Altium Designer Blanket

[Mohammed Huberty]

Ablanket directive enables other parameter set-based directives to quickly be applied to a group of nets simply by covering those nets with a 'blanket'. When placing a blanket, you can either define a simple rectangular shape or a polygonal-shape. The latter gives more precise control over coverage of the required net objects on a sheet.

This method of editing allows you to select a placed blanket object directly in the workspace and change its size, shape, or location graphically. When a blanket object is selected, the following editing handles are available:

An Inspector panel enables the designer to interrogate and edit the properties of one or more design objects in the active document. Used in conjunction with appropriate filtering - by using the applicable Filter panel, or the Find Similar Objects dialog - the panel can be used to make changes to multiple objects of the same kind, from one convenient location.

In support of the blanket object, two particularly useful keywords are available for use when targeting blankets using logical query expressions. These complement the range of other keywords used to target a blanket based on its properties.

Once placed, blankets can be temporarily disabled by clicking on the small triangle in the upper left. Click once to disable the blanket; click again to re-enable it. This provides a convenient way of controlling the impact of the blanket without needing to remove it completely from the design.

To identify the nets that the blanket applies to, click View Set Net Colors then use the color selections in the drop-down to apply the desired color(s) to the desired net(s) within the blanket. Click View Show Net Color Override to enable/disable the highlighting of the nets.

The features available depend on your Altium product access level. Compare features included in the various levels of Altium Designer Software Subscription and functionality delivered through applications provided by the Altium 365 platform.

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