can't place or move components - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: stephenjvb
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 22, 2015, 02:50:13 am
content: I created a board and put some parts on it. I created mounting holes as parts as the wizard to create new mounting holes asked me to select a pad and I can't see any place to do that. That's no problem, but ...Now I have a board outline with 2 parts that are mounting holes and about 30 LEDs, some of which are outside the board area . I have been moving them into place but now I can't highlight any more parts, inside or outside the board. I have tried making the board big enough for all the parts, to no avail. I have saved the file and restarted the program twice. The item "component" under PLACE is greyed out. Any suggestions?.I CAN'T DOWNLOAD THE BOARD FILE AS IT IS NOT A SUPPORTED TYPE.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2015, 02:55:39 am
content: Any chance we could have some more info?

author: singapol
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2015, 03:04:25 am
content: Quote from: c4757p on August 22, 2015, 02:55:39 amLike which pcb/cad software you are using? If it's a demo/trial/shareware there could be limitations of the number of components and or board size. It could also be the AI (artificial intelligence) of the software with regards to board size or number of components and the default clearances of component footprints and signal traces that can possibly fit onto the board.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2015, 03:08:01 am
content: what cad tool ? mspaint ? photoshop ?

author: alsetalokin4017
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 22, 2015, 04:02:12 am
content: Put the board file(s) into a .zip file and attach that.

author: stephenjvb
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 22, 2015, 07:44:51 pm
content: I'm using the free version of ZenitPCB. I thought this was the forum for that program. If it isn't then nevermind. I previously had placed the mounting holes and all the LEDs I needed using this program. I thought I saved that file but I can't find it, so I don't think its a parts count limitation this time. I've got about 2/3's of the leds on the board that I had previously. I am able to add new parts, just not move them.I'm not sure what you mean by cad program (mspaint or photoshop) or what I'd use them for.I drew a quick schematic using FastCAD but that's just for reference. I'm not trying to import anything from it. I just want a simple manual place and route.I'm not using an integrated cad program for a netlist as the job is so simple I'll route by hand - I've done it lots before. On jobs like this I commonly spend more time cleaning up after the autorouter than it takes to route by hand. (I have been designing boards for decades, the most complicated had two 325 pin ball grid array cpu's and 16 24 pin rams). I've used a few layout programs. I tried this software because my old software dongle died and I need a simple layout.Eventually this board will have 2 mounting holes, 5 holes for wires, 2 diodes, 5 resistors, 2 transistors and 44 LEDs.Here's the board file

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 23, 2015, 02:43:53 am
content: next time, go here...

author: singapol
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 23, 2015, 02:55:48 am
content: You can try KICAD, no limits...free open cad ( computer aided design) software.