PanelNinja offers the ability create your panel layouts as well as add custom panel and instruments (using panel and instrument panels you create yourself or obtain from third parties).


To manage the instruments, click on Manage Instruments in the navigation menu in the top right corner of the window to open the Manage Panels and Instruments screen. This menu option is only available when you are not connected to Infinite Flight so disconnect from Infinite Flight first.


The Manage Panels and Instruments screen looks like this:

By default it contains a Default Panel instrument layout and six instruments which cannot be edited or deleted.

At a high level you can do the following:


1. Create a new instrument panel layout


2. Edit details of panels and instruments


3. Change the grid layout for a panel


4. Change the instruments in a panel layout


5. Add third-party panel layouts (with associated instruments)


6. Add third-party individual instruments for use in your custom panel layouts


7. Save panels or instruments to share with other PanelNinja users or to open and edit yourself to create new panels and instruments


Creating New Instrument Panel Layouts


To create a new instrument panel layout, click the Add Panel button. This will create a new, empty instrument panel:

By default a random generated panel name is created.


Edit Details of Panels and Instruments


You can change the panel name and other details which you can change by clicking on Edit Details:

Edit the details and click Save and the panel details will be displayed:

You can similarly edit details of individual instruments.


Managing Panel Grids


You have flexibility to define your own grid layout for panels. The basic concept of grids are slots which can hold instruments laid out in rows and columns.


Adding Rows and Columns


Initially, a new panel will contain a single row and column:



To the right and bottom of this single instrument slot you will see + buttons to add additional rows/columns:



If you click on the button to add a new column, a new column is added:



Similarly, if you add a new row, it is immediately added:



The maximum number of rows supported by PanelNinja is 4 and the maximum number of columns is 6.


Adding Instruments to a Slot


Each instrument slot contains a + button which allows you to add an instrument to the slot:



If you click this button, you are presented with a list of instruments you can use to choose an instrument for the slot:


Click on your preferred instrument and it is added to the slot:



Removing an Instrument from a Slot


If you hover over an instrument in a slot, an X button will appear allowing you to remove the instrument from the slot:



Just click the button to remove the instrument.


Deleting Rows and Columns


You can delete rows and columns from the layout using the X icon to the right of a row or at the bottom of a column:



Clicking the button removes the respective row or column.


In order to delete a row or column, it must be empty and not contain any instruments. If you add an instrument, the row and column it sits in cannot be deleted and the X button will not be available:



To delete a row or column which contains instruments, first remove the instruments and then the X button will be available remove the respective row or column.


Creating Double-Sized Instrument Slots


PanelNinja not only allows you the ability to create simple layouts such as a  standard 3x2 general aviation instrument layout but also to mix large/small instruments in a single layout. For instance, PanelNinja ships with a payout called "Large Horizon" which provides an example of using a larger instrument in a panel layout:

We will walk through how to create this layout from scratch. You start by adding your new panel which has a single row and column:



To replicate the panel layout above we will need a 4 column, 2 row grid so we will start by adding three columns:



Next we add a second row:



What you will immediately notice is that wherever you have four empty slots in a 2x2 square a green link button appears in the middle:



You can use these link button to combine any empty 2x2 group of instrument slots into one large double-sized instrument slot. For instance, if you click the link button at the left in this example, this is the result:



Notice the double-sized instrument slot has a red unlink button:



This is used to split the slot back into four regular-sized slots:



To create the sample layout with the large artificial horizon layout shown above, first start by adding the four small instruments in the first and last column. This leaves four empty instrument slots in the two middle columns:



Next, click the green link button to join the four empty slots into one larger instrument slot:



Finally, click the plus button to add the horizon instrument to the empty instrument slot:



Add Third-Party Panel Layouts


Anyone can create their own panel layouts using the default instruments or including their own custom instruments and distribute them as a ZIP files. You can add these panels (and associated instruments) by clicking on the Import Panel button and then selecting the ZIP file from the panel selection dialog box which is displayed.


You can learn more about creating your panels and instruments to distribute as ZIP files here:


Creating Custom Instruments and Panels


Add Third-Party Instruments


Anyone can create their own instruments distribute them as a ZIP files. You can add these panels (and associated instruments) by clicking on the Import Instrument button and then selecting the ZIP file from the panel selection dialog box which is displayed. The Import Instrument button appears above the list of instruments:

You can learn more about creating your panels and instruments to distribute as ZIP files here:


Creating Custom Instruments and Panels


Save Panels or Instruments as ZIP Files


You can export and save any panel or instrument as a ZIP file by clicking the Save button for that panel or instrument -- including the default panels and instruments which come with PanelNinja. You can use these ZIP files as a reference when creating your panels or instruments.


You can learn more about creating your panels and instruments to distribute as ZIP files here:


Creating Custom Instruments and Panels