Placing components

When you click Place Component the Place Component panel expands. The dropdown list provides access to local libraries. If you want to include additional libraries, click Open Library Manager (the button beside the dropdown list).

When a component is selected the lower section of the panel displays two tabs, Details and Attributes.

• The Details panel displays thumbnail images of the component schematic, footprint, and 3D model, if one is included.
• The Attributes tab contains a list of the selected component's attributes and if attribute sets (formerly called technologies) were previously defined, you can switch between them.

To place a component you can double-click, drag and drop, or press Enter to attach the component to the cursor as you move into the Canvas area. The Add dialog opens and while the selected component is attached to the cursor and ready to place, the Add dialog provides orientation options:

• Select the rotation angle.
• Click Mirror to flip the component left to right.

To maintain synchronization, components should be added to a schematic design rather than to a PCB. Using the Place Component command on a PCB is limited to adding items that appear only on the board, such as logos, signage, or mechanical features stored in a library.