Protel DXP and Copper Fills

[Costas Vlachos]

I'm using Protel DXP for PCB design (fully manual routing), and I often need
to fill large areas with copper (grounding, high current paths, etc.). Is
there a way to tell the s/w to fill an *arbitrary* closed outline with
copper (other than the polygon plane tool)? What I usually do is just fill
the area with overlapping thick tracks until it's covered completely. Is
this how it's done? Any smarter/easier way to do it?

Thanks.

Costas
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[Peter Bennett]

I'm using Protel DXP for PCB design (fully manual routing), and I often need
to fill large areas with copper (grounding, high current paths, etc.). Is
there a way to tell the s/w to fill an *arbitrary* closed outline with
copper (other than the polygon plane tool)? What I usually do is just fill
the area with overlapping thick tracks until it's covered completely. Is
this how it's done? Any smarter/easier way to do it?

That's what the "Place Polygon plane" tool is for!!

When you place a polygon plane, you can draw an arbitrary outline,
connect the plane to a net, and Protel will fill the polygon,
carefully avoiding any other nets within the area.

 

[Costas Vlachos]

That's what the "Place Polygon plane" tool is for!!

When you place a polygon plane, you can draw an arbitrary outline,
connect the plane to a net, and Protel will fill the polygon,
carefully avoiding any other nets within the area.

Thanks Peter. Yes, I know about the polygon plane tool. It's just that I
don't normally use nets and just lay the board manually (no auto-routing, no
schematic, no net list). I simply use the s/w as a drawing tool. All of my
objects are assigned "No Net". So, when I use the polygon plane, it "avoids"
everything, even pads that should be connected to it. What I want is
something like "Place Fill" but for arbitrary outlines. I'll try to assign
some nets where necessary and give it another go.

cheers,
Costas