Component Editor — Design Custom Parts

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/wtyler2505/ProtoPulse/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

The Component Editor is where you design the individual electronic components that appear in your circuit. Every part in ProtoPulse — its breadboard appearance, schematic symbol, PCB footprint, and pin definitions — is defined here. You can create parts from scratch when the built-in library does not have what you need, or fork an existing library component to customise it.

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What the Component Editor is and when to use it

Use the Component Editor when you need to:

• Create a part not in the library — a custom module, a non-standard connector, a specialised IC with a proprietary package.
• Fork an existing part — take a library component and modify its symbol, footprint, or metadata without affecting the original. Useful when the standard footprint does not match your specific package variant.
• Correct or extend part data — add a missing datasheet URL, update an MPN, or add pins that were omitted from the library entry.

Open the Component Editor by clicking Component Editor in the main tab bar.

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Five views in the editor

The editor is organised into five tabs at the top of the view. Each tab handles a distinct aspect of the component definition: You can switch between tabs freely while editing — all changes are held in memory until you click Save.

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Breadboard view

The Breadboard view presents an SVG canvas with shape tools for drawing a breadboard-style physical representation of your component. This illustration is shown in the Breadboard view of the schematic editor when your component is placed there, giving users a realistic picture of how the part looks when inserted into a breadboard. Available shape tools:

• Rectangle — for IC packages, modules, and body outlines
• Circle — for round components such as electrolytic capacitors and LEDs
• Path — for irregular shapes and custom outlines
• Text — for labels, pin numbers, and reference designators
• Group — for combining shapes into reusable sub-elements

Keyboard shortcuts in the Breadboard view: Use the colour and stroke controls in the toolbar to style shapes to match the real component’s appearance.

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Schematic symbol view

The Schematic Symbol view is where you draw the electrical symbol that appears on circuit diagrams. This is what engineers see when they look at a schematic — the standard rectangular body with pin stubs extending from it, labelled with signal names. Draw the symbol using the same SVG shape tools available in the Breadboard view. Pin connection points defined in the Pin Table (see below) are automatically rendered as connection handles on the symbol edges, so users can draw net connections to them in the Schematic editor. Best practices for schematic symbols:

• Keep the body rectangular with a consistent size relative to the number of pins.
• Group input pins on the left side and output pins on the right, following IEC/IEEE conventions.
• Label pins with their functional names, not just numbers.

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PCB footprint view

The PCB Footprint view is where you define the physical landing pattern for your component on a printed circuit board. This includes:

• Copper pads — the solderable areas where component leads or balls attach
• Courtyard — the keep-out boundary surrounding the component
• Silkscreen outline — the reference body outline printed on the PCB

Pad properties you can set include pad shape (round, rectangular, oval), pad dimensions in mm, and whether the pad is through-hole (THT) or surface-mount (SMD). Through-hole pads require a drill diameter in addition to the pad outer diameter. The footprint data is used when exporting to KiCad and other PCB formats, and is checked by the DRC engine for clearance and annular ring violations.

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Metadata

The Metadata view stores all the non-graphical information about your component: Complete metadata is important for two reasons: it populates the BOM automatically when you add a component instance to a circuit, and it makes the part discoverable when searching the component library.

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Pin table

The Pin Table defines every electrical connection point on your component. Each row in the table represents one pin: Pin types determine how the ERC engine treats connections to each pin: Accurate pin types are critical for ERC to correctly flag undriven inputs, shorted outputs, and conflicting drivers.

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Forking library components

To customise an existing library part without modifying the original: Forked components are stored in the component_parts table, separate from the shared component_library, so library updates do not overwrite your customisations.

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Saving and reusing custom components

Click Save at any time to persist your component to the database. A toast notification confirms success. Once saved, your custom component:

• Appears in the My Components section of the Asset Manager
• Can be placed on any schematic canvas by dragging from the Asset Manager
• Populates the BOM automatically with its metadata when placed as an instance
• Is available across all projects in your account