For some families of components it is possible to create footprints automatically by specifying the dimensional parameters of the components in the Footprint wizard dialog box. The automatic footprint generation procedure creates all the footprint objects within the perimeter of the corresponding frame object and saves the dimensional parameters of the component in the FWIZDATA attribute of the frame object.

To create a single footprint

This procedure creates a single footprint within the selected frame:

  1. Activate the Library layer and create the Frame. See To add one or more frames.

  2. Select the frame.

  3. Choose the Libraries » Footprint Wizard » Build Footprint command or click the tool in the toolbar. The Footprint wizard dialog box opens.

  4. In the dialog box, specify the dimensional parameters of the component and select the IPC level of the footprint.

  5. Click on Ok to close the wizard. The automatic procedure creates all the objects of the footprint within the perimeter of the selected frame object and saves the dimensional parameters of the component in the FWIZDATA attribute of the frame object.

SuggerimentoTip:

To make changes to the footprint see To modify a footprint created by the wizard.

To create a 3-tier footprint

The different electronic products have different requirements of reliability, maintainability and density of the boards. With the 3-Tier footprint library construction concept, you can generate footprints to meet the different needs arising from component tolerances, the assembly process and the density of components on the board.

For each component, three geometric variants are provided for the pad dimensions and component profile: most material condition (low density, level A), nominal material condition (medium density, level B), least material condition (high density, level C).

Perform the following operations:

  1. Delete any frame objects on the page.

  2. Choose the Libraries » Footprint Wizard » Build Footprint command or click the tool in the toolbar. The Footprint wizard dialog box opens.

  3. In the dialog box, specify the dimensional parameters of the component.

  4. Click on Ok to close the wizard. The automatic procedure creates three frame objects and all the objects needed to define the three footprints. In Page properties the option The page describes an IPC footprint is activated.

SuggerimentoTip:

To make changes to created footprints see To modify a three-level footprint created by the wizard.

See also