Layout Editor

This guide targets designers already familiar with custom IC layout tools such as Cadence Virtuoso Layout L. Revolution EDA follows the same core workflow: choose layers, place geometry, add pins and labels, reuse hierarchy, and export the finished cell for downstream verification and tapeout-oriented flows.

Quick Orientation (for Virtuoso Users)

• Library Browser: open a layout or pcell view from the design library browser.
• Layer Selection Window (LSW): similar to the layer palette in other layout editors; choose the active drawing layer and control layer visibility/selectability.
• Drawing: press R for rectangles, W for paths, P for pins, L for labels, V for vias, and G for polygons.
• Properties: select an object and press Q to inspect or edit its properties.
• Hierarchy: Go Down and Go Up support normal hierarchical layout editing.
• Export: use Tools -> Export GDS to write a GDS file from the current layout.

Virtuoso to Revolution EDA Mapping

The table below maps common layout-editor actions to their Revolution EDA equivalents.

Typical Layout Flow

1. Open or create a layout view from the Library Browser.
2. In the LSW, choose the active drawing layer.
3. Draw base geometry with rectangles and paths.
4. Add vias, labels, and pins where needed.
5. Place child instances or PCells using Create -> Create Instance....
6. Use q key to open properties dialogue to refine geometry, instance parameters, and coordinates.
7. Use hierarchy navigation to edit child cells in context.
8. Export the completed cell with Tools -> Export GDS.

Menu Actions You Will Use Most

This section summarizes the most common layout editor actions by menu.

File Menu

The File menu handles saving, refreshing, printing, and exporting your layout view.

• File -> Check-Save: saves the current layout.
• File -> Save: saves the current layout.
• File -> Update Design: reloads referenced cells from disk, useful after editing child layouts in another window.
• File -> Print...: opens the print dialog for the current layout view.
• File -> Print Preview...: shows a print preview.
• File -> Export...: exports the current view as an image.
• File -> Close Window: closes the current layout editor window.

File menu actions and shortcuts:

View Menu

The View menu controls navigation and the visible area of the layout.

• View -> Fit to Window: fits the current design extents into the editor window.
• View -> Zoom In: zooms in one step.
• View -> Zoom Out: zooms out one step.
• View -> Pan View: enters pan mode; clicking a point recenters the visible scene around that point.
• View -> Redraw: refreshes the layout display.

Additional navigation behavior in the canvas:

• Use the mouse wheel for continuous zooming.
• Press arrow keys to shift the scene left, right, up, or down.
• Press Z to enter box-zoom mode and draw a zoom rectangle.

View menu actions and shortcuts:

Edit Menu

The Edit menu contains the core geometry editing commands.

• Edit -> Properties -> Object Properties...: opens the appropriate property editor for the selected object.
• Edit -> Move: moves selected items interactively.
• Edit -> Move By ...: moves the selection by an exact X/Y offset.
• Edit -> Move Origin: redefines the layout origin point used for displayed coordinates.
• Edit -> Stretch: stretches supported shapes, especially layout paths.
• Edit -> Rotate...: rotates the selection around a clicked pivot point.
• Edit -> Horizontal Flip: mirrors selected items horizontally.
• Edit -> Vertical Flip: mirrors selected items vertically.
• Edit -> Align Items...: aligns selected shapes by edge/center or to a guide line.
• Edit -> Cut Item: cuts selected rectangles, paths, or polygons with a drawn cut line.
• Edit -> Merge Shapes (Ctrl+M): merges overlapping or touching same-layer shapes; compatible collinear paths become one path and rectangle/polygon unions are simplified where possible.
• Edit -> Layer Operations...: boolean Union, Intersection, XOR, Difference, or Grow/Shrink on selected shapes, with undoable results.
• Edit -> Group Items (Ctrl+G) / Ungroup Items (Ctrl+Shift+G): create or dissolve persistent groups that move and select as a unit.
• Edit -> Selection: contains Select All and Unselect All.

Property editing works on these layout object types:

• rectangles
• paths
• pins
• labels
• vias and via arrays
• polygons
• layout instances
• PCell instances

Move By ... snaps entered offsets to the active grid, so the final displacement may differ slightly from the typed value if snapping is required.

Align Items... supports two methods:

1. Align Edges
2. Align To Line

For both methods you can choose horizontal or vertical alignment and optionally enter item spacing.

Cut Item supports these results:

• selected rectangles are split into polygons
• selected paths are split into two path segments
• selected polygons are split into two polygons

To cut an item select the item, and then select Edit -> Cut Item and draw a cut line across the item by starting a line at the point left mouse button is pressed and finish the line at the point where the left mouse button is released. The cut line should cross the item that will be cut.

Edit Menu (Hierarchy)

• Edit -> Hierarchy -> Go Down: opens the selected layout instance in a child layout editor. The dialog lets you choose the destination layout view and whether it opens in Edit or Read Only mode.
• Edit -> Hierarchy -> Go Up: returns to the parent layout and refreshes the parent view.
• Edit -> Hierarchy -> Flatten Selection: replaces selected instances with transformed leaf geometry; undoable.
• Edit -> Hierarchy -> Make Cell From Selection...: moves selected items into a new cell and places an instance of it in the current layout; undoable.

Edit menu actions and shortcuts:

Create Menu

All layout creation commands are available from the Create menu and the layout toolbar.

Create -> Create Instance… (I)

Use this command to place another layout view or a PCell in the current layout.

• Choose the library, cell, and view from the selection dialog.
• If the selected view is a PCell, Revolution EDA opens a parameter form based on the PCell constructor arguments.
• Place the instance in the layout canvas.

If a pcell is instantiated, first select the pcell cellview, press OK button:

There will be another dialogue shown to determine the instance properties:

Once you press OK button, the new pcell instance will follow the mouse cursor and you could place wherever you want.

Standard layout instances and PCell instances can later be edited through the object properties dialog.

Instance arrays (mosaics): the placement dialog includes an Instance Array (Mosaic) group — rows, columns, and row/column pitch in um. A 1x1 form places a normal instance; larger counts create a mosaic whose elements render, select, and export as one unit. Array fields are editable later from the instance properties dialog, and GDS export emits native stream repetitions.

Create -> Create Rectangle… (R)

Draws a rectangle on the currently active LSW layer.

• Select the target layer in the LSW.
• Start rectangle mode by pressing ‘r’ key or selecting Create Rectangle menu item.
• Click left-mouse button on the first point of the rectangle and drag the mouse cursor along diagonal of the desired rectangle and release the mouse button.

Rectangle properties let you edit the layer, width, height, and top-left coordinate.

Create -> Create Path… (W)

Opens the path creation dialog before entering path drawing mode.

Configurable path settings include:

• path layer
• path width
• path name
• start extension
• end extension
• path orientation mode

Supported orientation modes are:

• Manhattan
• Diagonal
• Any
• Horizontal
• Vertical

The available layers and default width limits come from the active PDK’s process path definitions.

Path properties can later edit the path name, layer, width, endpoints, extensions, and angle.

Create -> Create Pin… (P)

Creates a layout pin and its associated label.

The pin dialog includes:

• pin name
• pin direction
• pin type
• pin layer
• label layer
• label font family, style, size, alignment, and orientation

Pin properties can later edit pin geometry, type information, and coordinates. Unlike legacy layout editors, user can choose any mono-spaced font installed in the computer.

Once OK button is clicked, layout pin rectangle can be drawn similar to layout rectangle is drawn, i.e. diagonally. Once layout pin rectangle is drawn, the label will follow the mouse cursor and can be placed on the layout. Note that Calibre or KLayout will extract the layout netlist starting from label locations.

Create -> Create Label… (L)

Creates a standalone layout label on one of the available text layers.

The label dialog lets you set:

• label text
• text layer
• font family and style
• text height
• alignment
• orientation

Labels are useful both for documentation and for flows that rely on layout text markers.

Create -> Create Via… (V)

Creates a via or via array using the via definitions provided by the active PDK.

The via dialog supports two modes:

• Single: one via cut
• Array: repeated via cuts with entered row/column spacing and row/column counts

Via dimensions are validated against the selected via definition in the PDK.

Once OK button is clicked, the created single via or via array will follow the mouse cursor and can be place wherever necessary.

Create -> Create Polygon… (G)

Creates a polygon on the active LSW layer.

• Click to add vertices.
• A temporary guide line shows the next segment.
• Press Esc when you are finished.

Polygon properties allow direct point-table editing and layer reassignment.

Create -> Create Multipart…

Create a guard ring, shielded path, or bus route by choosing the type and entering its layers and dimensions, then clicking start and end points. The object persists as editable parameters rather than detached child geometry.

Create -> Add Ruler (K) / Delete Rulers (Shift+K)

Click two points to place a measurement ruler in either direction; the status bar previews the distance. F3 during placement opens options for angle constraints and edge snapping. Tick spacing adapts to zoom. Use Ctrl+K to delete selected rulers or Shift+K to remove all rulers; placed rulers can be moved or stretched.

Options Menu

The layout editor inherits the shared Options menu from the editor framework.

• Options -> Display Config...: configures major grid spacing, snap grid spacing, and grid display style (dots, lines, or no grid). The layout version of this dialog also shows the active process resolution as Process Points per um. In other words, this field explains how many grids on the layout editor, 1um layout length corresponds to. It can be changed through Layout Display Options dialogue as it is a PDK property.

• Options -> Selection Config...: configures how box selection works.
  1. Full: only items fully enclosed by the selection rectangle are selected.
  2. Partial: items intersecting the selection rectangle are also selected.

The layout canvas also includes the Layer Selection Window (LSW) at the left side of the editor. The LSW is not a menu, but it is central to layout editing:

• choose the active drawing layer
• toggle layer visibility
• toggle layer selectability
• quickly make all layers visible / invisible
• quickly make all layers selectable / non-selectable

Check Menu

The base layout editor does not add a mandatory check action by itself, but the active PDK may populate the Check menu with verification commands.

For example, some IHP PDK currently adds KLayout DRC to the Check menu. Treat these as optional, PDK-provided features rather than core layout-editor functionality.

Tools Menu

• Tools -> Read Only: toggles the current layout into read-only mode. While enabled, mouse editing events are blocked.
• Tools -> Renumber Instances: renumbers layout instances in sequence (I0, I1, I2, …). This operation is saved immediately, reloads the layout afterwards, and is not undoable.
• Tools -> Export GDS / Export OAS: exports layout hierarchy to GDS or OASIS. In addition to unit, precision, and directory, stream options can remap layers and cell names or flatten below a selected hierarchy depth. Defaults come from the active PDK.
• Tools -> Load from Schematic...: builds layout instances from a selected schematic, resolving layout/PCell views and PDK parameter mappings. Save existing geometry first: this command replaces the current layout.
• When compatible RevSDL is installed, Update from Schematic... replaces the free Load command and synchronizes source-owned instances without replacing user geometry. The plugin also provides flyline overlays and cross-probing.
• Tools -> Highlight Net / Clear Net Highlights: inspect hierarchy-aware layout connectivity without changing design data.

Some PDKs and plugins may also add extra commands to the menu bar or tools area.

Context Menu (Right-click on Item)

Right-clicking a selected layout item opens a context menu with common edit and hierarchy actions.

Notes:

• Go Down is meaningful when a layout instance is selected.
• If an item cannot be selected, check whether its layer is visible and selectable in the LSW.

Layout Shortcuts at a Glance

This quick appendix collects the most frequently used layout shortcuts in one place.

Final Notes

• The exact list of layers, path types, via types, and PCells depends on the selected PDK.
• Most layout editing is grid-snapped, so typed or dragged coordinates may be adjusted to the nearest valid snap point.
• Q is the fastest way to make precise edits after placement.
• Use File -> Update Design after changing child cells in other windows.
• Use Esc whenever you want to abandon the current drawing mode and return to normal selection.

Once you are comfortable with the basics above, you can move on to hierarchical layout assembly, PCell-driven device generation, and PDK-specific verification flows.

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