Is there a trick I can use to flip an entire PCB design.
On several occasions, I have started a design one way but then it evolves to the point where the "main" side of the PCB is the bottom.
I would like to be able to flip the entire design.
In practical terms, it might be just a matter of reallocating the stack layers in the reverse order - so it isn't the design that is being flipped but the PCB stack itself.
Flipping entire PCB design
Re: Flipping entire PCB design
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Andrew Larkin
- Expert User
- Posts: 331
- Joined: Tue 2006-10-10 10:34
Re: Flipping entire PCB design
Thanks, Tim, I use that all the time.
It isn't what I am asking about. "F" only flips the *view* of the PCB.
What I am talking about is actually flipping the design: all the components and traces move from the bottom to the top layer and vice versa. This sounds weird but it isn't really - as I will explain...
The reason for the need is that I am used to thinking of the "red" (top) copper layer as being where the main component layout is done. Call it OCD if you like.
If a design evolves - for whatever reason - that the components move to the bottom, then the focus becomes the "blue" layer.
It just requires extra mental gymnastics to keep the new perspective right.
At this point, all the layout work as largely been done so there are no changes to the geometry of anything required - just swapping the labels for the layers:
Top Copper <=> Bottom Copper, Top Silk <=> Bottom Silk, etc.
It is only slightly more complicated for boards with inner layers as the swapping of layer numbers depends on how many layers there are.
For a 4 layer board, Inner 1 <=> Inner 2
For a 6 layer board, Inner 1 <=> Inner 4, Inner 2 <=> Inner 3
It isn't what I am asking about. "F" only flips the *view* of the PCB.
What I am talking about is actually flipping the design: all the components and traces move from the bottom to the top layer and vice versa. This sounds weird but it isn't really - as I will explain...
The reason for the need is that I am used to thinking of the "red" (top) copper layer as being where the main component layout is done. Call it OCD if you like.
If a design evolves - for whatever reason - that the components move to the bottom, then the focus becomes the "blue" layer.
It just requires extra mental gymnastics to keep the new perspective right.
At this point, all the layout work as largely been done so there are no changes to the geometry of anything required - just swapping the labels for the layers:
Top Copper <=> Bottom Copper, Top Silk <=> Bottom Silk, etc.
It is only slightly more complicated for boards with inner layers as the swapping of layer numbers depends on how many layers there are.
For a 4 layer board, Inner 1 <=> Inner 2
For a 6 layer board, Inner 1 <=> Inner 4, Inner 2 <=> Inner 3