Protel Keyboard Shortcuts

PCB Editing Shortcuts PCB Keyboard Shortcuts:

Key Opens ... Key Opens ...
A Tools » Align submenu L Layers Tab of Document
Option dialog
B View » Toolbars submenu Q Toggle Units
D Design menu CTRL+G Snap Grid dialog box
E Edit menu CTRL+H Edit » Select » Physical Net
F File menu CTRL+P Run Process
G Snap Grid popup menu CTRL+Z Cross Probe
H Help menu PGUP View » Zoom In
J Edit » Jump submenu PGDN View » Zoom Out
M Edit » Move submenu CTRL+PGUP Zoom maximum
O Options popup menu CTRL+PGDN Zoom minimum
P Place menu SHIFT+PGUP Zoom in at 0.1 step rate
R Reports menu SHIFT+PGDN Zoom out at 0.1 step rate
S Edit » Select submenu HOME View » Pan
T Tools menu END View » Refresh
U Tools » Unroute submenu CTRL+HOME Jump Absolute Origin
V View menu CTRL+END Jump Current origin
W Window menu CTRL+INS Edit » Copy
X Edit » DeSelect menu CTRL+DEL Edit » Clear
Z Zoom popup menu SHIFT+INS Edit » Paste
SHIFT+DEL Edit » Cut
ALT+BACKSPACE Undo
CTRL+BACKSPACE Redo
SHIFT+F4 Cascade Windows
SHIFT+F5 Tile Windows
* Toggle active signal layers
+ or - Next / previous active layer
F1 Help Index
UP, DOWN Move one snap grid point,
vertically
SHIFT+UP, DOWN Move 10 snap grid points,
vertically
LEFT, RIGHT Move one snap grid point,
horizontally
SHIFT+LEFT, Move 10 snap grid points,
RIGHT horizontally
©Protel International 1999. All rights reserved.
PCB Special Mode-Dependent Keys:

TAB Opens a dialog box for the object currently being placed. Allows you to edit attributes
when placing any object. Use the tab key to "edit on the fly".
SPACEBAR Toggles between Start and End track placement modes; rotate item anti-
clockwise during move (set step value in Preferences dialog box); abort screen redraw; change
the MiniViewer magnification level.
SHIFT Control acceleration during Autopan (set mode in Preferences dialog).
SHIFT+SPACEBAR Toggle track placement modes; rotate item clockwise during move.
©Protel International 1999. All rights reserved.

Shortcuts to speed the routing process:

BACKSPACE removes the previously placed track segment while routing a connection.
* toggles through the routing layers while routing.
/ places a via connecting to a power plane.
TAB pop up the Track properties dialog box to edit track attributes while routing.
SHIFT+R cycles through the interactive routing modes.
SHIFT+S toggles single-layer display mode on and off.
SPACEBAR changes between track placement start and end angle modes.
SHIFT+SPACEBAR cycles through the track placement modes.
CTRL+SPACEBAR cycles through the connection lines connecting to a pad.
CRTL temporarily suspends the electrical grid.
ALT temporarily switches from Avoid Obstacle to Ignore Obstacle mode.
End refreshes the display while routing.
©Protel International 1999. All rights reserved.

Default schematic menu shortcut keys:

Key Opens the ... Key Opens the ...
A Edit » Align sub-menu P Place menu
B View » Toolbars sub-menu R Reports menu
E Edit menu S Edit » Select sub-menu
F File menu T Tools menu
H Help menu V View menu
J Edit » Jump sub-menu W Window menu
L Edit » Set Location Marks sub-menu X Edit » DeSelect menu
M Edit » Move sub-menu Z Zoom pop-up menu
O Options menu
©Protel International 1999. All rights reserved.
 Default schematic shortcut keys:
Key Action Key Action
CTRL+BACKSPACE Redo CTRL+F Find Text
ALT+BACKSPACE Undo CTRL+G Find And Replace Text
PgUp Zoom In CTRL+V Align objects horizontally,
through their centers
CTRL+PgDn Zoom All CTRL+B Align objects horizontally,
along their bottom edge
PgDn Zoom Out CTRL+T Align objects horizontally,
along their top edge
END Redraw CTRL+SHIFT+H Space objects equally
horizontally
CTRL+HOME Jump to Origin CTRL+H Align objects vertically,
through their centers
HOME Pan CTRL+L Align objects vertically,
along their left edge
SHIFT+Left Arrow Cursor Left CTRL+R Align objects vertically,
(10x snap grid) along their right edge
Left Arrow Cursor Left (on CTRL+SHIFT+V Space objects equally
snap grid) vertically
SHIFT+Up Arrow Cursor Up (10x F1 Run Online Help
snap grid)
Up Arrow Cursor Up (on F3 Find next text
snap grid)
SHIFT+Right Arrow Cursor Right SHIFT+F4 Tile all open documents
(10x snap grid)
Right Arrow Cursor Right SHIFT+F5 Cascade all open
(on snap grid) documents
SHIFT+Down Arrow Cursor Down SHIFT+CTRL+Left Move single object
(10x snap grid) _Click
Down Arrow Cursor Down SHIFT+Left_Click Toggle single object
(on snap grid) selection
SHIFT+Insert Paste CTRL+Left_Click, Drag single object
then release CTRL
CTRL+Insert Copy CTRL+Left_Hold_D Drag single object
own, then release
CTRL
SHIFT+Delete Cut Hold CTRL while Disable snap grid
moving or dragging
CTRL+Delete Clear Hold ALT while Constrain movement to
moving or dragging vertical direction
DELETE Delete focused Hold SHIFT+ALT Constrain movement to
object while moving or horizontal direction
dragging
CTRL+1 Zoom 100 Left_Click Focus object
CTRL+2 Zoom200 Left_Dbl_Click Change object
CTRL+4 Zoom400 Left_Hold_Down Move object / move
selection
 CTRL+5 Zoom050
©Protel International 1999. All rights reserved.

Frequently used keyboard shortcut key combinations:

SPACEBAR to abort screen re-draws

X, A to de-select all
V, D to zoom to fit the sheet
V, F to zoom to fit all placed objects
PgUp to zoom in (zooms in around the cursor, so position the cursor first)
PgDn to zoom out
HOME to re-center the screen at the current cursor position
END to refresh the screen
TAB while an object is floating on the cursor to edit its attributes prior to placement.
SPACEBAR whilst placing an object to rotate it by 90 degrees
X whilst placing an object to flip it along the X axis
Y whilst placing an object to flip it along the Y axis
DELETE whilst laying a wire/bus/line/polygon to delete the last vertex
BACKSPACE whilst laying a wire/bus/line/polygon to delete the last vertex
SPACEBAR while laying a wire/bus/line to step through the placement modes
ESC to escape from what you are doing when you change your mind
CTRL+TAB to switch between open documents in EDA/Client
ALT+TAB to switch between open applications in Windows
F1 when you have a cross-hair cursor to pop up a list of shortcut keys

©Protel International 1999. All rights reserved.