Learn a PCB Design Software in 2016

[MAntunes]

Hello,
I am a student and I have a project in hand in which I'll need to design several PCBs.
If you never worked with this kind of software before which one would you choose, assuming you have access to all of them?
I am looking towards Altium Designer but is it more dificult to learn than other ones like Eagle or KiCad for example?

Best regards,
Miguel

[Wilksey]

Altium tends to have a fairly steep learning curve, I think someone said they charge almost as much for training than the actual license.

All PCB software has learning curves, KiCAD and EAGLE both have online video guides to help you, I think DipTrace does too, but I could not comment on the quality or quantity of online tutorials for DipTrace, the KiCAD and EAGLE ones are very good for beginners, and they are plentiful.

If you do want to pursue Altium, they do have their Circuit Maker / Studio offerings, with mixed reviews, but Robert Ferranec (Fedevel Academy) has some beginners and in depth advanced tutorials which are priced well.

[JacobPilsen]

Altium is suitable for big companies (similary as Catia in machine engineering).

What about Formica 4.40 ?

[Wilksey]

Regardless of your own experience, there are probably not that many "child geniuses" capable of learning how to operate a high end PCB design tool at the age of 12.

I never said it was hard to learn Altium, I said it had a steep learning curve, by which I meant time wise, it has far too many options for a beginner in PCB design, learning PCB design is hard, the tool is just that, a tool, like any others, the fact it has more features means it's going to take longer to learn what all of those features do.

Pirated versions are freely available to experiment with, I'm quite sure a lot of people use these versions to produce commercial hardware, it has been said many times that they target larger corporations rather than individuals or hobbyists.

If AD works for you, and you can afford a "personal" license, then well done you, the rest of us have to rely on the companies we work for to stump up for the license, which they do, it can just sometimes limit your exposure.  I know that a few AD courses cost a few thousand GBP's, so I did it the hard way and just made something with it, but I already had a basic understanding of the options and PCB design from previous tools / experiences.

[tautech]

Knowing where to start is the issue for newbies.

Get old PCB's, any PCB's. Just like any circuit they consists of building blocks, learn to identify them and typical setouts and WHY it's done like it is. For a start small simple PCB's are best to study however nobody will set out 2 the same.
Hunt for threads of members asking for critique of their creations and read and understand why layout changes need be made.
That's just the start, then one must learn how to optimise layouts for whatever reasons, it might be signal integrity, trace widths, lengths, component selection, HV to LV separation and so on.

Despite the cost of various PCB software there are many pirate versions online that if you have some of the membership here holding your hand some as you learn, then you'll be away.

But do start with simple circuits and simple layouts until you learn the power of the software before attempting compact or complex designs.

This thread is worthy of study:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/circuit-studio/altium-newbie-(cs)-coming-from-eagle-pcb/

[MAntunes]

Thank you very much for all the answers!
There is another question I wanted to ask you: are there any good books/articles/app notes that you recomend reading? I am going to work with very fast signals (~1GHz).

@blueskill you talk about a H&H book, could you tell me what book is that?

[ECEdesign]

Yeah I got a student license of AD.  It is around $120 for a full non-commercial licence.  I looked at most all of the other options (KiCAD, EAGLE, OrCAD) and found AD to be the most intuitive.  It also has great component library integration.  AD has good support for high speed as well since it can do length tuning and impedance matching quite easily.

We have Cadence Allegro for the university you might check if your school also has a site license for Cadence.  You have to run it on the lab computers though.  Allegro has a MUCH steeper learning curve than AD. 

You don't need to pay for official training.  Youtube and the videos from Dave doing layout in AD are great tools.  I picked up the Art of Electronics (3rd edition) also and it is quite good.

[MarkF]

I found that DipTrace was quick and easy to learn.  And it's free.  Request the Non-profit "Diptrace Lite" version for 500 pins and 2 layers.

[tautech]

There is another question I wanted to ask you: are there any good books/articles/app notes that you recomend reading?

Yes, in Daves Wiki:
http://www.eevblog.com/wiki/index.php?title=Online_Electronics_Tutorials_and_Books
In particular his PCB layout tutorial:
http://www.alternatezone.com/electronics/pcbdesign.htm

[PCB.Wiz]

Hello,
I am a student and I have a project in hand in which I'll need to design several PCBs.

Check which tool other students before you have used, and what CAD packages your Educational Institution can give you access to.
If they have AD, and others have used it there, that clearly goes near the top of the list.

Learning more than one is not a bad idea either, especially if you expect to do more of this.

eg Mentor have a Free eval that works up to a limited PCB part count, and KiCad is improving steadily, with more references designs published in KiCad.
It can also import AD designs in PCAD Accel ASCII format, so you can design in AD, then publish in KiCad for example.

[Wilksey]

I would be interested to know of books teaching Altium that are in English that are priced suitably, it would appear, or it did appear certainly a few years ago, the only resource available was that limited on the Altium website, or a book or two in Chinese.

I know there are a few free "tutorials" on AD available now than there were a few years back, but I would be suspicious of how well they teach beginners.

I am basing my experience on a few years ago now though!

[Wilksey]

Well, if you ever get time to do one it would be interesting to see, I think one of the most valuable lessons to teach, and this is from my own earlier frustrations, is part creation (symbol and footprint), a lot of people skip over this or just breeze over it, and this can sometimes be the thing that stops you using a package!

[Vicos Shi]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/eda/where-you-could-design-your-pcb-and-manufacture-pcb/ Hope this will help you