Editor Basics

The circuit editor is where you design your electronic circuits. This page covers the editor interface, how to add and connect components, and how to configure their properties.

Editor layout

When you open a board, the editor consists of:

• Top toolbar — menus (Project, Add, View), board name, and action buttons (Share, Present, Simulate)
• Canvas — the main working area where you place and connect components
• Side panels (optional) — collaborators list and circuit components panel, toggled from the View menu

Top toolbar menus

Project menu

Action	Description
Save	Manually save the current circuit
Load Board	Open a previously saved board
Export JSON	Download the circuit as a JSON file
Import JSON	Load a circuit from a JSON file
Clear	Remove all components and wires from the canvas
Back to Dashboard	Return to My Page

Add menu

Add components to your circuit by category:

Sources

• Battery — DC power source with configurable voltage, capacity, and chemistry type
• Ground — Reference ground node
• Sine Generator — AC signal source with adjustable frequency, amplitude, and impedance
• Square Generator — Square wave source with configurable frequency, duty cycle, and voltage levels

Passive Elements

• Resistor — Fixed resistor with configurable resistance, power rating, material, and physical dimensions
• Rheostat — Variable resistor (potentiometer) with adjustable position, taper type, and control style
• Capacitor (Polarized) — Electrolytic-style capacitor with polarity, ESR, and leakage current
• Capacitor (Non-Polarized) — Ceramic/film capacitor without polarity constraints
• Inductor — Coil with configurable inductance, DC resistance, and max current
• Transformer — Coupled inductors with turns ratio and core properties

Active Elements

• Diode — Standard diode with full SPICE model parameters (saturation current, ideality factor, breakdown voltage)
• LED — Light-emitting diode with color selection, forward voltage, and efficiency modeling
• NPN Transistor — Bipolar NPN with current gain (hFE), voltage limits, and power rating
• PNP Transistor — Bipolar PNP with the same configurable parameters as NPN
• N-MOSFET — N-channel MOSFET with threshold voltage, RDSon, and gate limits
• P-MOSFET — P-channel MOSFET with equivalent parameters
• Optocoupler — Optical isolation component with LED and phototransistor parameters
• Relay — Electromechanical switch with coil voltage, contact type, and switching specs

Switches

• Push Button — Momentary contact switch
• Toggle Switch — On/off switch
• SPDT Switch — Single Pole Double Throw selector
• Multi-Position Switch — Rotary-style switch with multiple positions

Measuring Instruments

• Ammeter — Measures current through a point in the circuit
• Voltmeter — Measures voltage across two points

Outputs

• Bulb — Incandescent lamp with power and voltage ratings

Other

• Junction — Connection point for joining multiple wires

Click any component in the menu to place it on the canvas.

View menu

Option	Description
Users List	Toggle the active collaborators panel (visible when others are editing)
Circuit Components	Toggle the side panel that lists all components currently on the board

Working with the canvas

Navigation

• Pan — Click and drag on empty space to move around
• Zoom — Scroll to zoom in and out
• Fit view — The canvas auto-fits when a board loads

Selecting components

• Click a component to select it
• Click empty space to deselect

Moving components

• Click and drag a component to reposition it on the canvas
• Components snap to the grid for clean alignment

Connecting components

1. Hover over a component terminal (the small circle at the end of a component)
2. Click and drag from that terminal to another component's terminal
3. Release to create a wire connection

Wires route automatically between terminals. Junctions are created where multiple wires meet.

Deleting

• Select a component or wire and press Delete or Backspace to remove it

Component properties

Click on any component to open its properties panel. Each component type has specific configurable fields.

Common fields

Every component has a Component Name field for labeling (e.g., "R1", "LED_Power").

Example: Resistor properties

Property	Description
Resistance	Value in Ohms
Power Rating	Maximum power dissipation in Watts
Material	Carbon Film, Metal Film, Wirewound, etc.
Shape	Cylinder or Rectangle
Dimensions	Length, width/diameter, height in mm
Temperature Coefficient	Drift in ppm/°C
Max Operating Temperature	Upper limit in °C

Example: Battery properties

Property	Description
Battery Type	Li-Ion, Li-Po, NiMH, NiCd, Lead Acid, Alkaline, Zinc-Carbon
Nominal Voltage	Output voltage in Volts
Capacity	Energy storage in mAh
Internal Resistance	Source impedance in Ohms
Initial Charge Level	Starting charge as a percentage
Shape & Dimensions	Physical form factor
Max Operating Temperature	Upper thermal limit in °C

Example: LED properties

Property	Description
Color	Infrared, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet, UV, White
Forward Voltage	Voltage drop at rated current
Rated Current	Design operating current
Peak Efficiency	Maximum light output efficiency
Max Reverse Voltage	Maximum safe reverse bias
Thermal Resistance	Heat dissipation characteristic

All component types follow this pattern — realistic, detailed parameters that affect simulation behavior.

Board name

The board name is displayed in the center of the toolbar. Click on it to edit the name inline. Changes are saved automatically.

Action buttons

The right side of the toolbar contains:

• Share — Open the sharing modal to share your board via link or email
• Present — Open a clean, full-screen presentation view of the circuit in a new tab
• Simulate — Launch the simulation view to run and analyze your circuit

View-only mode

If you opened a shared board with view-only permission, the editor displays a "View Only" badge. You can view and inspect the circuit but cannot make changes.