Contents
What is a Keep Out layer?
A keepout is the name given to an object that blocks or prevents the placement of copper objects within an area. A keepout can be defined as a fence (in essence, a wall around the area to be protected) or they can be defined as a solid area of keepout that completely covers the area to be protected.
How do you Unpour a polygon in Altium?
Right-click on a polygon and select the appropriate Poured or Unpoured command from the Polygon Actions sub-menu. Select the appropriate Poured or Unpoured command in the Tools » Polygon Pours sub-menu. Click the Pouring button in the Polygon Manager and perform a Pour or Unpour action.
What is Keepout layer Altium?
A Keepout in PCB design is a user defined area or perimeter placed in the layout that copper objects cannot intersect. In the PCB Editor (and PCB Library Editor), objects assigned as Keepouts are indicated by the current Keep-Out layer color.
How are keepouts used in single layer 3D?
The influence of the Keepout collection on the Polygon Pours can be seen clearly when the layout is viewed in Single Layer 3D mode, as shown below – Top Layer on the left and Bottom Layer on the right. Note that the approach to controlling Polygon Pour areas is used here as an example for placing and configuring Layer Specific Keepouts.
How to control the area occupied by a polygon pour?
In practice, the area occupied by a Polygon Pour is best controlled by using Polygon Pour Cutouts. The application of Keepout shapes, configured to restrict Via objects, on multilayer copper areas can control the extent of automated Via Stitching ( Tools » Via Stitching/Shielding ).
How to avoid keepouts in a signal layer?
The above arrangement of Keepouts will force Polygon Pours placed on the signal layers (in this case the Top and Bottom Layers) to avoid all three Keepout areas. However, the top layer pads associated with the area of concern will not be provided with adequate clearance by the Top Layer Pour – specifically, the pads of components T1, R10, R11 etc.
How to make a polygon pour object in Altium?
Click Tools » Convert » Create Polygon from Selected Primitives. The polygon will be created with its Fill Mode set to Outline. Note that the originally selected primitives are not removed and the new polygon is poured inside the selected objects. Double-click to repour the new polygon as solid or hatched.