topic Re: Via visibility in EAGLE Forum

Via visibility

Anonymous — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 18:25:55 GMT

Dear eagle support,

I just switched to eagle V9 from eagle 5.10. One of the things I notice is that via's are almost covered by the active routing layer. In 5.10, they used to be dominant, always 'on top'. I notice that the via's do show up 'on top' if i select another routing layer, for instance bottom, I just tried it again and could not reproduce this however.

The reason for my question: I'm only making high speed analog/mixed signal/rf boards. Via's for grounding are critical there, so I would like them to be visible clearly always. Is there a setting to always 'put them on top' so they always 'bang out' in the picture?

Best regards,

Hans Rosenberg

via's almost dissapearing

Re: Via visibility

one-of-the-robs — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 19:28:48 GMT

This was a change in V9.1 which quite a few people actively dislike. In the past, the layers were rendered in a certain order with a degree of transparency. Now, the currently selected layer is always drawn on top, making it very easy to see. In the process, though, it makes all the other layers harder to see, which can be a real nuisance.

So, the way to make your vias clearly visible is to select the via layer as current. Not helpful if you're in the middle of routing, though.

You should be able to improve things by adjusting transparency settings, though. What colour scheme are you using?

Re: Via visibility

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 20:02:01 GMT

Thanks for the idea. Activating the via layer is a good one. Usually when I'm doing this, I am copying vias to ensure good grounding, so it will be active at that point (I didn't get to that point yet, then it would have solved itself).

Best regards,

Hans Rosenberg

Re: Via visibility

C.Nicks — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 20:40:39 GMT

There is also the command line "Option.LayerSequence" that changes the rendering order, but it got a little broken with the addition of the layer focus feature.

That's what I used to use when I was switching from top to bottom routing. The advantage with that is each layer could be defined where in the stack it would be rendered.

What you may try to do is set your copper layers to be more transparent. I tend to use 180-200 alpha on all of my primary layers. You may also try setting the layer fill to something other than solid.

Here is a screenshot of my settings (with Top as the active layer)

If you're interested I can upload a script file that can configure all of the colors, layers, and fill styles.

Re: Via visibility

iquacker — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 18:04:24 GMT

Thanks for the offer, Cameron. I am interested in your script offer.

Best regards -

Re: Via visibility

C.Nicks — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 18:32:40 GMT

Attached are script files that will setup the black color palette, set the layer colors, and set the layer fills. It will not change any user layers (>100).

Notes:
- You cannot undo
- Palette changes your global base colors, run once.
- Layer colors/fills are saved in the design files. Script must be run once for each design that you want these settings for.

Re: Via visibility

iquacker — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 18:38:20 GMT

Thanks!