Introducing Curved Traces in Flux

We’re excited to announce one of the most requested features from advanced users: Curved Traces are now available in Flux!

Whether you’re routing high-speed buses, fine-tuning antennas, or laying out clean RF filters, sharp 90º or even 45º angles can be a serious bottleneck. Now, you can create precisely curved elbows across entire nets—or dial them in trace by trace—with full control over radius, inheritance, and overrides. Curved Traces were built to work the way you already do in Flux. You don’t need to micromanage every elbow—just set your rules once, and let the system handle the rest.

Need to override an elbow? You can. Want to apply curved traces to an entire layout? Go for it. You’re in the driver’s seat, and the system has your back with smart defaults, inheritance, and DRCs that surface only when needed.

This release sets the stage for what’s next: full support for flex and rigid-flex boards. Curved Traces are the first major unlock—and we’re actively building the rest. Flex is on the way.

The power of curved traces

This isn't just about cosmetics. Curved traces improve routing quality, unlock new design styles, and remove a major blocker for:

• Antennas and RF filters where MHz–GHz signals demand smooth, impedance-consistent transitions
• High-speed signals like DDR4 or HDMI that depend on tight length matching.
• Signal integrity-sensitive designs, where tight corners can accumulate charge and distort waveforms

Until now, you had to work around Flux’s sharp elbows. Now, you can design the way the pros do—with full control over every bend.

How to use curved traces in Flux

Curved Traces give you a new level of control over how your signals move across the board—whether you’re designing critical paths or polishing the final layout. To use curved traces:

1. Enable curved routing - Set the Trace Shape rule to "Curve" at the layout, net, or individual segment level. This tells Flux to apply curves instead of sharp elbows wherever possible.

‍2. Set a minimum radius - Use the Trace Corner Radius Minimum rule to define the smallest allowable curve. This helps ensure manufacturability—especially for tight layouts or impedance-sensitive routes.

‍3. Leverage inheritance - Apply your rules at the layout or zone level so they cascade automatically. You can mark rules as !important to make them stick when conflicts arise.‍

4. Override specific elbows - Need more control? Just click and drag the trace elbow or use Trace Corner Radius Start/End or Trace Shape Start/End to adjust a specific corner without affecting the whole trace.‍

5. Watch for DRC warnings - Flux will flag any elbows that can’t meet your minimum radius—so you can adjust your layout before it becomes a real problem.‍

6. Mix manual + auto-routing - Route critical traces by hand to maintain control—then auto-route the rest. Flux will respect your curved segments and finish the job cleanly.

If you’ve ever spent time nudging elbows, adjusting angles, or finessing a meander by hand, this is the update you’ve been waiting for.

Real projects. Real curves.

Want to see what’s possible? We’ve put together a few fully forkable example projects that showcase curved trace routing in the wild:

• RFID Antenna Board - High-performance RFID antenna solution built on a PCB configurations

• RF Filter Example – Controlled radii for consistent performance

Open them, explore the layout rules, and make them your own.

This is just the beginning

Curved Traces are a foundational feature—especially for advanced workflows. But they’re also a signal: we’re investing deeply in professional-grade capabilities, from stackups and automatic impedance control to AI auto-layout and AI-assisted design reviews. If Flux wasn’t quite enough for your pro projects before, now’s the time to jump back in.

Curved Traces are available to all users starting today. Just open any project, apply the "Curve" trace shape in your layout rules, and start routing. It's that simple.

Got feedback or something cool to share? Post in the Flux community or tag us—we’d love to feature your work.

Let’s bend some traces.

👉 Open Flux and try it now.