11.6. Graphical Elements

11.6. Graphical Elements

Graphical elements create the symbolic representation of a component and contain no electrical connection information. Their design is possible using the following tools:

  • Lines and polygons defined by start and end points.
  • Rectangles defined by two diagonal corners.
  • Circles defined by the center and radius.
  • Arcs defined by the starting and ending point of the arc and its center. An arc goes from 0° to 180°.

The vertical toolbar on the right hand side of the main window allows you to place all of the graphical elements required to design a component’s symbolic representation.

11.6.1. Graphical Element Membership

Each graphic element (line, arc, circle, etc.) can be defined as common to all units and/or body styles or specific to a given unit and/or body style. Element options can be quickly accessed by right-clicking on the element to display the context menu for the selected element. Below is the context menu for a line element.

eeschema_libedit_context_menu_png

You can also double-left-click on an element to modify its properties. Below is the properties dialog for a polygon element.

eeschema_libedit_polyline_properties_png

The properties of a graphic element are:

  • Line width which defines the width of the element’s line in the current drawing units.
  • The “Common to all units in component” setting defines if the graphical element is drawn for each unit in component with more than one unit per package or if the graphical element is only drawn for the current unit.
  • The “Common by all body styles (DeMorgan)” setting defines if the graphical element is drawn for each symbolic representation in components with an alternate body style or if the graphical element is only drawn for the current body style.
  • The fill style setting determines if the symbol defined by the graphical element is to be drawn unfilled, background filled, or foreground filled.

11.6.2. Graphical Text Elements

The icons/add_text_png allows for the creation of graphical text. Graphical text is always readable, even when the component is mirrored. Please note that graphical text items are not fields.