Does anyone use it?

[peter_mcc]

I'm using it - I was pretty familiar with Protel 99SE over the last 10 years and DIPtrace seems to be pretty easy to use. I tried Eagle for a while - it was terrible!! I miss some things like the Protel shortcut keys (eg va to view all) but apart from that it's great.

peter

[JGinwa]

Successfully used the DipTrace freeware version to create a schematic and PCB layout for Dave's uCurrent design. Found DipTrace to be reasonably intuitive - their tutorial is worth going through. It has a good range of libraries and it is simple to add your own devices.

Sent the Gerber files and drilling file to Seed/Fusion in China for PCB fab. Turn round time about 2 weeks. Boards look good and have 1 built up working as expected. Only problem was I forgot about the copper flood and solder mask for the bottom side (top when mounted in the box, - bummer!

[reagle]

How's the stability of the program itself? I am deep in Altium at work and crashes are getting rather annoying. So for my own tasks I'd like to not deal with them

[Noize]

How's the stability of the program itself? I am deep in Altium at work and crashes are getting rather annoying. So for my own tasks I'd like to not deal with them

I've had no crashs so far. I've used it a bit

[shebu18]

Didn't had one crash and i use it since 2010

[BravoV]

After playing with the free version, damn, this thing is like night and day compared to Eagle in term of easy to use and learn, I'm a convert now.

Btw, just to share about the free license, requested thru email and received the free Lite license that is capable of 500 pins, 2 layers, while the freeware version max at 300 pins.

Another nice thing is, I also got a written confirmation that it is no problem to install that single free license at multiple computers, did it at my laptop (win-x86) and desktop (win-x64), just can't complain more for such price and nice treatment.

[48X24X48X]

I like this part:

This special license is granted on a non-profit base, which means that it must not be used in any commercial purposes (you must not earn money from using it). Selling a few boards limited to your hobby is allowed.

This is what usually you see in forum (Arduino for example), people would make few pieces and some other guys interested to buy them.

[shebu18]

That sounds like "Buy me some drinks and i give you a board".

[reagle]

Didn't had one crash and i use it since 2010

Damn, that is awesome!

[48X24X48X]

Guys,

Is there a way to set the library (component & pattern) to use relative path?
I wanted to share the library but it'll be crazy if the component is using a path in my drive and having hundreds of components inside that library.

[shebu18]

What exactly do you mean? Do you want to change the location of the library's?

[harnon]

I have been using Eagle for a while and didn't think it was that bad... but keeping an open mind, a few weeks ago I decided to try out Diptrace. 

The overall experience is positive, however I think it has its own quirks.  For instance, I'm not sure if there are no shortcut keys or if they are just hidden? Also, I think the component selection box is quite crappy, the search box has never ever found anything and the only real way to select a component is to use your mouse (is there a shortcut key?!) to open the Find Component box.  I assume that as the product matures and becomes more and more popular some of these things will be improved and there will be more parts/tutorials etc.

Overall I like Diptrace and I think I'll stick with it for a while.

[shebu18]

What parts did you search for? there are shortcut keys but i need to search where they are all listed.

[harnon]

What parts did you search for?

Using the main box on the LHS... unless I type in the complete, 100% accurate part number nothing is ever found.  Wildcards etc don't appear to make a difference.  Not a big deal as I just use the Place Component/Find Pattern menu item.

there are shortcut keys but i need to search where they are all listed.

Thats kind of my point    you shouldn't need a manual to work out the shortcut keys for menu items!

As I said though,  I think its at least as good as / slightly better than Eagle, but of course it has its own weird things / annoyances as well.

[shebu18]

The shortcut keys need to be discovered. I will search the help file and see what i can found. Theoretically they have shortcuts but are not mentioned.


If i search fro "78l" i fill find 78l05 78l12 78l09. What was the exact name of the part you searched for?

[harnon]

I tried quite a few parts but no big deal really, the menu dialog is better anyway! 

[48X24X48X]

What exactly do you mean? Do you want to change the location of the library's?

Shebu,

I probably got myself confused with the path shown in "Component > Attach Pattern > Add/Clear Library".

I think as long as both the component and pattern library is placed together in a same folder, it should be fine.
So, if any guys download them and put them in their local machine, it should be able to detect it's components corresponding attached patterns.

Time to tidy up the library before releasing them!

[shebu18]

Yes, you have a schematic library file and a pcb pattern file, which need to be toghether. If you work in a LAN you can put the library files on the server, map the drive and load the library's from there. So everybody has the same library's.

[shebu18]

Shortcut keys/hot keys should be somewhere in the help file, as i read in the diptrace forum. I will search as i get home.


This is a nice thing. http://www.diptrace.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=24&p=131&hilit=hotkeys#p131

[shebu18]

This is what i found:

Code: [Select]

    Ctrl+N       - new project
Ctrl+O       - open project
Ctrl+S       - save project
Ctrl+Alt+S - save as
Ctrl+Alt+P - preview
Ctrl+P       - print
Ctrl+B       - convert Schematic to PCB Layout
Ctrl+Z        - undo
Ctrl+Y       - redo
Ctrl+X        - cut objects
Ctrl+C       - copy objects
Ctrl+V       - paste objects
Del            - delete objects
Ctrl+A       - select all objects
Ctrl+F        - find object on schematic
Ctrl+Ins     - add new sheet to schematic
Ctrl+M       - copy matrix
Ctrl+L        - lock selected
Ctrl+Alt+L  - unlock selected
Ctrl+R, R or Space   - rotate selected objects
Ctrl+G       - group selected objects
Ctrl+Alt+G - ungroup selected objects
F2             - show/hide standard panel
F3             - show/hide design manager
F4             - show/hide objects panel
F5             - show/hide libraries panel
F6             - show/hide components panel
F10           - move part texts
                 R in F10 mode rotates text while moving
Ctrl+F1, +  - zoom in
Ctrl+F2, -   - zoom out
F1             - display/hide origin
F11           - display/hide grid
 
Wire/Bus Placing (press key while making wire):
 
C                                  - change net-class (for new nets only)
M                                  - switch mode (automatic, manual)
S, Space                       - switch segment (0>90, 90>0)
Enter                            - complete wire/bus
Esc                              - cancel wire/bus
 
Other keys:
 
R or Space while placing part - rotates part before placement
Ctrl - hold down to invert selection
Shift - hold down to add objects to selection
Shift + mouse - orthogonal moving of selected objects
Arrows - move selected objects
Shift+S - enable/disable auto-panning   

[48X24X48X]

Hei guys,

Just released our Diptrace libraries: http://goo.gl/t86tf
Feel free to let us know if there's any mistake.

[steve_w]

I just started using it.  I used Eagle before and found it OK but the limitations were too much.

Hope I get some help here 

Has anyone done a telit module for the library ?