Abstract: A circuit editor generates a graphic rendering of an electronic circuit design for partial display in a visual canvas on a display unit. The circuit editor detects aberrant arrangements of circuit elements which violate predetermined circuit layout criteria, such as minimum spacing between the edges or corners of circuit elements, and forms a correction scheme to rearrange the circuit elements such that consistency with the circuit layout criteria is restored. When the aberrant arrangements are not themselves displayed in the visual canvas, the circuit editor generates visual indications of the layout violation and of the correction scheme, the latter being used to guide user correction of the violation.