After creating the board file, you place and route the board. This includes placing the parts in Allegro PCB Editor/SI/APD and routing the nets. Sometimes, you may also require to swap pins or sections/functions to make routing easier. You can select the components from the Select elements for placement list in the Placement dialog box and then place them directly on the board. You can also place the components directly from the Capture schematic design. This feature is called cross probing. Between Capture and Allegro PCB Editor, there are two cross probing functions: cross highlighting and cross selection.

Cross probing between Allegro PCB Editor and Capture uses Intertool Communication (ITC). In Capture, you make this connection by selecting the Miscellaneous tab of the Preferences dialog box. You can reach this dialog box from the Options menu by choosing the Preferences menu item.

Cross highlighting between Capture and Allegro PCB Editor

Cross highlighting applies to three different types of objects: parts, nets and pins. Here are the general rules of cross probing:

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  If Allegro PCB Editor is in highlight mode, you can select an object in Allegro PCB Editor, and the corresponding logical element in Capture is highlighted.

  
  
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  If Allegro PCB Editor is in dehighlight mode, when you dehighlight a physical object, the corresponding logical element is dehighlighted in Capture. Deselecting an element in Capture dehighlights the corresponding element in Allegro PCB Editor.

  
  
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  In Capture, when you select a component, its corresponding physical part is only highlighted in Allegro PCB Editor if you are in Allegro PCB Editor highlight mode. Otherwise, selection in Capture has no effect in Allegro PCB Editor, unless you are using cross selection.

The following tables show how highlighting and dehighlighting work between the two tools.

Cross selecting between Capture and Allegro PCB Editor

If you are placing parts in Allegro PCB Editor (using the Manually option from the Place menu) then, in Capture, you can select a part and right-click and open the pop-up menu. If you choose Allegro Select from the menu or press SHIFT+S keyboard shortcut keys and then move your cursor over to the PCB Editor window, the part will be attached to the cursor and you can place it in PCB Editor. The Allegro PCB Editor Select menu option is only available when Allegro PCB Editor is active (running) and Intertool Communication (ITC) is enabled in Capture.