How Do You Rotate Parts in Altium Designer?

You can rotate parts in Altium Designer using keyboard shortcuts while moving the part or by selecting menu commands.

Rotating components is a fundamental operation when placing or arranging your design on a printed circuit board (PCB) or schematic. Altium Designer provides several intuitive ways to achieve this.

Here are the primary methods for rotating parts in Altium Designer:

Method 1: Rotate While Moving (Keyboard Shortcut)

This is the most common and efficient way to rotate a component as you are placing it or moving it around your design space.

• How it works: Pick up the component to move it or place a new one from the libraries. While the part is attached to your cursor and "flying," you can use keyboard shortcuts to rotate it.
• Action:
  • Press the "Spacebar" to rotate the part counter-clockwise.
  • Press the "Shift + Spacebar" to rotate the part clockwise.

Reference Information: "Once the part is flying on your cursor, use the “Spacebar” or the “Shift Spacebar” to rotate the part one way or the other as shown in the pictures below."

Each press of the Spacebar or Shift + Spacebar will typically rotate the component by 90 degrees. You can press it multiple times to achieve the desired orientation (e.g., press Spacebar twice for 180 degrees).

Method 2: Rotate Selected Objects (Menu Option)

You can also rotate components or other selected objects after they have been placed on the design.

• How it works: Select the part(s) you want to rotate, then use a menu command.
• Action:
  1. Select the part(s) you wish to rotate.
  2. Go to the main menu: Edit > Move.
  3. Choose either Rotate Selection (typically counter-clockwise by 90 degrees) or Rotate Selection Clockwise (clockwise by 90 degrees).
  4. Alternatively, as mentioned in the reference: "Use the Edit > Move > Rotate Selection or Rotate Selection Clockwise pulldown menu and then click on the part to rotate it." This implies you can also activate the command first and then click the part if only one is selected or needs individual rotation after the command is active.

This method is useful for reorienting components that are already placed, or for rotating groups of selected objects together.

Quick Reference Table

Here's a summary of the methods:

Method	State	Action	Rotation Direction
Keyboard Shortcut	Part is on cursor ("flying")	Spacebar	Counter-Clockwise
		Shift + Spacebar	Clockwise
Menu Command	Part(s) are placed and selected	Edit > Move >	Typically 90°
		Rotate Selection	Counter-Clockwise
		Rotate Selection	Clockwise
		Clockwise

Mastering these simple techniques will allow you to quickly and accurately orient components in your Altium Designer projects, whether you're laying out a complex PCB or creating a schematic diagram.