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3D Viewer

The 3D Viewer renders a three-dimensional representation of your PCB — showing component placement, board geometry, and spatial relationships — so you can validate your design before manufacturing.

Opening the 3D Viewer

From an open PCB document:

  1. Go to View → 3D Viewer…
  2. The 3D viewer opens as a separate window
  3. It renders:
    • The board as a 3D extruded shape derived from the Edge.Cuts outline
    • Footprints with 3D models (STEP/OBJ) if available
    • Simple colored boxes for footprints without 3D models
3D Viewer — isometric view:

          [Capacitor C1]         [IC U1]
               │                    │
     ┌─────────┴────────────────────┴───────┐  ← PCB board (green)
     │   ■  [R1]            [J1]  ■         │
     │   □           □               □     │
     └──────────────────────────────────────┘
          ↑ Board outline (Edge.Cuts)

Camera Controls

Action Input Effect
Orbit Left or right mouse button drag Rotate the camera around the board
Pan Middle mouse button drag Move the camera parallel to the screen
Zoom Mouse scroll wheel Zoom in / out

How Components Are Rendered

With a 3D model (STEP / OBJ)

  • The actual 3D mesh from the STEP or OBJ file is rendered
  • Colors and materials come from the model file

Without a 3D model

  • A simple colored bounding box approximating the footprint size is drawn
  • Color is determined by the designator prefix:
Prefix Color Component type
R Beige/brown Resistor
C Yellow Capacitor
U Dark grey IC
J, P Light grey Connector
D Green Diode
Q Black Transistor

Bottom-Side Components

Footprints flipped to B.Cu are rendered correctly on the underside of the board. WireFrame uses a precise Z-Y-X rotation matrix pipeline to guarantee WYSIWYG accuracy between the 2D editor and the 3D view.

Board viewed from underneath:
  ┌─────────────────────────┐
  │  [R3]  [C4]  (flipped)  │  ← bottom side
  └─────────────────────────┘

Practical Use Cases

Use case How
Verify component placement Orbit around the board, zoom into areas of interest
Check physical clearances Zoom into tall components (connectors, relays) to check they don't interfere
Inspect bottom-side components Orbit below the board to view B.Cu placement
Capture for documentation Position the view, take a screenshot

STEP files load slowly the first time

First-time loading of STEP files may take several seconds due to mesh tessellation and GPU upload. Subsequent frames use the cached mesh and are fast.

Assigning 3D Models to Footprints

To display an accurate 3D model instead of a colored box, assign a STEP or OBJ file to the footprint:

  1. Open the footprint in the Footprint Wizard / Library Editor
  2. In the 3D Model section, add the path to a STEP or OBJ file
  3. Use the Model Alignment Dialog to fine-tune offset, scale, and rotation

See: Footprint Libraries — 3D Model Alignment

See Also