The origin is the universal reference point for the placement and movement of objects. Since its dimensioning is based on various points – the corner and midpoints of the panel, object reference points etc. pp. – it is of paramount importance that the origin can be set flexibly.

The "origin" – recognizable by the blue circle with the small crosshair – is the source of the coordinate system, in which the positions of the reference points of objects which exist or are to be placed are specified or determined.

It can be placed according to different criteria very flexibly on the main plate, and thereby represents one of the most important design tools.

The origin (as well as the grid base and the grid offset) is set individually for each front panel and saved with it.

The position of the origin remains unchanged when changing the units of measurement of the main plate.

The coordinates of the origin for a rectangular main plate are always based on its lower left corner. In the picture below – which shows the position of the origin after defining the main plate – the coordinates of the origin for X and Y are both therefore zero.

For main plates that are elliptical or circular, this reference point for the position of the origin is the lower left corner of the rectangle which encloses the ellipse or the circle. The same applies to main plates with a user-defined free contour

For every newly created main plate, the origin is always in the lower left corner of the main plate. A grid point is always either at the origin (left) or moved by the offset relative to the origin (right).

As long as the box "Align on grid" is checked, the origin can only be placed with the mouse on grid points or offset relative to the grid points. The origin can only be set to any desired position with the mouse when this box is unchecked.

With all of the other options – manual input of coordinates with the keyboard, based on object or reference points or on the main plate grid -– the origin can in principle be determined independently of the grid options.

This method is useful if you want to set the origin to a point in the current grid. If the box "Align on grid" in the settings dialog box (Ctrl + e) is checked, the cursor is always snapped to the nearest grid point.

To reset the position of the origin, first click the "set origin" icon:

An icon bar appears for you to choose between the different methods of setting the origin on the main plate:

If you click on the icon "Enter coordinates using the mouse", then the origin is placed at the position of the cursor when the mouse was clicked. If the box "Align on grid" in the settings dialog box (Ctrl + e) is checked, the cursor is always snapped to the nearest grid point.

This method is useful if the new coordinates of the origin are known in the following manner:

To reset the position of the origin in one of these two ways, first click the "set origin" icon:

An icon bar appears for you to choose between the different methods of setting the origin on the main plate:

If you click on the icon "Enter coordinates manually", then the dialog box opens for you to enter absolute (based on the lower left corner of the main plate) or relative (based on the current position of the origin) coordinates.

Note: The default absolute and relative coordinates are always based on the current position of the origin (calculated from the lower left corner of the main plate).

This method is useful if you want to base subsequent placements or movements of objects on the snap point of a certain object. Please take note of the next section, when you come to setting the origin based on the snap point of an object.

To reset the position of the origin, first click the "set origin" icon:

An icon bar appears for you to choose between the different methods of setting the origin on the main plate:

If you click on the icon "Enter coordinates based on the snap point of an object", then the origin can be placed on the snap point of any object, if it has snapped the cursor (recognizable by the appearance of a blue square).

This method is useful if you want to place the origin at a defined distance to the snap point of a certain object. To reset the position of the origin, first click the "set origin" icon:

An icon bar appears for you to choose between the different methods of setting the origin on the main plate:

If you click on the icon "Enter coordinates relative to the snap point of an object", then the origin can be placed relative to the snap point of any object, if it has snapped the cursor (recognizable by the appearance of the blue square). A dialog box opens for you to enter the relative (to the current position of the snap point) coordinates.