You’re onto the home stretch of your EE onboarding project - layout and routing! All of your work in the schematic and understanding of electronic circuits will come into play.
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This document does not cover every single step of the PCB design process! Check and read through https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-designer/laying-out-your-pcb.
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To begin with the layout, start by adding a PCB file to your project.
You can add a PCB to your project by right-clicking on your project, going to “Add New to Project”, and then selecting “PCB”.
From the schematic view, you should import your parts into the PCB file. Use the Design → Update PCB Document command from the main menus of the schematic editor and complete the ECO execution process.
You may have to save your PCB file to your project folder before being able to import your parts.
Next, move your components to the general centre of the board (the black rectangle). By default, the board is a rectangle of 6000 x 4000 mil (152.4 x 101.6 mm). You can (and should) change this!
The default board size.
When in the design space, press Q to change from mils to millimetres, and vice versa. This can also be configured in the Properties tab when nothing is selected. You should do all of your layout in millimetres.
Press G to open a menu from where you can quickly set the global grid to one of the standard values. This will snap your components to the grid size you like. As an example, I often use 0.100mm. Press and hold G to type in any custom grid size you like.
Press 3 to enter 3D mode, where you can view your board’s physical layout. Press 0 to reset your view. Press 2 to go back to 2D layout.
You can draw a custom rectangle outline for your PCB by right-clicking the line function and selecting the Rectangle from the toolbar, and then clicking + dragging to the appropriate size. You should assign this rectangle one of the mechanical layers in your PCB design.
The toolbar in the PCB layout menu. Right click the line (farthest right) and select the Rectangle tool.
Next, with the rectangle selected, go to Design → Board Shape → Define Board Outline from Selected Objects. This will make your PCB the size of your selection.
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You can created rounded edges for your board by adding a fillet to your rectangle.
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Defining a custom board shape from Design → Board Shape.