Round part with flat on one side.

[KCDesign]

I am trying to create a decal that is round with a flat on one side and am having a difficult time getting the flat in. Anyone have a suggestion as to how to easily do this.

KC Design

[Skip Yutkus]

I'm not a Pads expert, but the easiest way to do this in other design packages is to draw the flat first and then connect the ends with a large arc of the appropriate size.

[KCDesign]

After playing with it for a while, I got it by drawing the flat first then drawing an arc and setting the radius to what I needed. Man, what a pain. If they just had a way to break lines it would have been so much easier. Is there a whay to get a part outline imported into PADS from another 2D package like AutoCad?

[randychase]

Drawing outlines with arcs (such as a TO-92) has always been very difficult in PowerPCB. There used to be a program called PADSLINK that did this wonderfully. We are working to re-create this program so you can easily do a translation between AutoCad and PowerPCB.

Here is one way. Draw the part outline in AutoCad. Set your drawing origin the same as your part's origin. (UCSMODE, ORIGIN)

Now using DIM ORD, and endline OSNAPS. DIM the end points. Dim the Radius centroid. Sounds like a lot of work, but it's not. In a few minutes you have the outline completed and dimensioned.

Then draw using those coordinates in PowerPCB. Draw a straight line for the arc and then PULL ARC (after right mouse button selected line segment). Type in coordinates. Or RMB and modify and type in the center point and radius.

[KCDesign]

Thanks randy. That is actually how I ended up getting it in. I drew the shape in Autocad then used the dimensions to get the part into PADS. It wasn't too bad once I knew where to put everything. It would have been so much easier to just be able to bring in the profile from Autocad. Oh well.