25d View ((hot)): Klayout

The bottom coordinate of the layer relative to the substrate.

Unlike heavyweight 3D CAD tools, KLayout’s 2.5D view uses efficient OpenGL rendering. Even large designs (hundreds of MB) remain responsive. klayout 25d view

For more complex structures, you can use the zz() block. This groups multiple z() statements together, allowing you to create a single "material" from multiple layers and apply common display parameters to all of them. The bottom coordinate of the layer relative to the substrate

You can rotate, pan, and tilt the view interactively. This makes it easy to inspect via stacks, overlapping geometries, and potential spacing violations that might be invisible in pure top-down mode. For more complex structures, you can use the zz() block

You can "cut" through the design to see cross-sections, which is invaluable for verifying via connections and overlapping regions.

Once rendering is complete, a new window pops up showing your design in a pseudo-3D perspective.

Easily spot structural flaws, such as missing vias, misaligned contacts, or overlapping layers that look correct in 2D but fail vertically.