Board Size in Ultiboard

This is probably going to ne one of the most stupid questions ever asked, but I'm going to ask anyway. This is an Ultiboard question.
How do I know what board size I am going to need in advance of placing components? The way I have been doing this is that I would place my components either manually or with the autoplacer and then adjust my board outline size at that point. Would this be considered proper design procedure? What, if any, effect would my method have on the autoplacer in determining where components will be placed?
Thanks for any replys in advance.
Kittmaster's Component Database
http://ni.kittmaster.com
Have a Nice Day

Lacy, the autoplacer uses algorithms accounting for the force vectors and ratsnest configuration in oder to place the components, rather than the 'space' available.
However, with that said, imagine that you have a weird outline, the autoplacer 'does' knows what the boundaries are that it needs to abide to when placing components.
Usually your mechanical enclosure or place where the board will be gives you a clue on how the PCB outline should look like... then place components and traces on that outline... however there are times in which you can place a default board outline and then according to how the parts, and part groups, etc, are being placed you can then tweak the outline to your favor.
Nestor
National Instruments

Similar Messages

Set board size in PCB Properties

Setting the board size seems to be a lot harder than it should be. When I transfer a design from Multisim to Ultiboard I don't get a choice of board size or number of layers. When I double click on the edge of the default board I get the PCB properties page, but no option to set the size only the layers. In order to set the size I have to right-click on the edge of the board, select Properties and I get a page for Rectangle Properties.
It would be nice if we could set the board size from the PCB properties page. It would also be great if the board wizard came into play when transfering a new design.
Thanks,
Ricahrd

Hi Richard,
While boards are typically rectangular, they can be a variety of shapes, and Ultiboard handles this by defining a special layer ("Board Outline"), where you draw the shape of the board. You can draw on this layer as you would on any other layer in order to define the shape of the board. This is why you cannot simply set it in the PCB properties because the shape can be an arbitrary set of lines, curves, etc.
I definitely agree that when first creating the design through annotation, it would be helpful to be able to specify the size of the board, perhaps through the board wizard, and I've added a feature request so that it will be considered for a future release.
Garret
Senior Software Developer
National Instruments
Circuit Design Community and Blog
If someone helped you, let them know. Mark as solved or give a kudo.

Changing the clip board size?

So I have this multipage document I am working on and I needed more pages so I added the artboards I need however then now go beyond the clip board size (see picture below), how do I change that?

/\ this is a screen shot in Illustrator /\
\/ this is a screen shot from Acrobat \/
It seems that the page order in your pdf is related to the order they are created in Illustrator.
This button in Acrobat changes whether Acrobat displays one page or a scrolling series of pages.

PCB Board Size

How can you change the dimensions of the board itself? I transfered a schematic from Multisim to Ultiboard and it gave me some default board outline size. I want to change this because I can fit all my components in a much smaller board. I tried to select the board outline as a polygon and drag it but it is unselectable. I went into PCB properties to try and find a board dimensions characteristic and was unable to find anything. I looked at the help file and throughout this forum and have been unsuccessful. This seems like the most simple of tasks and is driving me crazy can you guys help?

Hi ravivasudevan:
You can resize the board, but first you need to select the correct layer. In the Design Toolbox, select the Layers tab, then double click the Board Outline layer. The layer name should get highlighted in red. (You can also change the layer from the Draw Settings toolbar.) You can now select and drag the outline, or select and edit its properties. You can also use the usual draw tools to draw a non-rectangular shape.
Garret
Senior Software Developer
National Instruments
Circuit Design Community and Blog
If someone helped you, let them know. Mark as solved or give a kudo.

The "art board size" appears incorrect (1/2 the actual size) when trying to edit artboard ?

Has anyone had this problem before? Im working in CS4. When I try to "edit artboard" to change the size of the document layout, The size appears incorrect? Actually its appearing as 1/2 the actual size. For example, If I set up a new lettersized document the the size reads as: 4.25" x 5.5" instead of 8.5"x11". In preferences, The units all seem to be set up correctly. I am able to create a box size accurately, just not the artboard? This has never happened before. I feel like I changed something by accident in preferences? But cant seem to find a solution. Any help would be most appreciated. Thank you.

Are you sure you are looking at W: & H: rather than X: and Y:
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Art board size

Hi
I need to make a billboard which is around 500 inches long.
But, the largest size Illustrator documents go is around half that...
Since my printer requires that this job be done in either Photoshop, Illustrator or Quark... What do I do?
Anyone got any ideas?
How DO people do oversized billboards if the software doesn't allow the large sizes?
This is my first billboard I need to do...
thanks a lot for your help

that's how i've done it. not for billboards but for wall graphics.
i don't know if it's common practice but i don't see any other way to do it in illustrator. there is special software for billboard layouts.
i asked my printer if they could do it and they said yes, i don't know if it's the common solution. a different printer asked me to split the files in sections - i don't use them anymore

Large art board size

Hi guys please fill me in on the best possible way to accomplish the following:
What is the best way to execute a design for print that's size is : 850cm x 2050 cm pull up banner?
Thanks

sharkz,
what about the images when designed on a small scale then scaled up really big to print will this effect the quality of them?
Obviously, the images must have the correct resolution at the final size.
That may be quite low, unless we are talking fine art to (also) be viewed at 1 - 2 nose lengths.
When you need to scale up by a factor (such as 10), the resolution at the small scale must be that factor higher than the one needed at the final size (such as 1500 if you scale up by a factor 10 and need 150).
If you have no specific resolution instructions, you may work it out based upon the viewing angle/relative distance:
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3) If the resolution is adequate in 2) you are done, if not you need to increase the resolution.

Need advice for making a board layout in Ultiboard easy to assemble/troubleshoot

I was wondering if anyone has a good method to go from a Multisim schematic to an Ultiboard layout, keeping specific legs of the circuit separated geographically for assembly and troubleshooting purposes. I have a circuit with a few analog filters that are tuned to different frequencies, so they have identical components, just specced to different values. This project is slated for only short run purposes, and will be assembled by hand (the parts are mostly through-hole).
It would be really convenient to be able to automatically make each leg identical for troubleshooting and assembly. I know that I could slowly work it out myself with a schematic and the ratsnest, but I was hoping for a quicker way, and I see a whole lot of functionality in Ultiboard that I don't know how to use yet.
The method I've been using so far has been pretty rough. With nearly 250 components, I've been saving the schematics multiple times with each subsequent leg added, and exporting the netlist to Ultiboard one at a time with previous components locked into place. It's a painful process, but it works.
Thanks in advance for your advice!

You can use the group replica place and the copy route options to do exactly what your asking. Since it seems your new to this package, it will most likely take the same time to get to the finish line if you do it manually or the method I mentioned.
Signature: Looking for a footprint, component, model? Might be here > http://ni.kittmaster.com

Please help me! Illustrator CS3 can't maintain correct size when saving to PDF!

Hi - please help me!
We run a Mac with CS3 Suite to design our signs for print & vinyl cut.
Most of our files are 50 - 120 cms wide & high, some larger.
If I create a document in Illustrator for exapmle of 100 cms x 100cms, put some artwork (vector) inside, and save it as a high res PDF, then close the file and open the PDF in illustrator, you can gaurentee that the dimensions will have changed by a fraction of a mm. If working with bigger artwork it can be out but up to half a mil. Typically a file could become say 58.687cm instead of 59cm.
Anyone know why the heck this does that??
It's the artwork & the artboard.
Thanks,
Henoch

All of AI's math is based on points and inches and depending on DPI settings, there may be rounding errors with otehr unit systems. Perfectly normal. Has been forever that way. you may try to place an empty dummy frame around the entire artwork to enforce a specific artboard/ crop board size. Sometimes helps, but not always...
Mylenium

Make sizes more accurate?

This script should make a rectangle the same size as the artboard.
However if the artboard is 210mm wide the rectangle ends up being 210.002mm, is there any way to make this more precise?
#target illustrator
var docRef = app.activeDocument;
var artboardRef = docRef.artboards;
var activeAB = docRef.artboards[docRef.artboards.getActiveArtboardIndex()]; // get active AB
//get artboard size
var left = activeAB.artboardRect[0];
var top = activeAB.artboardRect[1] ;
var width = activeAB.artboardRect[2]-activeAB.artboardRect[0];
var height = activeAB.artboardRect[1]-activeAB.artboardRect[3];
//create box
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box.fillColor = box.strokeColor = new NoColor();

In regards to the artboard size, if I create a new docment with with the width of 595.276pt (displays as 595.28pt) the artboardRect gives: 595.2802734375
If I then go to the artboard options and re-enter the 595.276pt the artboardRect gives the same as above.
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If I use the artboard options to make the width 100pt (The artboardRect gives 100.00048828125) and then go back again to 595.276pt the artboardRect gives the almost accurate result 595.27587890625
Theres something weird going on there
1) Why is the artboardRect not accurate to the Art Board size?
2) Why does going to 100pt then 595.276pt give a more accurate rect than entering 595.276 on its own?

Image size/image quality issue

I am creating images in Illustrator at certain pixel sizes (as determined by the person I am creating the graphics for), saving them, and then exporting them as .png files. When the person I am sending them to tries to open the .png files they are actually opening much larger (for example, I created one at 72x72 pixels and it opened as 238x238. When I open the file in Illustrator, everything shows the file at 72x72. Is there a way to make sure the image size does not change when saving/exporting it or am I doing something wrong??
Also, the person using these files is opening them in another program to add things to them/scale them down, and somewhere along the way, they are losing a lot of quality and becoming quite blurry. Is this due to the fact that they are opening them up in a different program and resaving them? The original files on my computer come up crystal clear in Illustrator. Anything that has been sent back to me from this person opens blurry in Illustrator.
Any help/advice on either of these issues would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!!

Output your final PNG using the “Save for web and devices” option under the file menu. It will save as 72 dpi…..however the total pixel size of the art will be determined by your art board size.
A screen optimized graphic can be made blurry if it is rescaled.
Viewing your PNG in your web browser at 100% should give you an accurate visual.

Gerber file for single layer board

I have made a single layer board PCB in ultiboard. (on copper top)
On making PCB, project explorer shows copper bottom & related botom layers. I thouht I can remove these layers in final gerber generation.
But on final step, we can unselect the copper bottom layer option. So fro my single layer board, ultiboard generated gerbers as if its double side board.
How to make settings in ultiboard for this?

Hi there,
In the Gerber properties window, you can only check the Copper Top layer and leave other settings as default when you export this Single layer board.
Another way is when you design this Single layer board in the beginning, you can set only one layer at first.
Click Options => PCB Properties and then select the Copper layers tab
In the Allow routing part, change the layer name Copper Bottom, and click its Properties
In the Copper Layers Properties dialog, uncheck Routing. It should look like the image below
Hope it helps!
Chen_T
National Instruments

Creating a Customized Pad in Ultiboard

I am trying to create a Customized Pad with a Specific size in Ultiboard so that I can make use of it for my PCB Design. I tried to customized a Chip Pad from the Master Database in Ultiboard, but am not successful.
I would appreciate if anyone could give me the steps or guidelines on how I can achieve creating a Pad of specific dimensions or sizes.
Regards.

Hi there,
If you want to edit an exist Chip Pad in the Master Database, you should copy it to the User Database first.( right click the item, and then select User Database)
The following tutorial might be helpful to create a custom component in Ultiboard.
Creating a Custom Component in NI Ultiboard
http://www.ni.com/white-paper/5631/en/
Hope this helps!:-)
Regards,
Chen_T
National Instruments

Printing Actual Size

I bet this gets asked a lot.
I have downloaded a PDF document which all 30 pages measure 67.26x47.68 in which is "HUGE"
I would like to know if it is possible to do a multi page print out on A4 paper whilst keeping the same size as the actual document?
I have an Epson Stylus photo R300 if that helps
I need the scale to be totally precise as these are plans for a large scale model aircraft

This topic is related to http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b6ec7f,
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b62e07, and
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b78379.
I have the same problem. I wish to seemlessly print a 45 cm X 45 cm (17.71" X 17.71") image (a board game template) onto several pages while retaining the correct board size and line-ups.
It is frustrating that such an obvious option is not available. The multiple pages per sheet option is great, but AR9 needs an multiple sheets per image option as well.
Sorry, I do not have a solution for you. Hopefully, Adobe will work on this soon.
Shawn

How do you measure size?

I just purchased a MacBook Pro. We ordered a 15" 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, and just received it in the mail.
It looked small to me so I measured the comp. witdth wise and it was only 13". I was telling someone about it tonight and they said to measure a computer you measure diagonally. Is that the correct way to measure a computer?
Also how do you check to make sure it is the 2.4 GHz?
I hope someone can help me.
Thanks!

oregon girl wrote:
I just purchased a MacBook Pro. We ordered a 15" 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, and just received it in the mail.
It looked small to me so I measured the comp. witdth wise and it was only 13". I was telling someone about it tonight and they said to measure a computer you measure diagonally. Is that the correct way to measure a computer?
Also how do you check to make sure it is the 2.4 GHz?
I hope someone can help me.
Thanks!
Welcome to the Apple boards:
Size is always measured diagonally. If there were a way to get a larger number, they would use that
Regarding your speed and other important things, hold down the Option key and click on the little black apple on the top left of your screen. Select System Profiler and, Voila! there you go.
Everything about your computer is listed there - and more ....

Board Size in Ultiboard

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