How to Route Clean Orthogonal Manhattan Wires in Schema Editor

TLDR

Select the Wire Tool in Schema Editor (or press W), click any component pin, and guide your cursor to the destination. The Manhattan routing engine automatically draws right-angle orthogonal segments that snap to the grid and steer around intervening components. Use the toolbar slider to toggle between sharp 90° corners and clean 45° chamfers.

Before you start

You need Schema Editor open in any schematic or diagramming mode.

The grid snapping and Manhattan pathfinding engine runs client-side on an interactive SVG canvas, delivering instant 60 FPS snapping even on dense schematics with hundreds of components.

Step 1 — Configure grid size and snapping rules

In the bottom-right status bar, click the Grid Settings menu:

• Grid Size: Choose between 10px, 20px, or 40px grid pitches. A 20px pitch works best for standard electrical schematics.
• Snap to Grid: Ensure the magnet toggle is active (or press G to toggle snapping on and off).
• Pin Snap Radius: Controls the magnetic pull distance when your cursor nears a terminal pin (default: 8px).

Step 2 — Draw orthogonal 90-degree wires between pins

Press W (or click the Wire Tool icon in the left toolbar).

1. Hover over the starting component terminal pin. A green connection ring appears.
2. Click to anchor the starting wire endpoint.
3. Move your cursor toward the target component. The router renders orthogonal horizontal and vertical segments that follow the grid lines.
4. Click the destination pin to commit the wire.

Step 3 — Route around obstacles with auto-avoidance

When an existing component or chip sits directly between two pins:

• Move your cursor past the obstacle.
• The pathfinder evaluates obstacle bounding boxes in real time, automatically routing the wire above, below, or around the blocking element without crossing over component bodies.
• To force an intermediate corner, click once in empty canvas space to drop a manual waypoint, then continue routing.

Step 4 — Adjust wire elbows and add 45-degree chamfers

After a wire is placed, you can adjust its routing path:

• Drag Segments: Click and drag any horizontal or vertical wire segment to shift it up, down, left, or right while preserving 90° junctions.
• Add 45° Chamfers: In the top toolbar, drag the Chamfer Slider (or set it to 6px). The sharp 90° corners smoothly convert into 45° diagonal joints, providing a professional CAD look.

Step 5 — Reposition components without breaking connectivity

Select the Move / Pointer Tool (V or Escape).

Click and drag any placed component (such as an IC or resistor) to a new canvas location:

• Attached wires stretch and reroute orthogonally in real time.
• Connected pins stay firmly attached with zero disconnected dangling wires.
• Multi-wire junctions update their coordinate nodes automatically.

Pro tip: hold Shift for temporary free-angle routing

By default, the wire tool strictly locks to orthogonal 90° and 45° Manhattan angles.

If you need to draw a non-standard diagnostic tap or free-angle indicator arrow, hold Shift while routing to temporarily unlock free 360° vector angle drawing.

Next steps

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