Downloadable manual????

[Joel_l]

Hi,

I have been playing with the CS demo for a couple weeks and find it annoys me a little less than some of the other tools I have been using. I went ahead and bought the package. So far all I'm finding is online docs. I really prefer to have a local stored PDF. Is there a such a thing as a complete downloadable user manual for this?

Joel

[tautech]

If CS is anything like Altium there should be a Help folder that contains a good # of pdf instructables.

[Joel_l]

There are online docs. What Im looking for is a full downloadable manual. Going through each downloadable page of thier online docs would be very painful. There should be a complete pdf manual but so far it seems it doesnt exist.

[tautech]

There are online docs. What Im looking for is a full downloadable manual. Going through each downloadable page of thier online docs would be very painful. There should be a complete pdf manual but so far it seems it doesnt exist.

Interesting.
My old copy of Altium has ~60 pdf tutorial files in the installed Help folder. Use a file explorer to check just what is installed in a CS installation.

[H.O]

The only docs there (in terms of pdf files) are the EULA in four languages and a 500 page manual for the SVN version control system. I'd also REALLY like to have a proper pdf manual you could print and actually read from start to finish.

[Joel_l]

Yes, exactly, I also get annoyed that many company's now think you are connected online 100% of the time. I am not!!!

I'd also REALLY like to have a proper pdf manual you could print and actually read from start to finish.

[tautech]

PM member James Harriman from Altium and ask him for some links to documentation.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/profile/?u=125777

Point him back to this thread so what he might share is available to other CS users.

[voltsandjolts]

Personally, I prefer to be online/web connected while using CS.
Not only for access to CS documentation (including videos which I prefer over reading documentation) but also for accessing data sheets / suppliers / pricing / circuit hints for whatever project I'm working on.
I think I would find being disconnected quite frustrating.

You might be able to download a local copy of CS documentation using the traditional website copying tools;
e.g. using  https://www.httrack.com/   to copy  http://documentation.circuitstudio.com/  although I have not tried that.

[H.O]

Online docs (or off line help files for that matter) are great when you know what you're looking for, how to operate a specific feature or do a specific task. But when you're new a tool like CS having a proper manual that you can read or just flip thru to get a feel for the available features, what you CAN and how you're SUPPOSED to do things to get the best out of the tool beats online docs IMHO.

[negativ3]

A good manual is invaluable for software with a steep learning curve.

When I started working with Solidworks many years ago, one of the "bible" series books helped a lot, and still does.

A "CS bible" would be most welcome.

[JamesH-AltiumOfficial]

Hi Joel_l

The documentation at http://documentation.circuitstudio.com has a link at the bottom of each page: "PDF version" that will download when clicked. There isn't an overall PDF though.

Please let me know if there are particular topics missing or needing improvement and I'll request this for improvement.

When starting out, have a look at the FAQ on the main website first:
http://www.circuitstudio.com/circuitstudio-support
Scroll down to the PDF section. The Search field at the top does not search this page, so use Ctrl+F instead.

On the Documentation website, this is a good tuturial to get started:
http://documentation.circuitstudio.com/display/CSTU/From+Idea+to+Manufacture+-+Driving+a+PCB+Design+through+CircuitStudio

The green icon on the left (3 horizontal lines) expands the menu tree and the Exploring CircuitStudio section is most useful so those pages would be worth downloading.

Best regards,

James Harriman
Altium

[Joel_l]

Hi James,

Thanks for jumping in.

For example, I'm doing a board review. I want to highlight different nets using different colors. I go to the online docs and search for highlight net, nothing useful, my general experience with online help.

Altium is touting Circuit Studio as professional software, what I have been able to work out so far, it is OK, but it is sorely lacking in professional documentation.

Downloading PDFs piece meal is also not very user friendly. What Altium can do is put together a proper manual we can download and use.

I did figure out how to highlight nets in a long cumbersome way, in another thread a suggestion was made I've yet to try.

For me, good documentation is as important as the app and online only documentation is not OK.

Joel