Is there any quick way in Altium to remove silkscreen over pad/hole/copper issue - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2021, 03:21:10 am
content: Often I find some part of the silkscreen around a component is not suitable for my current design.Anyone know if there's a hidden feature in altium somewhere to automatically remove any silkscreen that is over other objects?So far I've always had to unlock primitives and edit it manually but this is bad for many reasons.- Very slow- Update footprint from library undoes all your changes.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2021, 11:20:45 am
content: No. Unless such a feature has been added more recently, not sure. Possibly in CAMtastic, but that's postprocess, not PCB.If you have trouble with fabs putting it there anyway... get a new fab? Every one I've seen, removes it automatically.Tim

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2021, 12:00:45 pm
content: yeah they will crop it out, it just annoys me though.Feels wrong to send a PCB out for manufacture with silk over things it shouldn't be over.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2021, 12:16:28 pm
content: Quote from: Psi on April 29, 2021, 12:00:45 pmI have stopped caring about that decades ago. The fab has to deal with that. Typically I place the reference designators inside SMD components so I have a clear overview on which component goes where; there just isn't another way around it on a dense board.

author: voltsandjolts
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 30, 2021, 06:08:05 pm
content: Yup, quickest way to deal with it is to ignore it

author: Shadowfire
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2021, 06:21:18 pm
content: Not neccessarily helpful for Altium, but ...Orcad will do this automatically for you during silkscreening, and it can also attempt to move the text to where it isn't violating clearances. Neither option is without its drawbacks; the first option (which is what you want Altium to do) can result in incomplete Refdes information. The second option could result in a Refdes located in such a position that you're unsure of its target, (or even worse, appears to be for a difference component entirely), so the second option is to be avoided if you have densely populated areas on your board.Orcad can generate a report with links on any silkscreening which violates clearances; clicking on the link centers/zooms in on the offending silkscreen.I've eventually settled on doing a first pass and adjusting the component refdes silkscreens manually (don't even bother with the autosilk at first), then showing the component & autosilk layers with a different color, and then running the autosilkscreen operation. If I see components where the colors aren't in the autosilk layer, it means that Orcad moved it to avoid something. I then rearrange only those component refdes silkscreens and rerun the autosilk operation and iterate until I don't see any moved refdes indicators. Then I run the audits to see if there are any violations on the component body silkscreens. (I usually don't fix these violations unless its something that removes a Pin 1 marker of some sort)I mean, yes, the board house SHOULD remove the violations automatically (and Orcad can do this for you) but you run the risk of your silkscreen layer not correctly doing the only job it had to do for you.l