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Document Version v2026.07.07.0
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2D Viewer

Goal

Help you handle the most important day-to-day work in 2D: inspect, select, locate, verify, and prepare exports.

Supported Platforms

  • iOS
  • macOS

Intended Audience

  • Users doing day-to-day board inspection in the workspace
  • Testers validating 2D interaction, object info, and export readiness

Prerequisites

  • A board document is already open in the workspace
  • The viewer has finished its initial preparation and published the first 2D frame

Steps

  1. Use 2D to pan, zoom, and select objects in the current board view.
  2. Open View Info from the context menu and review the object details you need.
  3. Adjust visibility or filtering through Workbench, then return to 2D for final confirmation and export preparation.

Result

  • 2D serves as the primary working view for precise inspection, object lookup, and export preparation.

2D Is the Main Working View in the Current Version

Inside the workspace, 2D handles most of the high-frequency work:

  • pan, zoom, box-select, and point-select
  • open View Info from the context menu
  • work with Workbench for visibility, filtering, and object targeting
  • review the current selection, coordinates, or display status in the status bar
  • launch every export flow

2D context menu on a selected object

2D viewer menu preview

Mini viewer context menu

Picked object information card

Scene info card Info tab

Scene info card Camera tab

Mini map showing current viewport

iPhone 2D viewer with picked information card

Supporting Capabilities You Will See

  • Object info card: opened through View Info in the right-click / long-press menu
  • Mini viewer: always shown in the corner, compares the current viewport with the global board range, and hosts global viewer actions
  • Crosshair guideline: when enabled in settings, follows the pointer
  • Status bar: the left side summarizes the current selection; the right side defaults to resource status and can switch to coordinates, frame metrics, or off

What the Right-Click / Long-Press Menu Can Do

When 2D has a valid pick target, the current context menu can provide:

  • View Info
  • chat-related actions when chat capability is active

The main 2D canvas right-click / long-press menu only keeps actions related to the current object context. Global viewer actions have moved to the mini viewer menu:

  • Fit All
  • toggle axis visibility
  • regenerate thumbnail
  • Scene info

Scene info opens as a centered card. The Info tab shows and copies the current scene, import source, camera, and viewport data. The Camera tab can paste a teammate's shared Scene info or PCBAtlas 2D Camera text, parse camera.center and camera.zoom, and apply them to the current 2D view. It does not validate that source paths match, which keeps it useful for manually sharing screen positions on the same device model and the same case.

Inside the mini viewer, pressing and dragging the current viewport pans the viewport. Pressing outside the viewport and dragging draws a new viewing range.

How Schematics Behave in 2D

Schematic documents are also viewed through the 2D canvas, but their interaction model is different from PCB review:

  • Pick hits come from the schematic document data, not visual guessing.
  • Current pick coverage includes sheet / symbol / pin / wire / bus / label / text / junction / marker.
  • A single candidate selects and highlights immediately; multiple candidates let you cycle overlapping objects.
  • Clicking empty space clears schematic selection and highlight.
  • Schematic object details appear in Workbench Selection / Details; PCB objects still primarily use the 2D View Info card.

Schematic review supports sheet navigation, object search, details, locate, highlight, and canvas pick. Layout edits, ERC fixes, and property writeback stay in dedicated EDA tools.

Division of Responsibility Across Views

  • 2D: precise inspection, object info review, and export preparation
  • 3D: overall structure review for board sessions, with board-level geometry and renderable imported 3D models
  • Data: document, revision, statistics, status, and issue summaries

How Export Relates to 2D

Export starts from 2D:

  • the export button is unavailable in 3D and Data
  • PNG / PDF are capture exports
  • board-file export is split into two paths:
  • Original source export: returns the original DSN / KiCad / IPC-2581 / ODB++ / Gerber-Drill data stored for the current revision
  • Converted export: currently keeps DSN and KiCad 8

Recommendations

  • Narrow the visible scope with Workbench first, then use 2D for local confirmation.
  • When you need to record an issue, select the target in 2D first and then copy its details from the info card.
  • When you need a support-ready snapshot, use More > Copy Support Bundle. It summarizes the current document, Board Problems, Quick Estimate state, AI activity summary, and recent reproduction clues without including AI credentials or full design file contents.
  • Before exporting, return to 2D and confirm that the visible layers, visibility state, and framing are correct.

Common Questions

Why can’t I interact with 2D immediately after opening a document?

During import or render preparation, the app may temporarily show the Data view or an import-blocking overlay. Interaction resumes once the first 2D frame is ready.

Why isn’t object detail shown in Workbench anymore?

The current design moves object detail into the floating info card in 2D. Workbench now focuses on visibility, filtering, and object browsing.

Why is the export button unavailable?

Because export starts from 2D. If you are in 3D or Data, return to 2D; if another export task is running, wait for it to finish.