Overview

Altium is a Windows high-power Electronic CAD system for taking a circuit concept, turning it into a Schematic Capture diagram, then to a Printed Circuit Board layout suitable for sending to a manufacturer or fabricating in the RU Electronics lab (V207).  Questions, concerns and problems should be sent to cad-admin AT RU.IS. 

Important News  2022-01-18

All Altium licenses and content has been moved into the official Altium Cloud called Altium 365. The university no longer has a vault nor license server.  Instead of a Vault, you will be using Altium 365 Workspaces detailed at https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-365/workspace.  One large benefit is that you will be able to access Altium off campus without needing to use the VPN.

To get started:  please email cad-admin AT RU.IS and we will create the account for you.  You will need to send us your full name and RU email address.  Once your account is created, you will be able to login to https://live.altium.com and inspect your account.

Installation

Altium has 2 main applications:

• Nexus is for real-time collaboration and Workspace/Vault integration.  It actually includes Altium Designer.  We have a Workspace, so you probably want Nexus.
• Designer is for users who do not have a Vault or do not wish to use one.  This is only generally useful if you are working with older Altium projects or want to store your project files locally.

Your altium live account is used to access your Altium 365 workspaces (including the Reykjavik University Workspace) and get a license.  You should also be able to download the latest release once you have logged in (at https://live.altium.com) at https://www.altium.com/products/downloads

Upgrading

It is generally recommended that you uninstall previous versions of Altium Designer before installing a new version unless the major number is the same. 

Resources

• Videos http://altiumvideos.live.altium.com

Nexus

• Documentation: https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-nexus/

• Tutorial: https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-nexus/from-idea-to-manufacture-driving-a-pcb-design-through-altium-nexus

Designer

• Documentation https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-designer/

CAD Admin reminders for account creation

1. https://account.altium.com/
2. Fill in student details in https://account.altium.com/users-and-groups/add-user and add to Student group
3.  Click on the Reykjavik University Workspace which will take you to https://reykjavik-university.365.altium.com/
4. Click on “Workspace Members” and “Invite Workspace Members” and give them the roles Engineers and Librarians