New behavior when working with polygons in PCB123 v4.1.16

[Sal Hernandez]

New behavior when working with polygons in PCB123 v4.1.16

There have been some changes in the latest version to how polygons work. First, poly lines, arcsand circles can now be assigned to nets and can be treated just like traces when they come in contact with a pin. Previously these objects could not be assigned to nets and when you intersect a pin with the objects you get an error message which you can't resolve. Allowing net assignments allows you to resolve the errors. There is an issue with WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) when these lines, arc and circles are used withinz filled polygon so I will go through some scenarios.

What you should expect:

Polylines, arcs and circles (assigned or not assigned to a net) in a filled polygon that is not assigned to a net: All objects will connect to the filled polygon without clearances.

Polylines, arcs and circles (assigned or not assigned to net) in a filled polygon that is assigned to a net: Objects assigned to the same net as the polygon will connect to the polygon without a clearance (This is where the wysiwyg issue comes up. On the screen you see a clearance around the poly object.)

If the polyline, arcor circle is assinged to a different net than the net assigned to the polygon you will get a clearance around the object just as shown on the screen.

If the polylines, arcor circle is not assigned to a net the object will connect to the polygon without a clearance just as shown on the screen. There is also a wysiwyg issue with placing filled polygons not assigned to a net on top of filled polygons assigned to a net. In previous releases you could cover up a thermal relief in a filled polygon by placing a second filled polygon that is not assigned a net over the thermal reliefs on a pad. This no longer works even though the display shows the old behavior. A thermal relief will be generated in the files used for manufacturing. To prevent delays in your project you should only use wide traces to cover up thermal reliefs in filled polygons. We are working on this issue and will have a better solution available in a future release. We are working towards a possible pin property that will control whether a pin connects with a thermal or not (directly connected pin).

Please make sure that you use the Print Artwork feature to preview your work before submitting an order. This will help prevent board issues and delays in your project. If you are not familiar with with Print Artwork feature it is found under File Print Artwork. I recommend printing to pdf. You will need a pdf printer driver installed to do this. If you do not have one cutepdf is a free option and is very easy to use.

Please feel free to contact customer support if you have any questions.

[Sal Hernandez]

The WYSIWYG issues reported in this post have been corrected in v4.1.19. Please update to the latest release if you are experiencing the issues listed above.