Soldermask Dots

I recently had a design  where I needed soldermask dots on a thermal pad as shown below. 

An experienced Altium user solved this problem using FILLs applied to the soldermask layer as shown below. The result is soldermask squares that tented the VIAs.

Single layer mode - 3D View of the Soldermask

AD2013 New Features

AD2013 available now:

'via Blog this'

PCB Layer Definitions

My Mechanical Layer Definitions

1		Board Outline
2		Assy Dwg Top Ref
3		Assy Dwg Bot Ref
4		Component Outlines
5		Board Dimensions
6		3D Bodies
7		Fab Drawing Text
8		Assy Dwg Top Text
9		Assy Dwg Bot Text
10		Panel Drawing
11		Panel Dimensions
12		PCB Scoring/Routing
13		Mechanical 13
14		Drill Drawing Text
15		Component Courtyards
16		Page Frame Top
17		Page Frame Bot
18		Mechanical 18
19		Mechanical 19
20		Test Points Top
21		Test Points Bot
22		Mechanical 22
23		Mechanical 23
24		Outlines Layer Pair
25		Courtyards Layer Pair
26		Mechanical 26
27		Mechanical 27
28		Mechanical 28
29		Mechanical 29
30		Mechanical 30
31		Mechanical 31
32		Mechanical 32

M1 to M32 are Defined as needed per project.

Live Supplier Data - Managing Supplier Links - English documentation - The Altium Wiki

Live Supplier Data - Managing Supplier Links - English documentation - The Altium Wiki:

'via Blog this'

BOM - Open generated outputs

Open generated outputs

When creating Excel BOM from Altium, I recommend that you check the Open generated outputs option. 

This is because if you have the same BOM open (maybe it is behind a window or has been minimized to the task bar) Altium will not create the BOM and you will not receive any warning from Altium that the tool failed to create the BOM.