Table of Contents
General
Quick guide
| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| F1 | LTSpice help file, really good when you learn to navigate it |
| F2 | Place part |
| F3 | Place wire |
| F4 | Place net name |
| F5 | Delete |
| F6 | Copy |
| F7 | Move |
| F8 | Drag |
| F9 | Undo |
| Ctrl + R | Rotate selection |
| Ctrl + E | Mirror selection |
| R | Place resistor |
| L | Place inductor |
| C | Place capacitor |
| D | Place diode |
| G | Place ground |
| T | Place text |
| S | Place SPICE directive |
| Space | Zoom to fit |
| Ctrl + L | Show the log (after a simulation) |
Most hot keys can be changed in the control panel under the tab "Drafting Options". This is also where the scroll wheel zoom can be corrected to behave in a sane way.
All SPICE directives begin with a dot. For example ".tran 1".
There are many examples installed in the home directory under "LTspiceXVII\examples".
Editing hints
Wires can be drawn over components (axially) and the wire will connect to the appropriate connectors without shorting them all.
Components can be placed over wires (axially) and the wire will break up and be connected appropriately.
Ctrl + right click a component or SPICE directive to open the raw editing, instead of the guided GUI of that property.
Circuit hints
To do mathematical operations, an arbitrary behavioral voltage source ("bv" in component selector) can be used. Look in the help chapter "B. Arbitrary Behavioral Voltage or Current Sources" (F1) for detailed descriptions.
Simulation hits
Transient simulation
To measure the voltage between two nodes: press on the first node, drag the mouse and release on the other node
To measure power in a component, Alt + click the component.
To measure the current, click a pin of a component. Notice that the direction is dependent on the rotation of the component.
SPICE hints
All spice directives begin with a dot, e.g. .tran 1
Line comments are either semi-colon ; or asterisk *
Line starting with + continues the previous line. ex:
; Multi-line directive .step param c_load + 4.7u 20u 4.7u
To use a .SUBCKT model, make sure to change the component prefix to X
Parameters
Some examples of parameters
.step param Un list 12 24
; Lookup tables can be used table(comparison_variable, match1, value1, match2, value2, ...)
.step param Ua = table(Un, 12, 13.5, 24, 27)
.param amp_gain=30
.param func_peak_peak=2
; Mathematical expressions can be used within braces
.param wav_normalizer={ func_peak_peak/2 }