FEDEVEL
Platform forum

jarecki , 05-28-2019, 04:45 AM

Hi,

I used to use PDF3D when soldering prototypes. It is convenient as you can switch on and off component's visibility which makes it less possible to make some mistake.
However I cannot work out how to manage the order of elements in PDF3D. I would like them to be grouped by type e.g 10 kohm 0402 resistors, 100nF 0402 capacitors and so on.
If it is not possible then I would like them to be at least at alphabetical order.

In PDF3Ds generated from Altium they are mostly in alphabetical order, but not exactly. There are groups of resistors, then capacitors, then again resistors.
It is annoying in case you have have many elements when you need to scroll all the list of components to find the one you are looking for.

Does anybody know how to manage the order of elements?

robertferanec , 05-29-2019, 12:01 AM

This is what I found:

"You can add, delete and rename views on the Model Tree panel. However, to reorder the views, click the Views drop-down arrow on the 3D toolbar and select Manage Views to open the Manage Views dialog box (Figure 4). Select a view on the list, and use the commands to reorder the list, rename or delete content. If you've set the model's display prior to opening the Manage Views dialog box, you can add a new view, too."
Source: https://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/m...ng-3d-pdf-file

It looks like, the Model Tree can only be ordered when 3D PDF is generated or edited ... maybe (?)

jarecki , 05-29-2019, 06:17 AM

Thank you for your response.
However, the tutorial is not very helpful, I don't know what commands they are talking about.
Have you tried to change the order in some of your own PDF3D?

robertferanec , 05-29-2019, 09:02 AM

No, I have not tried. I only have Adobe Reader which doesn't have editing features.

jarecki , 05-29-2019, 09:57 AM

So editing features are required. I guess it is not for free.
Maybe it is a workaround in Altium. If I knew how Altium orders the components, it could be possible to do some specific schematic annotation. Possibly I should learn writing scripts for Altium.
Knowing how scripts work in Altium could be valuable. Last time I have done 30 similar footprints and symbols of connectors manually. I wonder if it could be done by some script ...

But I have no idea of how the components in PDF3d are ordered. Do you have a guess?

robertferanec , 05-31-2019, 02:06 AM

I do not know how components are ordered in the 3DPDF and how it can be changed.