How do I rotate a group of components around a specific point?

[tim_reinbold]

I am currently designing a PCB for a mechanical keyboard. My plan was to split up the keys in two sides and shifting each side to an angle. I added a reference picture down below. However, I didn't find a way to rotate a group of components around a point. Is there a way to do this and if so, how?

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hi @tim_reinbold,

That looks super cool, great work! It is possible to rotate components around a point. Make sure you have the violators mode set to ignore violators. If you don't then the design rules may stop the rotation from happening if doing so would create a violation.

Here's the procedure

1. Form the selection

2. Activated the rotate command and adjust the angle of rotation

3. Hold ctrl and right click on the point you wish to use as the axis of rotation.

If you want more precise control then you can enter the specific points in the CLI, in that case repeat steps 1 and 2 but for step 3 type the following in the CLI and then press the enter key.

(> x-ref y-ref)

Where x-ref and y-ref are the coordinates of the point you want to rotate the group around.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best Regards,

[tim_reinbold]

Thank you very much for your quick answer and easy to follow solution, this really helped me out!

[nodnarb93]

Found this forum after running into the same issue. If you need to rotate your components by any angle OTHER than a multiple of 90°, then the solution provided by @jorge_garcia is inadequate. I referenced another (also incorrect) forum answer and was able to guess my way to the actual solution. In all fairness, this answer is less wrong than the other forum's solution. But almost correct is functionally equivalent to completely wrong so here's a comprehensive solution to the question asked by @tim_reinbold. Pic of my notes with screenshots attached.

How to rotate any number of components by an arbitrary angle about a rotation axis located at user defined X Y coordinates. This is for the 2D PCB document. 

1. Select your components

• In the Design Manager tab, switch the view dropdown to Components.

• Shift + Click to select all components you want to rotate.

---

2. Create a group

• Right-click one of the selected components in the workspace → New Group.

• Give it a name and check Selectable.

---

3. Switch to group view

• In the Design Manager tab, change the view dropdown to Groups.

• Click your new group to select it.

---

4. Rotate via command line

• Open the command line if it's not already open. It will appear in the top of the workspace window.

  • Command Format:

ROTATE Rθ (>X Y)

Where:

• θ = rotation angle (e.g., 45 for 45° CCW)

• X Y = board coordinates of the rotation center
• Note: the > symbol is critical.

Example #1: Rotate the group 45° CCW around the point (60,60):

ROTATE R45 (>60 60)

Example #2: Rotate the group 30­° CW about (0,15):

ROTATE R-30 (>0 15)

[chuck_toddN7PTC]

@nodnarb93 

Here's an alternative way to rotate.

1) Select Components

2) Click Move

3) Right Click on a component in group, context menu pops up, select Move: Group

The group of components will attach to your mouse.

4) Change Rotate in the Move dialog by typing the angle you want.

Once you press enter and move your cursor back into the workspace, the group rotation will update.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you don't want the components to move, you can use the rotate command similarly.

1) Select components

Click rotate

Change Rotate angle.

Right click component in group

BR -Chuck

[nodnarb93]

Thanks for the write-up. It's helpful to know that you can type in a specific angle into the rotate drop-down field. This is not immediately apparent and will surely help many people!

My answer addresses how to rotate objects about a specific (X, Y) coordinate point. Your method, as far as I can tell, rotates the selected object or group about it's local orgin. Perfect for most use-cases but every once in a while you need that extra bit of control 🙂

[chuck_toddN7PTC]

The procedure below only handles one object at a time.

If the object is already located at the specific (x,y) coordinate point.

Select the object.

Click rotate command.

Type in rotation angle into rotate dialog.  [Enter].

Click back on the object. (The object will rotate to desired angle)

ESC (escape out of the rotate command)

BR -Chuck

[pblase]

Could somebody please put this in the information instructions for the rotate command? (when you push the 'i' button)? I can never remember that it's a "right click". 

[pblase]

Could somebody please add this to the information tip for the rotate command? I keep forgetting that it's right-click.