Chapter 4 – PCB Design Editor 41

and U1 first and place the other components around these. Placement on this design isn’t critical but improve it if you feel you can or want to.

During Place or after placing components, use the shortcut key <R> to Rotate them and <F> to Flip (mirror) surface mount components to the other side of the board. These options (and more) are available on the shortcut menu during Place by clicking the right mouse button.

For our design, no mirroring (Flip) will be required. The placement and overall connection lengths could be improved by rotating some of the components. If you feel you would like the practice placing components, select a component and click <R> to rotate it. Component names can be rotated back to be a readable direction separately using the same pick and rotate method.

Once fully placed, the design should be routed.

Routing the Design

The design can be routed manually or automatically. This is the process of converting the electrical point-to-point connections into physical copper ‘tracks’.