Available Libraries | Altium Designer User Manual | Documentation – Using Altium Library Loader

Use the Libraries panel to access components in libraries currently available in Altium Designer. The Libraries panel enables you to browse and place components from the libraries currently available in Altium Designer. The panel has direct access to libraries that are part of an opened project or those installed as persistent libraries. Panels can be configured to be floating in the editor space or docked to sides of the screen.

If the Projects panel is currently in the group of docked Workspace panels, use the Projects tab located at the bottom of the panels to bring it to the front. In Altium Designer, components, footprints and other models can only be used from available libraries, which are those libraries that:. Once libraries have been made available, the contents of one of those libraries is presented in the Libraries panel where is can be browsed and used to place components.

All three of the methods of making a library available are configured in the Available Libraries dialog — click the button at the top of the panel to open the dialog.

The Available Libraries dialog has three tabs, which are described in the following sections. Libraries are searched in the order they appear in the Available Libraries dialog — in the order of the tabs, then in the order of the libraries listed within each tab. Searching occurs when the list is interrogated as part of model-link verification, for example, when compiling the project, synchronizing, or running a simulation.

Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons in each tab to define the search order of the libraries listed in that tab. This tab lists all of the libraries that are part of the active project the project currently selected in the Projects panel.

To add a library to the project, click the Add Library button. The Open dialog will appear in which you can browse to and select a library file that you wish to add to the project. Use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to define the search order of the libraries. As a new library is added to the list, its corresponding entry also appears under the associated sub-folder in the Projects panel as a document belonging to that project.

This tab lists all of the installed libraries. This list is an Altium Designer environment setting. Any libraries added to the list will be available for all projects and the list is persistent across design sessions. Project libraries can be added to this list but are not initially part of it. Click the Install button to run the Open dialog in which you can browse to and select a library that you wish to add to the list.

This tab lists all libraries that have been found along the Library Search Paths for the project. Clicking the Paths button will take you directly to this tab where you can define further search paths or modify existing ones as required.

Use the Refresh button to update the search paths and ensure that the library list is current. Libraries in this tab are searched in the order they appear. Click the Paths button to define the order.

Search paths can be defined to a specific file or to a folder, including sub-folders. Keep in mind that searching a large number of folders containing a large number of files can be slow. It is also important to remember that making a large number of libraries available when those libraries are accessed over a network can slow the performance of Altium Designer.

The process of adding Vault folders into the Libraries panel begins in the same way that any library is made available in Altium Designer – by clicking in the Libraries panel to open the Available Libraries dialog. Vault folders can be installed like all other Altium Designer libraries, in the Available Libraries dialog.

To install Vault folders into the Libraries panel, ensure the Installed tab of the Available Libraries dialog is the active tab. Click the Install button and select Install from Vault as shown in the image above to open the Vault Library dialog.

The Vault Library dialog is used to map Vault folders to the Library name you want displayed in the Libraries panel. Once you have defined a name and added the required folders into the Vault Library dialog, click OK to return to the Available Libraries dialog.

The image below shows how the Vault folders present. Note that the Path region of the dialog includes a line for each folder you included in your ‘Vault library’. Vault libraries are listed along with all other installed libraries. The Libraries panel is used to locate and place components into your design.

The panel’s upper dropdown menu lists the libraries that are available for use with the active project. Select a library in the list to make it the active library in the panel. Click the dropdown arrow to select a library. Depending on the panel’s Browse mode setting see below , the following types of library files may be listed:. The types of libraries shown in the drop-down list will change, depending on the panel browse mode selected.

The mode itself is determined using the options accessed by clicking at the far right of the drop-down field:. Configure what types of libraries should be displayed in the panel. Any combination of browse modes may be enabled at any given time. The drop-down list will update accordingly. The columns displayed and the order in which they are displayed can be changed.

To change which columns are displayed, right-click on one of the column headers or a component name and choose Select Columns from the context menu, which opens the Select Parameter Columns dialog. Right-click to configure which columns are displayed. In the Select Parameter Columns dialog, select the required parameter column and use the Add or Remove buttons to transfer between the Known Parameters and Selected Parameters lists.

You can also double-click on an entry to move it from one list to the other. The list of parameters is derived from all parameters across all components in the available libraries. Use the Select Parameter Columns dialog to add or remove parameters from the Libraries panel. The order of parameter columns can be changed using drag and drop, both in the Libraries panel and also in the Select Parameter Columns dialog.

Once you have located the required component, use one of the following techniques to place the component on the active document:. For a PCB component footprint, press the L key to flip the footprint to the other side of the board. After placing the component, another will appear on the cursor ready for placement. Continue to place further instances of this component, or right-click or Esc to stop placing this component. When using the click-and-drag placement method, only a single instance of the part is placed and the board does not remain in placement mode.

A component can only be placed if there is a suitable document schematic or PCB open as the active document and the chosen component has a model for that document kind. If you know which library contains the component you need, you can simply add that library through the Available Libraries dialog. To find a component within the current library, either scroll to find it in the list of components or use the filter field to perform a string search on the component Name field. Filter the list of components to quickly locate the required component.

Incremental search is the name given to searching as you type. To do this in the current library, click on the first entry in the list of components, then start typing the name of the component you want to search for. The list will automatically jump to the component whose name matches the string you are typing.

To perform an incremental search on the contents of a different column, drag and drop that column to be the left-most column. When you do not know which library contains the component, or if it is even available, you can search for it. To search for a component, click the Search button at the top of the panel, which opens the Libraries Search dialog. Use the Libraries Search dialog to search for a component or footprint.

The Filters region is used to define text strings that are to be applied to searching. There are three regions that must be configured:. If the search Scope is Libraries on path , the Field drop-down will only display previously used strings.

If the Scope is Available libraries , then the drop-down will automatically list all attributes of all components in all available libraries. Select the required attribute. For example, if you wanted to find a component that you think is in a library within specific folders on the hard disk and that library was not currently listed in the Available Libraries , you would define the search as follows:. In the default mode, the Libraries Search dialog converts the Filters settings to a query, which is then applied to the libraries currently targeted by the Scope.

You can see this query, as well as manually enter your own, by clicking Advanced to switch the dialog to the Advanced mode as shown in the image below. In the Advanced mode, a query of any complexity can be defined. The top section of the dialog, which is referred to as the Query Editor section, allows you to construct filters through the entry of logical queries.

In this mode, you can type a query directly into the field. For help with query keywords, click Helper to open the Query Helper dialog. Use the Query Helper dialog to locate and learn about query keywords — click in a keyword and press F1 for information about that keyword.

Once the search criteria have been defined, click on the Search button to begin the search. The Libraries Search dialog will close and the results of the search will be listed in the Libraries panel under a new entry in the libraries dropdown list titled Query Results as shown in the image below. Search results are presented in the Libraries panel. If would like to speak with a representative, please contact your local Altium office. Download Altium Designer Installer.

You may receive communications from Altium and can change your notification preferences at any time. If you are not an active Altium Subscription member, please fill out the form below to get your free trial. Just fill out the form below to request your Student License today. Upverter is a free community-driven platform designed specifically to meet the needs of makers like you. Click here to give it a try! Using Altium Documentation. Note: The Query Results entry will only be displayed if the corresponding browse mode option for the panel is enabled.

For example, if the search was conducted for Components , ensure that the Components browse mode option is enabled in order to view the Query Results.

IntegratedLibrary_Pnl-Libraries Libraries _AD | Altium Designer User Manual | Documentation.Altium Designer PCB Library – FREE – Footprints – Symbols – 3D Models

Click the Install button and select Install from Vault as shown in the image above to open the Vault Library dialog. The Vault Library dialog is used to map Vault folders to the Library name you want displayed in the Libraries panel. Once you have defined a name and added the required folders into the Vault Library dialog, click OK to return to the Available Libraries dialog.

The image below shows how the Vault folders present. Note that the Path region of the dialog includes a line for each folder you included in your ‘Vault library’. Vault libraries are listed along with all other installed libraries. The Libraries panel is used to locate and place components into your design. The panel’s upper dropdown menu lists the libraries that are available for use with the active project.

Select a library in the list to make it the active library in the panel. Click the dropdown arrow to select a library.

Depending on the panel’s Browse mode setting see below , the following types of library files may be listed:. The types of libraries shown in the drop-down list will change, depending on the panel browse mode selected. The mode itself is determined using the options accessed by clicking at the far right of the drop-down field:. Configure what types of libraries should be displayed in the panel.

Any combination of browse modes may be enabled at any given time. The drop-down list will update accordingly. The columns displayed and the order in which they are displayed can be changed. To change which columns are displayed, right-click on one of the column headers or a component name and choose Select Columns from the context menu, which opens the Select Parameter Columns dialog. Right-click to configure which columns are displayed.

In the Select Parameter Columns dialog, select the required parameter column and use the Add or Remove buttons to transfer between the Known Parameters and Selected Parameters lists. You can also double-click on an entry to move it from one list to the other. The list of parameters is derived from all parameters across all components in the available libraries.

Use the Select Parameter Columns dialog to add or remove parameters from the Libraries panel. The order of parameter columns can be changed using drag and drop, both in the Libraries panel and also in the Select Parameter Columns dialog. Once you have located the required component, use one of the following techniques to place the component on the active document:. For a PCB component footprint, press the L key to flip the footprint to the other side of the board.

After placing the component, another will appear on the cursor ready for placement. Continue to place further instances of this component, or right-click or Esc to stop placing this component.

When using the click-and-drag placement method, only a single instance of the part is placed and the board does not remain in placement mode. A component can only be placed if there is a suitable document schematic or PCB open as the active document and the chosen component has a model for that document kind. If you know which library contains the component you need, you can simply add that library through the Available Libraries dialog.

To find a component within the current library, either scroll to find it in the list of components or use the filter field to perform a string search on the component Name field. Filter the list of components to quickly locate the required component. Incremental search is the name given to searching as you type.

To do this in the current library, click on the first entry in the list of components, then start typing the name of the component you want to search for. The list will automatically jump to the component whose name matches the string you are typing. To perform an incremental search on the contents of a different column, drag and drop that column to be the left-most column.

When you do not know which library contains the component, or if it is even available, you can search for it. To search for a component, click the Search button at the top of the panel, which opens the Libraries Search dialog. Use the Libraries Search dialog to search for a component or footprint. The Filters region is used to define text strings that are to be applied to searching. There are three regions that must be configured:. Your board previews never looked so beautiful. Footprints are all sized to the manufacturers specifications.

You can be sure the parts fit and reflow perfectly. Thanks to full parametric information and Altium’s filtering, it’s fast to find the appropriate component in the library. Placing real components protects you from adding a part or value combination that does not exist in the real world.

Hundreds of Universities, Government and Private organisations rely on this library for their daily work. The library’s high quality, accurate parts and excellent production success rates are strongly valued by our users. This library was built to have the highest quality of data from the start. Fully accurate 3D Models, footprints and parametric data.

Never place a component value that doesn’t exist again. The library is production proven, footprints are designed to the manufacturers specifications so parts fit and reflow perfectly.

Components pick and place correctly thanks to correct component centroid information. Toggle navigation. Altium Library Loader Have a question or query? Download Altium Library Loader from here 2.

Using Altium Library Loader 1. The component will now be in your library complete with Footprint and 3D Model.

ALTIUM DOWNLOADS | Altium

Download zip, 2. Download exe, 23 MB. Download exe, 24 MB. Download exe, 22 MB. Download exe, 20 Mb. Download exe, 9 Mb. Download exe, 3. Download exe, 7. Latest version: 3. RCS that is modified to customise the Altium Designer menus. Once the installation is complete, a web page is opened to prompt you to launch Altium Designer. Note: If you previously had Library Loader installed then these account details will be filled in for you.

You can also click the Symbol, Footprint and 3D Model images to view them in more detail. Over components! Place real parts from a supplier. Your BOM will be fully populated ready to the order parts you placed. Component centres are the correct spot for a Pick and Place machine to collect the part, meaning less programming, less rework.

Every part has a beautiful 3D model built to the manufacturers dimensions. Your board previews never looked so fantastic. Footprints are all sized to the manufacturers specifications – not generic. The component will now be in your library complete with Footprint and 3D Model.

If you need further help or wish to get back to this page, please click the Help button. Loading Comments Now reading version For the latest, read: Available Libraries for version Summary Use the Available Libraries dialog to: add or remove libraries to and from the project and designate the hierarchy of project these libraries Project tab ; install libraries into this installation of Altium Designer Installed tab ; and specify library search paths Search Path tab.

When you select a library and click remove, you will not be prompted with a confirmation asking if you are sure; the library will be immediately removed. Make sure the correct library is selected before you click remove.