Stackup and geometry

The Edit tab is where you build the design. The left column has the stackup at the top and the Draw Tools at the bottom. The viewport in the centre is a 2D top-down view of the active layer. The right column is the property inspector for whatever is selected.

Stackup panel

The stackup panel in the top left of the Edit tab shows the current layer stackup and lets you edit existing layers or add more. Drag layers to rearrange them. Right-click any layer for the context menu with properties, rename, and so on. The number keys 1 through 9 are shortcuts that switch the active layer.

The New Layer button adds new layers (up to 3 total including dielectric and conductor layers on Hobby, unlimited on Pro). Conductor layers only need a name. Dielectric layers also need a relative permittivity Eps_r and, optionally, a loss tangent for modelling dielectric losses.

Draw Tools and primitives

The Draw Tools panel in the bottom left holds the primitives, ports, measurement ruler, and PNG import. Every tool shows its keyboard shortcut in brackets on the button itself. For example, Rectangle (E) means pressing E brings up the rectangle placement tool.

Place primitives like rectangles and polygons by selecting the tool, then clicking and dragging in the viewport. Release the mouse button to finish the shape.

Resize, rotate, mirror, copy and paste

Select a placed primitive to expose its resize handles. Drag a handle to resize, or click and drag anywhere else on the shape to move it. Hold Shift and click to add more primitives to the selection. With one or more shapes selected, hold Space while dragging to rotate, press X or Y while dragging to mirror across that axis, and use Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V to copy and paste. Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y are always there for undo and redo.

Primitive properties can always be edited with numerical precision from the right-hand panel in the editor.

Grid snapping and the ruler

Grid snap is on by default in a new project. Click the Snap button under the Draw Tools panel to turn it off entirely, or use the [+] and [-] buttons nearby to change the snap size. G and F are shortcuts for bumping the snap distance up or down. The field between the two buttons takes a custom value.

The ruler tool (shortcut M) measures distances between points on your design. The ruler honours the current grid snap, so it can help to drop the snap size for a precise measurement and put it back up when you go back to placing geometry.

Notices on the editor

The Notices panel at the bottom of the Edit tab flags issues before you simulate. Two common ones are No ports defined and Empty Layers (a conductor layer with no primitives drawn on it). Both are warnings, not blockers. You can still run, but Empty Layers usually points at a missing copy-paste or a forgotten ground plane.