OrCAD X Presto PCB - Recent Threads

RE: Connecting mechanical pins to a ground plane

ddchar — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:47:00 GMT

Thanks for the tips. I was able to make the connections by adding a net name of Shield to each of the (formerly) mechanical pins and then adding a Shield net alias to the GND net on the schematic. It seems odd that the PCB footprint had no provision for connecting the body/shield/return to a net. All of the MCX connectors I looked at had a similar setup.

Connecting mechanical pins to a ground plane

ddchar — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:45:01 GMT

My board design contains a couple of instances of an SMA connector. The Capture part defines only the center signal pin. The footprint has this pin and four mechanical pins. The mechanical pins also provide the signal return connection and should be connected to the ground plane. What is the best way to make these connections? Do I need to edit the Capture part and add the ground pins or is there a way to associate these with the ground plane in Presto? Thanks.

RE: Connecting mechanical pins to a ground plane

Ulf K — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:20:17 GMT

"Been there".

Advice: A l w a y s create connectors and other mechanical parts using "connectable"/passeive pins. Sometimes, connecting metal also acts as improving ESD protection. In regard to connectors, using "connectable pins" the layout designer then have a choise: Either connect them or, if it is desirable not to, simply add a "dangle" (x) = not connected. That will prevent a DRC error.

IMHO, the only time a mechanical (ie: solderless pad (hole)) should be added is when creating a part that has guide holes without copper. And that is done in the layout editor. Just make sure that a suitable copper keep-out area around these holes are added.

Crating schematic symbols with multiple pins of same net such as a thru-hole or end launcher SMA connector with 4 ground pins can be accomplished so that only one ground pin is visible is using the "pack short" property, but sometimes this rises quesrtion during auditing. I usually takes the easy way out and simply adds the four gnd pins apart from the center (RF) pin.

RE: Connecting mechanical pins to a ground plane

Jeet — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:51:15 GMT

Are you connect Mechanical pins present in a component in schematic to SMA connector pins also or ground plane ?

Which version of the tool you are using ?

Running Signal Integrity Analysis in OrCAD X Presto Made Easy

vidhyaparameswari — Mon, 25 May 2026 07:45:34 GMT

Looking to run Signal Integrity (SI) analysis directly at the layout level in OrCAD X Presto? You can easily do this using the built-in Analysis Workflows powered by Sigrity technology.

OrCAD X Presto provides multiple SI analyses such as Impedance, IR Drop, Crosstalk, Reflection, Return Path, and Decap Placement—all accessible within the layout environment.

To get started, navigate to Electrical Analysis → Analysis Workflows and select the required workflow from the drop-down list. Before running any analysis, make sure to complete the setup using the Design Setup Workflow.

These workflows allow you to analyze either the full design or selected nets, view results as graphical overlays along with tables, identify issues like high coupling or impedance discontinuities, and directly fix and validate them on the design canvas.

Please note that access to Aurora In-Design Analysis requires an Aurora license, and these workflows are not available in OrCAD X Standard.

Once the setup is complete, you can run the required analysis based on your design needs and start optimizing your layout efficiently.

Manila Letters over Menus in Presto

JM20241029170 — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:52:35 GMT

When using Presto 25.1.01, all the menus have manila letters on the starting letter of each menu item...it is incredibly annoying and I can't seem to get rid of them.

RE: Manila Letters over Menus in Presto

JM20241029170 — Thu, 21 May 2026 21:03:21 GMT

This is also happening with System Capture. Makes it hard to read.

RE: Manila Letters over Menus in Presto

JM20241029170 — Wed, 06 May 2026 16:46:29 GMT

This is still an issue that makes it harder to use the tools than necessary.

RE: OrCAD X PCB Professional crashes when working with differential pairs (no error message)

steve — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:52:15 GMT

Make sure you are using the latest hotfix, 24.1 S008. Have you run DBDoctor as an external program? There is an icon under Windows - All Apps - Cadence PCB Utilities version - PCB DBDoctor that may help. Try Setup - User Preferences - unsupported - dbdoc_fixed_private (enable) then try and delete the module.

OrCAD X PCB Professional crashes when working with differential pairs (no error message)

SR202603101547 — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 08:51:40 GMT

Hi,

I’m encountering a recurring issue with OrCAD X PCB Professional where the application crashes without any error message while working with differential pairs.

Description of the issue:

The crash happens during differential pair operations such as:
- Routing
- Slide/drag (tuning or adjusting)
The application simply closes instantly (no warning, no crash dialog, no log that I can see)

Environment:

Tool: OrCAD X PCB Professional
Version: 24.1-2024-S007
OS: Windows 11

Additional details:

Happens consistently when working with differential pairs
Not related to a specific net or design (occurs across multiple projects), some closes frequently and some less
Single-ended routing seems stable
No visible error messages or logs generated

What I’ve tried:

Restarting the tool and PC
Testing with different designs
Database check (no errors in log)

Questions:

Is there a known issue or patch for this?

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

RE: OrCAD X PCB Professional crashes when working with differential pairs (no error message)

SR202603101547 — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 08:32:51 GMT

I discovered what appears to be a phantom Place Replicate Module in the design:

It exists in the database but:
- Cannot be selected properly
- Cannot be deleted
- Does not behave like a normal replicate module
Suspect this is leftover/corrupted data from a previous replicate operation

Cross-Probe Between OrCAD X Presto Canvas and Constraint Manager

vidhyaparameswari — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 09:37:27 GMT

If you're working with OrCAD X Presto and want to cross-probe between the canvas and Constraint Manager, here's a step-by-step guide to help you achieve this:

Step 1: Enable Auto xProbe in OrCAD X Presto Canvas

Open your OrCAD X Presto canvas and enable the Auto xProbe option at the bottom left of the canvas.

Step 2: Enable Application Select in Constraint Manager

Open Constraint Manager, go to View, then View Options, and Workbooks, and enable the Application Select option, then close the form.

Step 3: Cross-Probe Between OrCAD X Presto Canvas and Constraint Manager

Once both options are enabled, you can now cross-probe between the OrCAD X Presto canvas and Constraint Manager window. Ensure that Nets in Selection Filter is enabled to highlight the net between the two windows.

By following these simple steps, you can easily cross-probe between the OrCAD X Presto canvas and Constraint Manager. If you have any questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask!

It should not take hours to figure out how to rotate text 45 degrees :(

DG202504226528 — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 13:29:18 GMT

Even chatgtp can't figure it out. I can't even do it in the legacy tool. Why is everything stuck at 90???? Another super simple thing that would be solved in two seconds in any other tool.

RE: It should not take hours to figure out how to rotate text 45 degrees :(

DG202504226528 — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 16:06:29 GMT

Thanks JuanCR. I'll def try that next time :)

RE: It should not take hours to figure out how to rotate text 45 degrees :(

JuanCR — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:54:18 GMT

True. This will only work on components. About ChatGPT, just be careful with the AI hallucinations. I'd recommend you use the support.cadence.com portal instead. It has an AI agent integrated.

RE: It should not take hours to figure out how to rotate text 45 degrees :(

DG202504226528 — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:43:26 GMT

Yeah, that works on a couple of things like a part that's placed, but not on a trace segment and random other things. Not like the Legacy tool that you can rotate anything.

Thanks everyone :) Just another cranky morning for me ;) I think what's really frustrating is that ChatGPT keeps on sending me into rabbit holes with Allegro features that are not in Orcad since they're basically the same tool.

RE: It should not take hours to figure out how to rotate text 45 degrees :(

JuanCR — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:02:46 GMT

Hi DG202504226528

You can find the option in the Properties Panel under the "Location" section:

RE: It should not take hours to figure out how to rotate text 45 degrees :(

DG202504226528 — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 14:54:07 GMT

Hey Orcad! Are you guys going to make Presto more useable or roll all the Presto features into the Legacy PCB tool? I still haven't figured out how to rotate things by 45 in Presto without going back to the legacy tool. Why is Presto stuck at 90? Or am I an idiot? :)

Thanks

RE: Real-Time DFA Removed in 24.1 and On

Elecguy — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 11:12:55 GMT

I agree. I mean ... we never know the decisions that drive where they put their features. But this one does seem odd.

Real-Time DFA Removed in 24.1 and On

JM20241029170 — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:10:32 GMT

Howdy y'all,

I wanted to open a discussion on this. The OrCAD X Presto tutorial at OrCAD X How To Series - Part 5 - DFA and Package to Package Spacing shows the ability to have real-time DFA feedback through white circles. This is incredibly important to prevent users from having to constantly move and check DFA errors back and forth...which has plagued me for years. Without this, placing components takes forever! How do y'all approach this?

I found that it appears Cadence bumped the feature up from the base version to Allegro Designer starting with 24.1. This is outrageous for such a basic feature IMO.

Will Presto ever have the same legacy gerber tool like the legacy PCB editor? The new one is garbage.

DG202504226528 — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 15:51:43 GMT

Do people actually use the newish gerber tool? It's annoying to constantly go back and forth from the legacy pcb tool to presto constantly. When will Presto get some of those good tools?

Or at least make the new tool so we can manually edit every layer separately and be able to remove stuff like "PDF", the IPC-D-356, etc from it. I want to break my keyboard every time I look at it ;) haha..

When is the next update? Be great to have a tool that doesn't crash constantly [emoticon:c4563cd7d5574777a71c318021cbbcc8]

thanks

RE: Will Presto ever have the same legacy gerber tool like the legacy PCB editor? The new one is garbage.

Elecguy — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 21:14:36 GMT

What Gerber are you talking about ? 🤔

RE: Manila Letters over Menus in Presto

JM20241029170 — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 16:04:35 GMT

Yes, this is the default state of the Presto PCB editor. Pressing "Alt" simply highlights "File". ALL menus do this as well, including context menus and dialogues.

RE: Manila Letters over Menus in Presto

JuanCR — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 15:20:30 GMT

Are you saying that this is the default state of the tool for you?

This is the appearance of the tool if you press "Alt". However, it should not look like this by default and it should go away once you click on the center area.

Issue Opening Multiple PCBs in Presto

NK202501143854 — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 14:14:06 GMT

Hello,

I find it strange that I can’t open two PCB files at the same time in Presto. I don’t understand why a separate license is required for each PCB (usually one person doesn’t develop two PCBs simultaneously!). Being able to open two PCBs at once would be very useful for documentation, version comparison, and so on.