Accelerate PCB Documentation in OrCAD X Presto with Live Doc

Live Doc is an advanced automated PCB documentation generation tool integrated with OrCAD X Presto designed to streamline the creation of PCB documentation. By automating the generation of PCB fabrication and assembly drawings, Live Doc significantly reduces the time and effort invested in developing and maintaining multiple documents manually.

Key Features and Benefits

Live Doc has several advantages over the traditional methods of PCB documentation:

• Quick Documentation: Generates essential PCB documentation, including assembly drawings, fabrication drawings, drill charts, and stack-up information, in a fraction of the time compared to manual documentation process.
• Error Reduction: Eliminates human error through automation, ensuring accuracy and consistency in documentation.
• Customization: Helps you customize drawings with dimensions, annotations, and other details using intuitive Properties and Visibility panels.
• Efficiency: Provides the option to dock the workspace alongside OrCAD X Presto for seamless workflow and improved productivity.
• Template Creation: Lets you save frequently used configurations as templates for future designs.

The following image illustrates the types of documentation created by Live Doc:

Getting Started

You can start by creating a document using a template.

• To launch Live Doc for the first time, choose the Manufacturing – Live Doc – Create New From Template menu command.
  A separate instance of Live Doc opens in a new tab.
• To open an existing Live Doc, choose the Manufacturing – Live Doc – Open menu command.
  The fabrication and assembly template pages are automatically loaded for an active design.
• To dock the Live Doc workspace to a new window, right-click the Live Doc tab and choose Dock To – New.

Live Doc Views

Live Doc offers a variety of predefined PCB views that include various types of drawings, such as assembly, instruction, and fabrication drawings. These PCB views are automatically generated from your board design and can be placed and modified in the Live Doc canvas. PCB views are available in the Place panel.

To access the Place panel, choose the View – Panels – Place menu command.

Creating the Assembly Drawing

You can add the assembly top or bottom views to the Live Doc canvas using the Assembly Top or Assembly Bottom options in the Place panel. Drawings can be customized from the Properties and Visibility panels by making necessary adjustments and adding the required details.

Creating the Fabrication Drawing

Providing just the artwork (Gerber) may cause the manufacturer to miss crucial board details. The fabrication drawing, also known as the fab drawing, provides all the essential details required to manufacture a PCB board, including design outline, drill drawing, layer stack up and so on. The fabrication drawing serves as a means of communication with the manufacturer.

You can generate comprehensive fabrication drawings in the Live Doc as explained here:

Drill Drawing
1. Click the Drill Drawing icon in the Place panel to place the view in the Live Doc canvas.
2. Customize the title, location, scale, and the rotation information of the selected PCB view in the Properties panel.

Drill Chart
1. Click the Drill Chart icon in the Fabrication Drawings pane.
2. Draw a rectangle where you want the drill chart to be placed in the Live Doc canvas.
3. Modify the location, units, scaling methods, show/hide columns, and display options of the drill chart in the Properties panel.

Stackup Chart and StackupTable

• Draw a rectangle by clicking the Primary stack-up chart or Stack-up Table icon in the Place panel.
  The selected chart/table is inserted in the Live Doc canvas.

Board Dimensions
You can add dimensions and leaders to objects to indicate their lengths, sizes, and angles or the distance between the selected objects. For example, to add a linear dimension:
1. Choose the Dimensions – Linear command or click the Linear dimension icon from the toolbar.
2. Click the first point to create a guideline,
    The dimension line is attached to the cursor.
3. Click to select the second point.
4. Move the cursor to place the linear dimension.
5. Modify the line width, color, primary units, secondary units, and so on in the Properties panel.

To learn more about Dimensioning, access the product documentation from the Help – Documentation menu command, and search for Dimensions.

Annotations
You can place various graphical objects in the drawing, including rectangular, line, polyline, text, and images from the command toolbar. For example:

1. To add a title or description to your drawing, click the Place Text icon.
2. Modify the font style, alignment, and orientation of the text in the Properties panel.

Exporting PCB Documents to PDF

After placing all the required views to create the PCB documentation, such as custom PCB views, dimensions, drill chart, stackup table and charts, and annotation, you can export these documents to a smart PDF format for easy access, sharing, and distribution.

• To generate a PDF file, choose the File – Export PDF menu command.
  The resultant PDF file is saved in the current working directory with the same name as the design file.

Creating Custom Template

You can save time and improve productivity by creating custom templates that incorporate preferred views and settings. The template can be applied to new designs for consistent documentation.

• To save the template, Click File – Save As Template.
• To apply the template to the design:
   1. Choose the Edit – Preferences menu command.
   2. Select Live Doc – Default.
   3. In the Template file tab, specify the directory location of the template you want to apply.

Note that the new template only applies to new Live Doc designs and does not affect the existing board designs with Live Doc data. 

By leveraging the capabilities of the Live Doc feature, you can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of your PCB documentation process.

To learn in detail about Live Doc features, watch  OrCAD X Presto Basic Techniques (video channel) on the Cadence Support portal.

If you find the post useful and want to delve deeper into training details, enroll in the following online training course for lab instructions and a downloadable design:        

OrCAD X Presto Basic Techniques Training (Online)

You can become Cadence Certified once you complete the course.          

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