How to re-use blocks in schematics and layout

[nickagian]

Hi there!

I have recently switched to Altium Designer from Mentor Expedition and I am experiencing with some difficulties trying to adapt my style of drawing schematics to the new tool.

My main issue is how to be able to re-use certain blocks of electronics, both in the schematics and layout level, across projects and inside the same project.

What I used in Mentor for example was a certain switching regulator block that I designed and drew only once and that I could then use multiple times in the same project with differences in fitting (to achieve different output voltage values). These re-use blocks were also available in other projects.

Simply, my question is: how can I achieve something similar with Altium?

I have read about snippets, but I am not convinced that this is the best solution for my case.

[mairomaster]

I always do it manually and it is not that time consuming. For schematics you just copy and paste the required block of circuitry somewhere else and give the new component instances new designators (you can use auto annotate for that).

For the PCB it's similar - copy and paste, but after that you should manually change the designators in the block to match the copied block designators in the schematics. That could be done easier by using the PCB List window.

[nickagian]

Thanks for the answer mairomaster!

I agree that for the schematic it can be done without much effort the way you describe it.

But can it also be done for the layout? Can I copy parts of the layout from another project?

[robertferanec]

But can it also be done for the layout? Can I copy parts of the layout from another project?

Yes, you can copy and paste layout between projects. Just be sure you do not forget to update the designators (as mairomaster mentioned ) and you may need to run Project -> Component Links to make connection between components in your schematic and components in your PCB.