Can you buy old copies of Eagle, eg pre7.5.0?

[Faringdon]

Hi,
We wish to buy Eagle PRO PCB layout software, but not the one on Autodesk which you have to pay $500/yr for...we want to do one payment and thats it.
Is this possible?
How much is it?

[Gyro]

No. Autodesk own Eagle, their software, their rules.

Otherwise, http://eagle.autodesk.com/eagle/software-versions/7 but I've no idea how you would buy a license for it and the (limited) freeware version is for non-profit.


P.S.  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/eagle/eagle-license-for-7-7-0/

[ebastler]

No. Autodesk own Eagle, their software, their rules.

True as far as the current version is concerned -- if Autodesk want to sell subscription-based licenses only, that's their decision to make. But they cannot prohibit the re-sale of an old permanent license to my knowledge, provided that the prior owner does indeed stop using their copy of Eagle.

Finding an old license for sale is going to be difficult though. We have seen a couple of enquiries on the forum, and I don't recall a single "Yes, I can offer you mine" response. Here is one example where the OP did eventually buy an old V5 version somewhere else: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/wtb-cadsoft-eagle-license-4-1-and-newer/

[macegr]

I have a license of Eagle Pro 7 that I'm not likely to use anymore. But neither should you. Instead of perpetuating the use of decaying software that eventually leads to a SaaS company, learn to use Kicad. It's a painful process, I really disliked having to do it after 15 years of using Eagle, but now no one can remotely stop my PCBA software from working through accident or intention.

[Faringdon]

Thanks.
Do you know how similar the current Autodesk Eagle is to Eagle 6.5.0?

[ebastler]

Do you know how similar the current Autodesk Eagle is to Eagle 6.5.0?

It is no longer available as "Autodesk Eagle", but only as part of their "Fusion 360" integrated mechanical & electronics CAD package. Looks like the electronics part has changed quite a bit since Eagle 6.x times: https://www.autodesk.com/products/fusion-360/features#electronics has a couple of videos to give you a taste. You can also get a free 30-day test version if you want to take a closer look.

I am pretty sure that they have changed the file format at least once. Would assume that the current Fusion version can still import old 6.x designs, but I am not sure whether it can store files in 6.x format.

As macegr has said: Have you considered KiCad? As a long-term strategy, being held hostage by Autodesk (who have already demonstrated that their promises don't hold water) is not good.

[Faringdon]

Thanks, do you know if the current eagle can import schems, libs and layouts from Eagle 6.5.0?

[Zero999]

Why use Eagle? I've used it and found it to be terrible. This was nearly 13 years ago though. Is it any better now?

[ebastler]

Thanks, do you know if the current eagle can import schems, libs and layouts from Eagle 6.5.0?

As mentioned, I assume it does (but does not export in the old format). But I don't know for sure. You could check out the 30-day trial version to confirm.

Do you work for a customer/company which is committed to Eagle/Fusion? That would be the only reason to stick with it for now, in my opinion.

[The Doktor]

 Do you care about being legit? I've got cracked versions of 7.6.0(x32 & x64), 8.3.1(x64), and 9.1.3(x64).  I've tested 8.3.1,  it is virus-free and appears to work. I have never actually used it though, I went with KiCad  instead.  I can test the other two versions if they would be of help to you.

[jc101]

You'd hope that a company wanting to use Eagle would wish to do so legally. 

I sold my Eagle 7.7 licence via the forum back in 2018. That was the last non-Autodesk version, I believe.  It was last updated in 2016 from the archive downloads on the Autodesk site. I wonder if it will work OK on current OS versions.  I had issues with it, which along with going to a SaaS solution, was enough to push me over to Altium.  Plus, I got a very good deal on a permanent licence.

[The Doktor]

You'd hope that a company wanting to use Eagle would wish to do so legally. 

I sold my Eagle 7.7 licence via the forum back in 2018. That was the last non-Autodesk version, I believe.  It was last updated in 2016 from the archive downloads on the Autodesk site. I wonder if it will work OK on current OS versions.  I had issues with it, which along with going to a SaaS solution, was enough to push me over to Altium.  Plus, I got a very good deal on a permanent licence.

I agree. Didn't pick up on it being a company.
KiCad is the correct answer.

[tmnt99tmnt]

I had an EAGLE 4 professional licence (purchased in 2006!), which over the years I upgraded to 5 and then to 7. I stopped using EAGLE around 5 years ago and unfortunately, I now can't locate the activation code for v7.

I need to swap an obsolete component to an old PCB design that I did for a customer, but it was saved with v7 and won't open with v5. I tried importing it to KiCad, but the reproduction is not accurate and it will take some effort to rectify everything.

Does anyone have a v7 licence that they are no longer using and are willing to pass on? Thank you.

[Doctorandus_P]

Converting an eagle project to KiCad works quite good in my experience, but indeed it's not perfect, and especially when you're not familiar with KiCad yet, there is a bit of a learning curve too.

As far as I know, eagle has pretty much died after autocad took over. Looking at this forum, there is less then one topic a month for eagle.

If you're interested in giving the conversion to KiCad another try, you can start a new topic here or on the KiCad forum itself. There are several people over there who want to help. But you will have to get though (at least a part of) the learning curve for KiCad yourself. Some people who switched from eagle to KiCad are having difficulty with switching, but most wish they had done the switch years earlier. KiCad has become quite good, and is still improving significantly every year.

[macegr]

I understand, but you'll be better off figuring out the resolution KiCAD. Then, no one can do this to you ever again. Finding someone to sell you their license of Eagle, which isn't even supported and would still embed the original owners name, is the "just one more hit" approach of solving the probelm instead of pushing through rehab.

[tmnt99tmnt]

I have already switched to DipTrace several years ago and all my new work is there. But I have dozens of old designs that customers occasionally ask me to maintain due to component obsolescence. I just want to swap an IC and issue new Gerber data with the least effort and the least risk possible.

[Doctorandus_P]

I tried importing it to KiCad, but the reproduction is not accurate ...

Again: What are the problems? Converting to KiCad does not change anything on copper itself. To verify you can also generate Gerber files and put the layers on top of each other in a Gerber viewer. (I assume you have Gerbers of the old version).

In KiCad you can easily exchange a footprint for another without even opening the schematic. This does have the limitation that the pad numbers must be the same. If the pad numbering is different, you can fudge it by changing pad numbers in the new footprint, to make it fit with the netlist already inside the PCB editor.

[Doctorandus_P]

Another method:

KiCad can import a set of gerbers, and you can create a PCB project from it. "Stuff" imported to a copper layer gets automatically translated to PCB tracks. You can Disable / ignore DRC errors, and then just edit a small section manually.

Yet another (untested) method.
You can import the copper of an old gerber file to a user layer, in which case it's graphics. Then you can swap the graphics layer with a copper layer. The result is graphics on a copper layer. Then you can modify the copper layer as if it's graphics.

[nctnico]

I had an EAGLE 4 professional licence (purchased in 2006!), which over the years I upgraded to 5 and then to 7. I stopped using EAGLE around 5 years ago and unfortunately, I now can't locate the activation code for v7.

I need to swap an obsolete component to an old PCB design that I did for a customer, but it was saved with v7 and won't open with v5. I tried importing it to KiCad, but the reproduction is not accurate and it will take some effort to rectify everything.

Does anyone have a v7 licence that they are no longer using and are willing to pass on? Thank you.

If the company you bought Eagle from is not responding to support requests, your best bet is probably to find a cracked version so you can at least use the software you paid for. Converting between PCB packages is likely not to work as objects are typically represented differently at a low level causing all kinds of issues and needing to check the entire layout manually.