Note: for detailed guidance on creating designs, access the 
Help > Create Designs page from the Schematic Editor.
There are two ways to create a new design: create it from scratch (starting with a blank schematic) or copy an existing design.
Create a new design from scratch
In the top banner, Designs > 
Create Design. This opens a blank schematic.
The title and description can be edited in the right sidebar. The right sidebar has other useful information such as the design description and the group where the design is saved.
Copy an existing design
Public designs created by the PartQuest Explore community can be browsed and opened from 
Designs > Browse Designs. Existing designs that you created can be browsed and opened from Designs > Browse My Designs.
Click on the 
Save As icon in the toolbar. Specify the name of the copied design, the group where it will be saved, and whether the existing description or any tunable options should be preserved. Click Save.
The new, copied design automatically opens afterwards.
Finding components
Components are selected from the Component Browser in the left sidebar. Desired components can be located by expanding the categories or using the Search Components field. The components are sorted into the following:
- Generic Components: components with VHDL-AMS simulation models included in the default PartQuest Explore library.
- Manufacturers: components with manufacturer-provided simulation models
- Personal: contains the following categories
- My Favorites: components that have been marked as favorites. To edit the My Favorites list, right-click on a component in the Component Browser and click Add Favorite or Remove Favorite.
- My Components: custom components that you have created.
- My Group Components: show group components by right-clicking on the category header and selecting a group
Placing and Wiring Components
Once located, components can be dragged-and-dropped from the Component Browser to the schematic canvas.
Clicking on a component in the Component Browser will also place an instance of that component in the schematic canvas.
A component in the schematic canvas can be moved by dragging-and-dropping it. A component can also be transformed by clicking on it and using the Rotate Clockwise, Flip Horizontal, and Flip Vertical buttons that appear above it.
Nets (wires) can be added to component pins in multiple ways:
- Click on a pin, hold and drag to another pin, then release
- Drag a component so its pin touches that of another component, then release
- Click on an existing net (wire) and click on the
icon to create a new branch
Note that all nets and component pins are color coded. When connecting component pins to each other, they should be of the same color (which implies that they are of the same "technology type"). The technology types and their associated colors are shown below:
| Technology Type | Net/Pin Color |
|---|---|
| Electrical | Black |
| Digital | Blue |
| Quantity | Green |
| Thermal | Red |
| Rotational | Maroon |
| Rotational Velocity | Brown |
| Translational | Orange |
| Fluidic | Teal |
A component or net can be selected by clicking on it, which highlights it in green.
- Multiple components and/or nets can be selected by Shift-clicking and dragging a rectangle. The selected elements can then all be moved together.
- CTRL-clicking on a component or a selection of multiple components/nets and then dragging will duplicate it.
- Pressing CTRL+C on a selection of components will copy it. You can then press CTRL+V to paste this selection into either the current design or a different design. Pasted components retain their original property values, but their label numberings are updated accordingly.
Change component property values
Most generic components allow users to set property values that will overwrite the default values. Some components (e.g. resistors, capacitors, inductors) require property values to be set before performing simulation. If a required property value is missing, the component will be outlined in red.
After placing a component on the schematic, property values can be set by:
- Double-clicking on the component to open the Property Editor.
- Right-clicking on the component and selecting Properties.
Annotating the design
Annotations can be added using the 
Add Annotations command in the toolbar. You can add text, line, and rectangle annotations.