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Graphics and Annotations

Beyond components and wires, the schematic editor supports drawing primitives, text, and dimension annotations. Use these to document your design, add visual grouping, or include notes.

Drawing Primitives

Available tools from the schematic toolbar:

Tool Shortcut How to draw Result
Line — Click start → drag → release Line object
Rectangle — Click corner → drag to opposite corner Rectangle object
Circle — Click center → drag to set radius Circle object
Arc — Click to define arc endpoints and midpoint Arc object
Polygon — Click vertices → right-click to close Polygon object
Harness — Click points → right-click to finish Special polyline style
Junction — Click to place a dot Manual junction marker

Primitive properties

All graphic objects share:

Property Description
id Unique identifier per object
layerId Drawing layer (for multi-layer use; mainly relevant on PCB)
Color Stroke/outline color
Line thickness Stroke width
Fill color Optional fill (rectangles, circles, polygons)

Text Annotations

Text annotation supports free-form text annotations on the schematic:

Property Description
Position World coordinates on the canvas
Content The displayed text string
Font size Adjustable text size
Color Text color

Creating text

  1. Select the Text tool from the toolbar (or press T if configured).
  2. Click at the desired location on the canvas.
  3. Type the text into a popup field or the Properties panel.
  4. The text object is placed and can be selected, moved, and edited later.

Use text for documentation

Add notes explaining circuit behavior, voltage levels, or design constraints directly on the schematic sheet. This keeps important information visible alongside the circuit.

Selection and Editing

Graphics are part of the general selection system:

  • Click to select a single graphic object.
  • Drag a selection box to select multiple objects.
  • Selected graphics show highlight outlines and resize handles.

Editing operations

Operation How Command
Move Drag selected objects Undo-supported command
Resize Drag corner/edge handles Resize command (geometry update)
Delete Del or context menu Undo-supported command
Change color Properties panel Direct property edit
Change layer Properties panel or context menu Layer assignment

Resize handles

When a graphic is selected, small squares appear at corners and midpoints. Hovering over them changes the cursor to a resize arrow. Drag to change the object's dimensions.

Dimensions (Experimental)

WireFrame has preliminary support for Dimension annotation objects — measurement annotations:

Property Description
Start point First measurement endpoint
End point Second measurement endpoint
Offset Distance of the dimension line from the measured line
Text label Displayed measurement value or custom annotation

A dimension draws:

  • Two witness lines from the measurement points.
  • A dimension line with arrows between them.
  • A centered text label showing the distance.

Experimental feature

Dimension tools may not be fully implemented in the current toolbar. They can be created programmatically or may appear in future releases.

Layers for Graphics

While layers are most meaningful on PCB, schematic graphics also carry a layerId:

  • Colors derive from layer settings if a the layer system is provided.
  • Potential future uses:
    • Documentation overlays — separate annotations from the circuit.
    • Printed vs. non-printed layers — control what appears in PDF exports.

Currently, the main visible effect is per-layer coloring applied by the rendering engine.

See Also