CAD and Layouting software reocmmendation

[tonyc]

Hi I am newbie here. I design my circuit using paper and pencil but I would like to make my design look somewhat professional. I just wonder what are the popular CAD and lay outing software would people recommend.

[rstofer]

I have been using the software from ExpressPCB.  It has a schematic editor as well as a PCB layout editor.  In terms of layout, expect to have to do everything yourself.  This is NOT the equivalent of Eagle.  OTOH, the learning curve isn't like Eagle either!

The software is proprietary and the only company that can build boards designed with the software is ExpressPCB!  But that's ok with me, I like their service and the prices, while not as cheap as boards built in China, are fine.

[Curtis]

I use "LTspice IV". It's free, plus it simulates the circuits you design.

[Lee Leduc]

I use Diptrace (www.diptrace.com). It contains schematic drawing and PCB layout. A free copy limited to 300 pins is available for download. A free 500 pin version is available for the asking if it's for hobby use. It allows you to draw a schematic and layout a double sided PCB. It comes with a 200+ page tutorial in PDF format. I use it to make single sided boards using the toner trasfer technique at home and it creates Gerber files you can send to a PCB fab house for double sided boards with plated through holes,soldermask and silkscreen. I've sent Gerbers to Iteadstudio PCB prototyping service (www.itead.cc/open-pcb.htmal) and OSH Park (https://oshpark.com/) and others with excellent results. Diptrace has special pricing for Students and Hobbyist's if you need more than 500 pins and more than 2 layers.

Attached is a sample board created by a group of high school students I was mentoring a couple of years ago.

[suicidaleggroll]

The big ones for hobbyists are KiCAD, Eagle, and Diptrace.  KiCAD is free and has the normal problems with open-source software (no support, occasional bugs, slow bug tracking/fixing, etc).  Eagle is free for very simple boards, and a couple hundred dollars for anything of moderate complexity.  It's also not as intuitive as KiCAD IMO.  I have no experience with Diptrace, so I can't comment there.

Don't waste your time with proprietary packages IMO.  There's no point investing your time learning a tool and designing 1 or more board(s) that are then tied to a single manufacturer that could close their doors at any time.  What if you need capabilities beyond what that manufacturer can do, or their quality drops, or they change their pricing scheme, or they shut down, etc.  Stick with a package that can export designs in common industry-accepted formats (Gerber).

[charlespax]

I use Eagle because a few years ago that's what everyone was using for open source hardware design. It was easy to find tutorials and footprint/schematic files. That's still true, but KiCad is getting close to the same level. I'm not going to switch to KiCad just yet though as I still get pretty frustrated everyone time I give it a try. In a few more years it should be the clear choice, but not right now.

I recommend you go look at project that you want to use as reference for your designs. If pretty much everyone is using one program, use that one. For example, if you want to use breakout boards from Adafruit and SparkFun, you'll want to learn Eagle.

[ZeTeX]

KiCAD = Hotkeys
Eagle = No Hotkeys

that's pretty much did it for me.

[rstofer]

Don't waste your time with proprietary packages IMO.  There's no point investing your time learning a tool and designing 1 or more board(s) that are then tied to a single manufacturer that could close their doors at any time.  What if you need capabilities beyond what that manufacturer can do, or their quality drops, or they change their pricing scheme, or they shut down, etc.  Stick with a package that can export designs in common industry-accepted formats (Gerber).

Worry about it when it happens!  Eagle is such a POS that you can spend a lifetime getting the first board out.  Meanwhile, the far less capable software has the design finished, the boards received and populated.  I've been using ExpressPCB for about 12 years.  I see no reason to change.

I actually bought a book to get started with Eagle, took yet another look and put it off for another day.  The learning curve is too tall and steep to justify changing from what I already know.

All of my projects use fine pitch SMDs, 0805 when I can, 0604 otherwise and a whole lot of components on a fixed sized board.  The software works fine, I get my boards and all is well.

BTW, the layout is linked to the schematic so routes can be verified.

[adamboon]

I've used eagle a bit.. I kind of hate it.

I've just picked up Fritzing and think it's awesome so far.

[Rerouter]

Started early on with expressPCB as i was hand making the boards, and it made it quite quick and easy in that respect,

Later on got annoyed at the lock-in when the cheap board makers started popping up, so jumped to kicad, and have been very happy with it, its solid, they have a few weirder methods when it comes to component creation, but once you learn them its quite fast to bash out boards on.

done about 6 large commercial projects and 20-25 personal ones with no issues other than me not checking footprints and occasionally having components a little too close, but that's just a life lesson when you can see a 2x2mm circuit blown up on a 27" screen,

If you go the kicad route, one bug i haven't yet seen fixed is, after you assign footprints you have to regenerate the net-list for them to load on the pcb, knowing this ahead of time should make like a bit easier,

[koos]

Don't forget about DesignSpark PCB from RS Components. It's got a relatively modern and easy to use GUI, it's free and it's not limited in any way. It's not perfect but IMHO better than the other free ones.

[JoeN]

I second the free version of DIPTrace.  It works like you expect a Windows application to work.  Start with the video tutorial and then read the PDF tutorial.

http://www.diptrace.com/support/video-guided-tour/

[JoeN]

Well, is Eagle good enough to compete the $1000 stripped down version of Altium Designer (aka. Circuit Studio)?

I am hoping to see Dave or someone out there do a comparison.  Personally, I hate Eagle's UI.  It looks to me that Circuit Studio has a saner UI and it reads like it has a lot more high-end features, though not the highest end ones that are in Altium Designer.  Anyone know of a good comparison for this?

[ebclr]

If you have nothing to hide

Try this one

http://circuitmaker.com/

[plazma]

I tried to use Circuit Maker. I had to stop because of missing airwires even though I could not find any faults from the components.

[renatotavares]

I use CircuitMaker,  has the same look and feel of Altium Designer. so far it meets my needs

[Conrad Hoffman]

I like free open source programs. They can have some quirks, but won't usually limit you on nodes and such. You'll stare at these in helplessness trying to figure out how to do anything at all until you understand the interface, but they're very capable:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/tinycad/ for the schematic and net files

http://www.freepcb.com/ for the board layout

My advice with any layout program combination, though painful, is to throw out any part libraries and make your own for the parts you actually use. Most PCB errors come from library issues. Measure your leads and read some design guides for pad sizes, especially SMT. If nothing else, you'll be way smarter about good design practice.

[JacquesBBB]

Eagle is such a POS that you can spend a lifetime getting the first board out. 
....
I actually bought a book to get started with Eagle, took yet another look and put it off for another day.  The learning curve is too tall and steep to justify changing from what I already know.

Dont listen to all those that are denying Eagle with these kind of claims.  There are plenty of  nice video tutorials for Eagle on the Web and  if you put a little effort, you can get ready very quickly, despite the non standard interface (especially for a long time Mac user).
I did that not so long ago, starting from scratch, and got my first PCB ordered in a very reasonable time.

I had look to several other software at the time, but finally end up with Eagle. I have  tried KiCad but at the time the
version was not really usable on a Mac. This may have change.

What I like in Eagle, is that you know that you will  be able to  do anything, and  you can shorten
task by  scripting them.
Eagle files for parts are widely available, and all files are stored in readable text files, which is a bonus.

[Galenbo]

Hi I am newbie here. ...
I just wonder what are the popular CAD and lay outing software would people recommend.

If you're a newbee in electronics, pick Diptrace.
It is free, has all you need and you will be up-and-running very fast with their good videos and tutorials.

The time you invest to learn that package, will be useful if later on you decide to become a professional fulltime PCB manufacturer.

Contras:
-auto-placement and auto-routing is a gambling game, but I read that's also true for the most expensive softwares.
-there is a limit, you can pay to get more access, but I never needed that.
-free-Diptrace exports 3D view to file formats that can't be opened in the also free-Sketchup. What a fail. That makes the 3D capability completely worthless for me.