Apertures

To see a list of apertures, click on the plus box next to the Apertures heading. The Apertures area expands to show all the defined apertures in the design, with their corresponding D-code number and size. The blue graphic next to each aperture shows you the general shape of the aperture. If the aperture is a custom, the name assigned to the custom appears in parentheses. Custom apertures are also listed under the Custom Apertures heading.

All the aperture information may be modified using the Navigator.

To add an aperture

1. Right-click on the Apertures heading. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Add New command, and the New D-code dialog box appears.

3. By default, the lowest available D-code number appears in the text box. Select an unused D-code number, and click OK.

By default, the aperture is made a round thru-hole and has no size. The aperture will not appear in the Navigator until you use it, or select the Show Unused command from the right-click shortcut menu.

To make an aperture active

1. Right-click on the desired aperture in the list. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Active command (when an aperture is active, a checkmark appears next to the Active command). The aperture is now active.

To highlight all occurrences of an aperture

1. Right-click on the desired aperture in the list. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Highlight command. All occurrences of that aperture, on all visible layers, are highlighted in the workspace.

To view unused apertures

1. Right-click on the Apertures heading. A shortcut menu appears.

2. Select the Show Unused command, and all unused apertures immediately appear in the list.

To hide unused apertures, right-click on the Apertures heading. A checkmark appears next to the Show Unused command. Select the command to remove the checkmark and hide the unused apertures.

To delete an unused aperture

1. Make sure that unused apertures are displayed (see above).

2. Right-click on the desired aperture in the list. A shortcut menu appears.

3. Select the Spreadsheet command, and the Aperture Setup dialog box appears. The dialog box scrolls to the aperture you selected.

4. Right-click on the aperture, and select the Delete D-code command from the shortcut menu.

5. Click OK to close the dialog box.

To change an aperture’s shape

1. Click on the plus box next to the desired aperture.

2. In the aperture detail list, the first item is the D-code shape. Right-click on the shape, and a shortcut menu appears.

3. The current shape has a checkmark next to it. Select the new shape from the menu.

To change an aperture’s size

1. Click on the plus box next to the desired aperture.

2. In the aperture detail list, the second item is the D-code size. Right-click on the size, and a shortcut menu appears.

3. Select the Edit command. A box appears around the size, indicating that it can be edited.

4. Type in the new size, and press the Enter key when you are finished.

To change an aperture’s type

1. Click on the plus box next to the desired aperture.

2. In the aperture detail list, the third item is the aperture type. Right-click on the type, and a shortcut menu appears.

3. A checkmark appears next to the current type. Select the new type from the list.

To add a flash in the workspace

1. Click on the desired aperture in the Navigator, and hold down the mouse button.

2. Drag the cursor to the desired location in the workspace, and release the mouse button. A new flash is added to the active layer, using the aperture you selected.