2018

Electrical Diagrams Software

ProfiCAD
www.proficad.com
01.12.2018
Contents
getting started ......................................................................................................................................... 8
Symbols Library ................................................................................................................................... 8
Sample drawings ................................................................................................................................. 8
Program controls and keyboard shortcuts .......................................................................................... 8
Feedback wanted ................................................................................................................................ 8
Frequently asked questions and answers ............................................................................................... 8
How do I setup page orientation (landscape or portrait)? ................................................................. 8
I am getting errors when trying to update ProfiCAD .......................................................................... 8
In File – Options – Data Fields I entered values for the „title“ and „titleSup“ fields,
but they do not appear in the title block. ........................................................................................... 8
At program startup there is no grid nor any page frame .................................................................... 9
How to setup numbering of a symbol, for example to be W1, W2, W3 instead of R1, R2, R3 ........... 9
Message "out of memory" appears .................................................................................................... 9
My line types disappeared - I can only see a solid line ....................................................................... 9
There are several objects on my page but I cannot select anything ................................................... 9
How can I add symbols to the favorites pane? ................................................................................... 9
How to import from PDF? ................................................................................................................... 9
How to export to PDF format? .......................................................................................................... 10
Sometimes there is a need that the arrow is pointing backwards and has to be drawn again. ....... 10
What symbols are available in the full version? Do you have other symbols? ................................. 10
If I modify a symbol in the symbol editor, will this symbol be changed in all diagrams I have already
drawn? ............................................................................................................................................... 10
When I attempt printing the diagram on the 5L laser printer, some lines blur and some parts of the
diagram are not printed at all. .......................................................................................................... 10
Dashed line prints as solid line .......................................................................................................... 11
An object cannot be selected - when clicking on an object it cannot be selected and a different
object, further from the pointer is highlighted instead. ................................................................... 11
A yellow frame, which is much larger than the circuit symbol itself, appears around the circuit
symbol. .............................................................................................................................................. 11
Can I customize the gates? When I insert a gate, the program lists only the default gate symbol to
select and I have not found a way how to customize it. ................................................................... 12
Program Relocation ........................................................................................................................... 12
Keyboard shortcuts - accelerators......................................................................................................... 12
ProfiCAD gallery ..................................................................................................................................... 13

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Panels .................................................................................................................................................... 14
Documents ............................................................................................................................................ 15
drawings templates ........................................................................................................................... 16
Symbols and favorites ........................................................................................................................... 16
Explorer ................................................................................................................................................. 17
Layers ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
Properties .............................................................................................................................................. 18
Integrated circuits ................................................................................................................................. 19
Pages ..................................................................................................................................................... 20
Search .................................................................................................................................................... 22
Search Symbols ...................................................................................................................................... 22
How to draw electrical diagrams ........................................................................................................... 23
How to insert symbols ........................................................................................................................... 24
There are four ways to insert a symbol into a drawing: ................................................................... 24
from the "Symbols Graphically" panel .......................................................................................... 24
from the Symbols Textually panel ................................................................................................. 24
from the Favourites panel ............................................................................................................. 24
from the search symbols window ................................................................................................. 24
Symbols properties ............................................................................................................................ 24
Automatic numbering ................................................................................................................... 25
Color of symbols ............................................................................................................................ 25
Color fill of symbols ....................................................................................................................... 25
How to draw electrical wires ................................................................................................................. 26
Proceed as follows: ............................................................................................................................ 26
Drawing a wire between a symbol and another wire ....................................................................... 27
Adjustment of completed wires ........................................................................................................ 28
Drawing the wires starting or ending "in the air" ............................................................................. 28
striped wires ...................................................................................................................................... 28
How to draw cables ............................................................................................................................... 29
How to draw graphical shapes .............................................................................................................. 30

Line ......................................................................................................................................... 30

Polyline ................................................................................................................................... 30

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 Curve.....................................................................................................................................................30

Rectangle..............................................................................................................................................31

Rounded rectangle.............................................................................................................................31

Arc, chord and pie 31

Ellipse....................................................................................................................................................31

Polygon.................................................................................................................................................32

Outlet....................................................................................................................................................32
How to draw arrows.......................................................................................................................................32
Orthogonal drawing mode............................................................................................................................32
Reference grid......................................................................................................................................................33
Import from AutoCAD (DXF and DWG)............................................................................................................35
Inserting images...................................................................................................................................................35
Working with objects..........................................................................................................................................36
Selecting an object..........................................................................................................................................36
Cloning an object.............................................................................................................................................36
Rotating............................................................................................................................................................36
Rotating other objects....................................................................................................................................37
Flipping.............................................................................................................................................................37
Deleting.............................................................................................................................................................37
How to set the contour thickness and line type ........................................................................................37
Alignment.........................................................................................................................................................38
Changing the order of graphical shapes layers..........................................................................................38
Availability of described operations.............................................................................................................38
Inserting texts......................................................................................................................................................39
Line styles.............................................................................................................................................................40
LIN Format:.......................................................................................................................................................40
Cross references..................................................................................................................................................41
wires..................................................................................................................................................................41
symbols.............................................................................................................................................................41

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Drawing to scale..................................................................................................................................................42
Wires numbering.................................................................................................................................................44
Copying style........................................................................................................................................................44
Style library...........................................................................................................................................................45
Dimensioning.......................................................................................................................................................48
Linear Dimension............................................................................................................................................48
Aligned dimension..........................................................................................................................................48
Diameter dimension.......................................................................................................................................48
Dimension styles.............................................................................................................................................49
Reports..................................................................................................................................................................51
Ad-hoc reports.................................................................................................................................................51
Embedded reports..........................................................................................................................................51
How to set the page format for reports:................................................................................................51
How to set the page orientation for reports:.........................................................................................51
Export to Image Format..................................................................................................................................... 52
pasting a diagram into MS Office.................................................................................................................52
supported image formats..............................................................................................................................52
export options.................................................................................................................................................52
Note:..................................................................................................................................................................52
saving to clipboard..........................................................................................................................................52
Export to DXF data format.................................................................................................................................53
Online Conversion...........................................................................................................................................53
Export directly from the program................................................................................................................53
Bill of material......................................................................................................................................................54
Attributes in the bill of material...................................................................................................................55
Bill of material Configuration........................................................................................................................56
Netlist....................................................................................................................................................................57
Example of a netlist........................................................................................................................................57
List of wires...........................................................................................................................................................58
Batch printing of symbols...................................................................................................................................58
Batch printing of drawings.................................................................................................................................60
List of pages..........................................................................................................................................................61
Symbols library.....................................................................................................................................................63

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 How to create a group ....................................................................................................................... 63
How to rename a group .................................................................................................................... 64
How to delete a group ....................................................................................................................... 64
The library contains a several directories beginning with the "_" symbol, which have a special
purpose: ............................................................................................................................................ 64
Three types of symbols used in ProfiCAD: ........................................................................................ 64
The symbols have been created using the following standards: ...................................................... 64
Drawing electrical symbols .................................................................................................................... 64
changing an existing symbol .............................................................................................................. 64
creating a symbol .............................................................................................................................. 64
creating a symbol based on another symbol .................................................................................... 65
positioning the outlets ...................................................................................................................... 66
test your symbol ................................................................................................................................ 67
renaming a symbol ............................................................................................................................ 67
moving symbol to a different group .................................................................................................. 67
deleting a symbol or IC ...................................................................................................................... 67
Properties of the symbols ..................................................................................................................... 68
Rotating graphical shapes ..................................................................................................................... 69
step 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 69
step 2 ................................................................................................................................................. 70
step 3 ................................................................................................................................................. 70
step 4 ................................................................................................................................................. 71
How to resize a symbol ......................................................................................................................... 72
in the drawing.................................................................................................................................... 72
in the editor ....................................................................................................................................... 73
Symbol parameters ............................................................................................................................... 74
Symbol attributes .................................................................................................................................. 75
Group attributes ............................................................................................................................ 76
Numbering symbol outlets .................................................................................................................... 77
How to insert a title block into a drawing ............................................................................................. 79
default title block .............................................................................................................................. 79
inserting title block ............................................................................................................................ 79
showing / hiding title block ............................................................................................................... 79
after the title block was changed ...................................................................................................... 79

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 title block display options..............................................................................................................................79
How to create a title block.................................................................................................................................81
how to change logo in a title block..............................................................................................................81
how to change a title block...........................................................................................................................81
placeholders.....................................................................................................................................................82
Data fields in title blocks....................................................................................................................................82
System variables..................................................................................................................................................84
Working environment setting............................................................................................................................84
Grid....................................................................................................................................................................84
Background color............................................................................................................................................84
Show outlet numbers.....................................................................................................................................84
Zoom.................................................................................................................................................................85
Units..................................................................................................................................................................85
Snap and working environment...................................................................................................................85
Purging the drawing....................................................................................................................................... 85
Program settings..................................................................................................................................................85
System - Paths.................................................................................................................................................86
Symbols library................................................................................................................................................86
Open in Windows Explorer............................................................................................................................86
System - Control..............................................................................................................................................87
Enable UNDO/REDO.......................................................................................................................................87
Number of steps on zoom change...............................................................................................................87
Enable auto scrolling......................................................................................................................................88
Confirmation when deleting......................................................................................................................... 88
Auto-Save.........................................................................................................................................................88
System - Symbols............................................................................................................................................89
Renumbering symbols on copying...............................................................................................................89
System - Others...............................................................................................................................................90
Working area in Symbol Editor.....................................................................................................................90
Character map.................................................................................................................................................91
Use initial values of lines and wires.............................................................................................................91
Language..........................................................................................................................................................91
Check for updates at program start.............................................................................................................91

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 Document - Fonts............................................................................................................................................92
Document - Contents.....................................................................................................................................93
Show types and values...................................................................................................................................93
Framing.............................................................................................................................................................93
Document - Description.................................................................................................................................94
Data fields.........................................................................................................................................................94
Title block.........................................................................................................................................................95
Reference grid.................................................................................................................................................97
Dimensions of the drawing area.......................................................................................................................98
Print Settings......................................................................................................................................................100
Page Size.............................................................................................................................................................101
Toolbar area.......................................................................................................................................................102
Status bar...........................................................................................................................................................102

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getting started
Symbols Library
You can rearrange the symbols library to suit your needs. Change the organization of the
groups of symbols depending on what drawings you draw. Split, merge and delete groups
of symbols in the library.

Sample drawings
Have a look at the sample drawings in the Documents panel to get an idea about the
abilities of the software.

Program controls and keyboard shortcuts

Learn the keyboard shortcuts (at least the most important ones) and the how to control
the program.

Feedback wanted
We welcome any questions and tips for program improvement. Please send your feedback to:
info@proficad.com.

Frequently asked questions and answers

How do I setup page orientation (landscape or portrait)?
Use the print settings and page size dialogues.

I am getting errors when trying to update ProfiCAD

The update is probably blocked by the firewall or by the antivirus software.

As an alternative update method, please download ProfiCAD for flash drive.

unpack its contents and copy files ProfiCAD.exe, common.dll and proficad.chm to the
folder where ProfiCAD is installed (probably C:\Program Files\ProfiCAD (x86))

In File – Options – Data Fields I entered values for the „title“

and „titleSup“ fields, but they do not appear in the title
block.

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These two fields are different for each page. That is why they need to be entered in the
Page panel (double-click the page). If you want these two fields to be the same on all pages,
enter them in File – Options – Data Fields and delete them from the Pages panel.

At program startup there is no grid nor any page frame

Go to program settings (press F12), select Document - Size, "According to Printer", press button
Setup and select the paper format you wish to use.

How to setup numbering of a symbol, for example to

be W1, W2, W3 instead of R1, R2, R3
1. Open the symbol (right-click the symbol in panel "Symbols Graphically" and select open
symbol)
2. Press F12 and select Symbol
3. Change default reference

Also, see this video.

Message "out of memory" appears

This may happen if the drawing contains too large images (data size of many MB). There
are two possible solutions:

• Use the menu command File - Purge. This will delete unnecessary objects from the
drawing.
• Remove the images from the drawing, edit them in a graphics program (to have smaller
size) and insert them again.

My line types disappeared - I can only see a solid line

The symbols library must contain folder _LIN with a file lines.lin . You can determine the
path to the library in program settings (F12) - Paths

There are several objects on my page but I cannot select

anything
The objects may be in a different layer. Switch into the right layer.

How can I add symbols to the favorites pane?

Drag them onto the heart icon.

How to import from PDF?

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PDF can not be inserted directly into a ProfiCAD drawing. One can take a screenshot
and then insert it as an image.

How to export to PDF format?

For export to PDF we can recommend programs like:

Foxit (http://www.foxitsoftware.com)

and many others

These programs operate on the principle of virtual printers, i.e. in ProfiCAD choose to print
and select one of these programs as a printer. Additionally, select paper size, page
orientation and location on the disk where to save the resulting document.

You may also use the "Microsoft XPS" format, which is Microsoft's alternative to PDF.
The advantage is that it is pre-installed in Windows already. XPS documents can be opened
on any MS Windows computer.

Sometimes there is a need that the arrow is

pointing backwards and has to be drawn again.
To reverse the arrow, select it by clicking on it and then select a link flip arrow at the
bottom of the Properties.

What symbols are available in the full version? Do

you have other symbols?
The full version contains the same symbols as the home version. The symbols library is being
enhanced continuously. You can easily create symbols in the ProfiCAD symbols editor.

You can find additional symbols on gallery.proficad.com. If you created symbols on

your own, please consider submitting them to the library.

If I modify a symbol in the symbol editor, will this symbol

be changed in all diagrams I have already drawn?
No! It is not possible as each symbol is stored as a unique copy in every diagram. Your
diagram is therefore independent on you library of symbols and it can easily be transmitted
to anyone else. This applies for versions 3.0 and up (for IC versions 3.1 and up).

When I attempt printing the diagram on the 5L laser

printer, some lines blur and some parts of the diagram
are not printed at all.

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Adjust the resolution of your printer from 600 DPI to 300 DPI (see Printer property settings).

Dashed line prints as solid line

Invoke Print (by Ctrl + P or the Printer icon)

The next step is somewhat different for each printer.

Click on “Properties” Click on “Advanced” Locate “Print Quality” Locate “Resolution”

Find the “Vector” and “Raster” options, select “Raster”

An object cannot be selected - when clicking on an object

it cannot be selected and a different object, further from
the pointer is highlighted instead.
When creating a symbol, graphical shapes need to be placed in a symmetric way, so that
the symbol is symmetric to axes of the working screen.

Correct Incorrect

A yellow frame, which is much larger than the circuit

symbol itself, appears around the circuit symbol.
The problem can have two causes:

• Various artefacts (e.g. very small lines, forgotten outlets, etc.) have arisen during the creation
of the circuit symbol, which have been overlooked. The result is that the circuit symbol
appears larger, because the surfaces of the frame are also included. The solution is to
remove these artefacts, preferably with the aid of Panel Explorer. Should that be the case,
the circuit symbol is to be replaced in the circuit plan by a corrected circuit symbol.

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 • The circuit symbol is not drawn in symmetrical to the axes of the work surface. The solution
is to draw the circuit symbol symmetrically.

Can I customize the gates? When I insert a gate, the

program lists only the default gate symbol to select and I
have not found a way how to customize it.
After you insert the gate, press the Escape key (to make the cursor change to arrow), place
the arrow over the gate and click the right mouse button. A dialog box allowing you to
customize the gate parameters (number of outlets, gate type, etc.) will appear.

Program Relocation
If you need to move the program to a different directory or a new computer, just move the
above mentioned files. It is not necessary to reinstall the program. The program may also
be run from an external hard disk or a flash disk.

Please send your questions using our contact form

Keyboard shortcuts - accelerators

To speed up work with the program the following keyboard shortcuts may be used:

SHORTCUT ICON MENU COMMAND

Ctrl + A Edit - Select All
Ctrl + B Edit - Copy to clipboard as image
Ctrl + C Edit - Copy
Ctrl + N File - New
Ctrl + O File - Open
Ctrl + P File - Print
Ctrl + S File - Save
Shift + S File - Save As
Ctrl + V Edit - Paste
Ctrl + W Closes the current document
Ctrl + X Edit - Cut
Ctrl + Z Edit - Back
* on Numeric View - Center working area
Keyboard
F1 Help
F4 Switch layer
F5 Redraw the list of symbols in diagram editor
F12 File - Options
B Draw - Curve
G Draw - Polygon
E Draw - Ellipse

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 H Insert - Gate
L Draw - Polyline
M View - Grid
N Insert - Label
R Draw - Rectangle
P View - Pan document area
S Insert - Wire
T Insert - Text
U Draw - Line
Z Draw - Rounded rectangle
Esc Go to selection mode
space bar Instant search for symbols
backspace During drawing lines and wires, cancels the last segment of the
line

mouse and keyboard program control overview:

Shift + drag object moves object and disregards the snap

Ctrl + drag object cloning

Ctrl + click adds object to the selection

Ctrl + Shift + click adds or removes object to/from the selection

mouse wheel zoom

Shift + mouse wheel horizontal shift of the drawing

Ctrl + mouse wheel vertical shift of the drawing

Ctrl + Shift + mouse wheel smooth zoom

holding Ctrl while drawing

orthogonal drawing mode
rectangles, ellipses and lines

pressing the cursor keys (arrows) moves selected objects by 0.1 mm

ProfiCAD gallery
ProfiCAD gallery, which can be found at //gallery.proficad.com, is an Internet service for
ProfiCAD program users.

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On the ProfiCAD gallery website you can find symbols and diagrams, which have been
created by other ProfiCAD users. You can share symbols and diagrams you created
with others, just send them to the gallery.

Panels
ProfiCAD provides several panels that facilitate common tasks. These panels can be
dragged and docked to any side of the working area. They either auto-hide to conserve space
or they can be pinned.

There are two small buttons in the top right hand corner of each panel. You can use the first
one (pin) to pin the panel to switch off the auto-hide feature. The other button closes the panel
completely. It can be re-opened by menu command Show - Panel or using the Panels
toolbar.

The panels toolbar contains these buttons:

1. documents
2. symbols graphically
3. symbols textually
4. favorites
5. explorer
6. properties
7. integrated circuits
8. layers
9. pages
10. search

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Documents
The Documents panel allows you to preview documents without opening them.

The panel shows documents from a directory (path) which is listed in the F12 - paths tab.
The panel does not show documents that are located directly on the specified path. You
need to create subgroups (directories) for each group of documents.

For example, if the path to the documents is "D:\drawings\", you need to create several
subdirectories, e. g. "D:\drawings\Project1\", "D:\drawings\Project2\" etc. and place your
drawings into them.

A document can be opened by clicking on the thumbnail of the document.

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drawings templates
A right-click menu appears with the item create a similar document. If you often create
similar documents, you can create a document as a template and then create documents as a
copy of the template.

Symbols and favorites

Panel Symbols is used to insert symbols into the document. It has two parts: the upper part
shows groups of symbols. The lower one shows symbols of the active group.

How to add a symbol to the favourites panel:

a) Selecta symbol in the "symbols textually" panel and drag it over the heart icon of
the favourites panel.

b) Right-click a symbol in the "symbols graphically" palette and select menu item add to
favourites.

How to remove a symbol from the favourites panel:

Use the Del key on the keyboard to delete a symbol from the Favourites panel.

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 Explorer

Panel Explorer facilitates work with large documents. It

makes it easy to select small object that would be difficult to
select using the mouse.

With Explorer it is possible to discover some errors - for

example having two symbols in the same position, a line that
is too short and therefore cannot be seen etc. Removing such
objects from the document reduces its size and makes
ProfiCAD work faster.

Layers
Layers can be seen as transparent films to draw individual parts of the drawing on. For
example, one layer can be used for brickwork, another for wiring, another for heating, etc.

The Layers panel is used for switching through layers. Select the active layer (currently
used in the drawing) from the list.

Buttons:

1. moves a layer up.

2. moves a layer down.
3. adds a layer.
4. renames a layer.
5. deletes a layer. Only empty layers can be deleted.

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Properties

When an object is selected (by mouse or from the Explorer

panel), its properties can be set from the Properties panel.

Positions of objects are shown in tenths of mm. Line style

is selected from a list. You can define custom line styles.

If two components with the same hatching type are

displayed next to each other, it is necessary to ensure that
the hatching of the components is not linked. This can be
ensured by modifying the setting of these two values (or
just one of these values). The upper picture shows an
incorrect setting of hatching, the lower picture shows the
correct setting.

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Integrated circuits
You can use IC panel to set up properties of integrated circuits.

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 Pages

The Pages panel allows you to create multipage documents. The icon of the panel represents
a drawing in a spiral binding.

Buttons of the Pages panel:

1. moves a page up
2. moves a page down
3. adds a page
4. deletes a page
5. shows list of pages
6. copies a page to the clipboard
7. pastes a page from the clipboard
8. adds a report

Double-clicking a page displays a dialog box, where properties of the page can be set.

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Each page has a short name (recommended length is 4 characters) that appears in the panel
"Pages" and in the cross references. If a title block is enabled, it is displayed on all pages.

Where to enter data for the title block:

data common for all pages (e.g. data for a particular page (e.g. title,
author, company etc.) supplementary title)

F12 - Document - Data fields double-click the page in the Pages panel

In the title block you can use new system variables generated automatically by the program.

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Search

The Search panel allows you to search for symbols, texts and graphic objects (if they
contain text).

Type in the search term in the search box (1). You can switch to the results area (2) using
the arrow down key. The object that you select in the search results area will be highlighted
in the drawing.

Search is performed in all pages and in all layers of the drawing. This differs from
the Explorer panel, which displays only the objects from the current page and layer.

Search Symbols
Pressing the space bar brings up a dialog box. Enter the search term into the text box (1).
Symbols and folders containing the search term will appear in the list (2).

Double click a symbol to insert it into the drawing. Double click a folder (yellow rectangle)
to display its contents. The name of the selected folder will appear at the top of the window
(3). The button (4) switches to the parent folder of the current folder.

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Right-click to display a context menu that allows two actions:

• view the folder of the symbol

• add a symbol to the Favorites panel

How to draw electrical diagrams

1. Choose the size of the drawing and set it in the print settings and page size dialogues.
2. insert title block (if not already inserted) using command program settings ( F12 - title
block)
3. if you will need multiple layers, prepare them in the Layers panel a name them accordingly to
their intended use
4. if you want to use a scanned floor plan, insert it in the lower layer
5. for the coarse objects placement start with snap 10 mm and decrease it when needed
6. insert the symbols and other objects and place them to their final positions. Leave some space
at the edges of the drawing to allow for the possibility of printing on a different printer.
7. Before you draw connections (wires), make sure that the symbols are properly placed (at least
the most important ones). It is possible to move symbols with wires attached to them, but only
for short distances. The shift of already wired symbols may break their connections.
8. Use the "s" key to switch to the wires drawing mode and start drawing wires. Start with the
major wires crossing the entire length of the drawing. If any connection was started the wrong
way and you are not able to continue, you can cancel the latest diversion by pressing the
backspace key. You can end a connection in the air by pressing the right mouse button.
9. you can use the function File - List of wires to verify all wires have been attached correctly
10. make sure no texts, symbols nor wires overlap

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How to insert symbols
There are four ways to insert a symbol into a drawing:
from the "Symbols Graphically" panel

Click on the symbol you want to insert into the drawing.

from the Symbols Textually panel

from the Favourites panel

from the search symbols window

Transformers and Gates: Select Insert - Transformer or Insert - Gate. Now click in
the drawing where you want to place the symbol. After you switch to the select mode (by
clicking the Esc key), you can set up properties of the symbol by right-clicking it.

Symbols properties
Every symbol has two basic properties: reference and type.

The reference is a unique identification of

the symbol in the drawing.

The type defines electric properties of the symbol,

e.g. resistance in Ω, capacity in pF, transistor type,
etc.

For each symbol you can also set the position of the
labels describing the reference and type properties.
The units are tenths of mm. The easiest way to set the
position of these labels is to drag the text by mouse.
If you need to set up the label position more precisely
set the position by numbers.

When a diagram contains a symbol, which is not in

your library (you obtained the diagram from
someone), you can save it (by clicking on the Save
a copy link) and update your symbol library.

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