a Wiring List placed in a Harness Draftsman document.

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Automatically Add a Supply Nets Rule

The ‘Supply Nets’ rule is automatically added to every power net during compilation.

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Generate the Latest V.8.1 ODB++ Format

You can now select between the latest ODB++ v.8.1 and legacy v.7.0 formats within a single installation. You can generate data for all defined variants collectively or separately, streamlining your workflow. Moreover, it simplifies Flex/Rigid-Flex manufacturing by incorporating various layer sub-types and implementing zones file support.

Prevent Inadvertent Footprint Mirroring

To help for early detection of footprint mirroring,  ‘No’ is the default option in the warning dialog when using a keyboard shortcut to flip a component or room to add a layer of safety. There is also a new check ‘Components with Mirrored Footprints’ option added to the Components section of the PCB Health Check Monitor, which detects changes in pins between a placed component footprint in the PCB design space and the corresponding footprint in the applicable source library.  Additionally, the ‘Update From PCB Libraries’ tool has been enhanced to detect changes in designators and 3D bodies across all layers, with differences listed on the Properties tab.

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Automatically Propagate Width Values in the Constraint Manager

You can now enter a width value into a single cell at the top grid area, and it will automatically propagate to all corresponding width or gap fields. Furthermore, when working from a schematic, there is an indication of the sync status between constraints defined in the Constraint Manager and those specified through design directives in the source schematics.

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Remove Polygon Necks Less Than a Specified Width

With the new “obey rules” option in the properties panel, you now have the capability to remove necks less than a specified width for placed polygon pours. Furthermore, Altium Designer now observes user-defined geometries for the component selection bounding box when moving a component in Push Obstacles mode.

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See the Exact YTEOL Value for Your Components

The real value for years to end of life parameter is accurately displayed across all instances where SiliconExpert data is presented, ensuring clarity and precision in your design process. Additionally, we’ve added support for referencing SiliconExpert compliance datasheets, enhancing accessibility and usability. We’ve also included support for the newest Microsoft Access Database file format when synchronizing Database to Workspace components.

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  • To see an overview about the Manufacturer Part Search, visit the feature page.

  • Visit the documentation page to learn about the searching and placing components.

  • Discover the latest features and capabilities of Altium Designer 24 with free training.

Ensure Accurate Electrical Clearances with the Constraint Manager

A Creepage rule can now be specified for electrical clearances between nets and/or differential pairs, facilitated by the matrix in the Clearances view. Also, support has been added to the clearance matrix for multi-editing within a selected row or column to streamline your workflow.

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Specify Details for Each Pin of Your Harness Component

You now have the ability to specify crimps, seals, plugs, or other cavity parts for each required pin directly within the Wiring Diagram. These elements are also seamlessly integrated into the wiring list and connection table in the Draftsman document, providing clarity and precision to your designs.

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  • To see an overview about Harness Design, visit the feature page.

  • Visit the documentation page to learn about Harness Design.

  • Discover the latest features and capabilities of Altium Designer 24 with free training.

Utilize S-Parameters to Characterize Your Networks

Altium Designer’s S-parameters tool, available within the Simulation Dashboard panel, offers a method to characterize networks by evaluating the ratio of incident and reflected microwaves, effectively addressing challenges in high-frequency circuits.

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  • Witness the benefits of using the Simulation tool in this short video.
  • To see an overview about the Simulation tool, visit the feature page.
  • Visit the documentation page to learn about the Simulation tool.
  • Discover the latest features and capabilities of Altium Designer 24 with free training.

Transfer Design Constraints Between your PCB and Schematic

When accessing the Constraint Manager from the PCB editor and defining constraints on the Physical and Electrical views, it is now possible to transfer those constraints to the Schematic through the Engineering Change Order (ECO) process. This enhancement ensures design consistency by reducing errors and saving time in the constraint definition process.

 

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Set Multiple Colors to a Wire in your Harness Design

Altium Designer has added support for multi-colored wires, with the ability to define primary, secondary, tertiary, and border colors as part of a wire’s parameters to help expand the functional identification capability of wires in your design.

 

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Manually Map Components with PCB Layout Replication

You now have the ability to manually map components in target blocks where multiple components have been detected by the PCB Layout Replication Tool as having similar connections. This allows you to manually choose between available components that are able to replace each other, without violating circuit connectivity.

 

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Experience a Heightened Level of Control with the Constraint Manager

Altium Designer’s Constraint Manager, with significant enhancements in design control, is now more flexible and intuitive. Efficiency in design organization is improved with the capability of adding nets to an existing class. Custom topologies are defined more insightfully with structured xSignals, and we’ve also added line numbers on tabs/grids to enhance clarity and navigation. Lastly, you can now choose between the Constraint Manager and the older Design Rules system when creating a new project to adapt to your preferred workflow.

Highlight Specific Modified Categories with PCB CoDesign

Altium Designer’s latest PCB CoDesign enhancements offer a more efficient and streamlined collaboration process. You can now precisely compare and apply changes to unions for targeted modifications. Also, the ‘Show on PCB’ option simplifies highlighting changes in specific categories for better visualization. These improvements aim to boost efficiency and provide a more organized and seamless collaborative design experience.

Create a Clear Visual Representation of your Multi-Board Project

Altium Designer’s Multi-board Draftsman tool integrates manufacturing drawings into Multi-board design projects. The multi-board view displays combined graphics of PCB outlines and 3D models with various viewing options. Enjoy standard Draftsman features like annotation, dimensioning, and BOM, and say goodbye to managing different documentation sets or relying solely on MCAD software. Draftsman for Multi-board offers a clear visual representation of board connections in larger systems, ensuring design integrity and consistency.

Make Informed Component Decisions with Stress Analysis

Altium Designer introduces the Simulation Stress Analysis tool, which enhances the design process by incorporating stress analysis within transient analysis. This tool calculates and checks component operating conditions against defined limits, simplifies stress model creation, and allows for reliability derating. With a comprehensive stress chart in the simulation viewer, it provides precision and control for informed decisions on component reliability and performance.

Simplify Complex Design Rules with the Constraint Manager

Altium Designer’s Constraint Manager, available for pro and enterprise subscriptions, simplifies meeting complex standards and PCB design requirements. This tool allows easy browsing, creation, modification, and reuse of verified constraint sets through a tabular, object-based user interface. Enhancing clarity and comprehension, it seamlessly integrates rules between schematics and PCB layout, streamlining the design process with a consistent format for rule addition in both areas.

Work Together and Design Faster with PCB CoDesign

Altium Designer’s PCB CoDesign simplifies collaboration, ensuring design integrity for engineering teams. With pro and enterprise subscriptions, this tool streamlines cooperation within your workspace, eliminating manual change tracking. Visualize alterations, compare layouts, and merge updates effortlessly in a unified environment. Say goodbye to cumbersome revision histories and embrace a more efficient PCB design approach with PCB CoDesign.

Elevate Your Projects with the 3D Mechatronic Integrated Device Tool

Altium Designer introduces the groundbreaking 3D Mechatronic Integrated Device design tool, simplifying the integration of non-planar electronic designs. It seamlessly aligns with existing components, synchronizes with schematic documents, and eliminates the need for time-consuming M-CAD hacks. This tool meets electrical specifications while enabling aesthetically pleasing designs. With pro or enterprise subscriptions, it facilitates easy adoption in your product development workflow.

Assign Currents to Multiple Nets with the Power Analyzer by Keysight

Altium Designer’s enhanced Power Analyzer by Keysight Tool addresses power network analysis challenges efficiently. With new support for assigning currents to multiple nets on the same component across different series elements. This enhancement ensures a seamless and efficient power analysis experience, allowing you to maximize benefits from your design in Altium Designer.

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