Insert a graphic element into a schematic, or library symbol on the doc or notes layer

[alpierce]

I am trying to create a part library for a microcontroller board to use in my designs. The basic part has connectors that will plug into a PCB, so it is used as a module within another design. Doing the basic part is not a problem, the problem is that the microcontroller board has parts on it that are not brought out to the connectors and I would like to have that information present in either (a) the part library itself, or (b) at least in the schematic the part is used in. The ideal scenario would be to copy the parts from the schematic of the microcontroller and paste them into the doc or notes layer of the schematic the part is used in. That doesn't seem possible, they are always inserted as a schematic element, not as a graphic. I also tried copying the schematic part out and pasting it into another app as a graphic element and then trying to copy and paste that in, but the schematic only sees other schematic elements on the clip board, not external graphics elements. Same with the library symbol editor. I can put text into the docs or notes but not a graphic element. As an example the microcontroller module has a micro SD socket on it ( no pins brought out) and I would like to document this in the part library or the schematic the part is used in, other than just a text note.

If this is not possible I would like to suggest it as a feature enhancement.

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @alpierce,

I hope you're doing well. Currently, the best way to bring in images into Fusion 360 Electronics is using the import-bmp.ulp. It can only import bitmaps and it works best if you the image is monochrome because every color will come in as it's own layer. To use it go to the automation tab and click ULP.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[alpierce]

Hi Jorge,
Thanks for your reply and pointing me to the ULP. I gave it a try and it complains about the size in the y dimension, there may be some size limits that aren’t mentioned in the documentation. I’ll keep playing around with it and see if I can get it to work. Unfortunately it seems as though you can’t copy parts of a schematic and paste them out into an external application, only back into another Fusion schematic. That means I have to export the schematic to a PDF and then translate to bmp. An export to bmp would be a nice feature.

Cheers,

Al

[jorge_garcia]

Hi @alpierce,

It is possible to export and image of the design. Go to the command line and type Export followed by enter. You'll see a little menu pop up. Go ahead and click on image. Follow the dialogs from there.

This reminds me that I've been meaning to make a video about import-bmp.ulp, a little tied up right now but I intend to make it.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,

[alpierce]

It looks like the easiest path is to simply add the parts as schematic elements and then not place them on the PCB. Kludge for sure and I imagine I'll have to approve a ton of DRC errors, but it will give me what I need for now. I hope it works. It would be really nice if Fusion allowed schematics elements to be placed in the docs or notes layer and just considered them bitmaps or some other graphics form so they were not included as part of the schematic. 

[alpierce · Accepted solution]

Hi Jorge,

That’s a good tool to know about.It seems to only export the entire image. I f use the clipboard selection to try and export a selection I have copied it doesn’t seem to work. I’ll wait for your BMP import tutorial to continue working on this.

It’s a special use case and really involves software design primarily. If I can come up with a way to display all the hardware information in one place it makes it easier to write software that utilizes that hardware. If I am using a hardware module in my design I need to go back and forth between the schematic of the module and the schematic of my design to make sure I am not trying to use IO lines or device addresses that are dedicated to the module. The closest I have managed to get is to copy the module components into my design schematic, draw boxes around them and make notes as to their location on the module etc, and then print out the schematic to get a PDF or hard copy. Then I go back and delete them from the design before placing everything on the PCB. That gives me a reference document, albeit static, to refer to when I write the software and do the documentation.

Thanks so much for your help and information. I learned several things that will improve my work flow and give me a better understanding of Fusion Electronics. I really enjoy the YouTube tutorials and look forward to more of them.

Best Regards,

Al