Draw areas to restrict copper

Draw a shape on the RestrictCopper layer to prevent copper from being routed on specific signal layers in a defined area of your board.

If you want to draw a polygon restrict area, you can use the dedicated Restrict Area command from the Polygon dropdown menu in the toolbar. It places the shape directly on the RestrictCopper layer and includes the Restricted Layers dropdown in its dialog, so you can target routing layers without an extra properties step. For other shape types—rectangle, circle, or wire—use the general workflow below.

1. In the Display Layers panel, click the RestrictCopper layer to make it the active layer.
2. On the PCB Design toolbar, select a drawing tool that matches the shape of the area you want to restrict:
   • Polygon to draw a closed, free-form shape
   • Rectangle to draw a rectangular area
   • Circle to draw a circular area
   • Wire to draw a line segment along a boundary
3. Draw the restrict area on the board. Click to place each point, and double-click to finish the shape.
4. Select the restrict area you just drew, then open its properties.
5. In the Restricted Layers field, use the dropdown to select one or more routing layers that the restriction applies to—for example, Top, Bottom, or inner layers such as Route2.
6. Click OK to confirm the selection.
7. To verify the restriction, run a Design Rule Check: on the PCB Design toolbar, click Rules > DRC/ERC > Run DRC. Any copper object that overlaps the restrict area on one of the targeted layers is reported as a violation.

Move an existing object to the RestrictCopper layer

You can also convert an existing object into a restrict area by moving it to the RestrictCopper layer, regardless of which layer it was originally drawn on.

Note: Moving an object to the RestrictCopper layer is permanent. Once it becomes a restrict object, it cannot be moved back to another layer or reassigned to a different layer. To change what the restriction targets, use the Restricted Layers dropdown in the object's properties. To remove the restriction entirely, delete the object.