[PEDA] How to copy Protel schematics into other documents

[Ray Mitchell]

Everyone,

Several months ago I posted to this newsgroup requesting information about simply using Protel 99SE as a nice schematic drawing tool with the ultimate goal of being to incorporate the drawings as an imbedded objects in other applications such as Microsoft Word. I only wanted the schematic part and not the border and extra space that might surround a small drawing on a large sheet. At the time I either misunderstood the responses or somehow got the impression that it couldn't be done reasonably. As a result I looked around for other schematic applications that would permit this. I stumbled upon CircuitMaker 2000, which will let you export drawings as a .wmf files. However, in my opinion it has the absolute worst GUI interface I've ever encountered in modern times (yet they actually charge real money for this product). As a result I decided to fool around with Protel some more. I found the following, which many or all of you probably already know.

1. To copy and paste the entire drawing sheet simply select the portion of the schematic you want and copy it to the clipboard using ctrl-Insert (or equivalent). Then go into your other application and paste it there.

2. This still does not address the issue of the sheet border being part of what gets pasted or the issue of empty space surrounding your drawing. To get around this:

A. Paste the desired section of the schematic onto the lower-left corner of a new Protel schematic sheet by itself.

B. Double-click the border of the new sheet to bring up the Document Options dialog box.

C. In the Document Options dialog box uncheck all the boxes you don't want on your copied drawing, such as Show Border and Visible Grids.

D. Check the Use Custom Style box and enter the dimensions of your drawing without leaving excessive space around it.

E. Click the OK button and copy and paste as described previously. Neat isn't it!

My wish list on this is that:

A. Rather than the pasted object being a "picture", it would be whatever is necessary such that double-clicking it within in the target application would reopen the original Protel schematic for editing.

B. It would be nice if within Protel you could merely drag the edges of a sheet to a new size rather than having to go to the Document Options dialog box and actually type in the new dimensions.

Ray Mitchell

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