Recommended Low cost High quality schematic capture & PCB layout

[kevyk]

Hi,

I am looking for a very high quality PCB schematic capture and PCB layout program on the level of Altium Designer but at a fraction of the cost -  around a few hundreds of dollars. For those with actual experience, what packages would you recommend I take a look at? I am looking for a program with a very robust parts library, ability to do 3D visualization of the board, of course standard schematic and PCM routing, simple and easy to use UI.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
Kevin

[AndyC_772]

I am looking for a very high quality PCB schematic capture and PCB layout program on the level of Altium Designer but at a fraction of the cost

Why would such a thing even exist?

For a fraction of the cost, you'll get a package that's considerably less capable. For free there's Kicad, for the budget you're suggesting the usual choice is Eagle, and if you need professional software then my personal recommendation would be Orcad PCB Designer - but it's over your budget.

[AndyC_772]

...or DaveCAD Professional 

[kripton2035]

+1 for diptrace
you can try it for free
kicad and eagle have awful user interface ...

[digsys]

Proteus (from the Pomms) www.labcenter.com/ordering/cprices.cfm

Used it for app 20 yrs, right after I gave up Protel as a joke :-) .. and Smartwork for years before that.

[poorchava]

... PCB layout program on the level of Altium Designer but at a fraction of the cost ...

 

Sorry. If you don't have the money for Altium you can use the software this forum recommends in this case: DipTrace
But there is also KiCAD, Eagle ...

The topic was about 'high-quality'. Eagle doesn't qualify. And KiCad is just pathetic.

[Mechatrommer]

KiCAD is continually developed by NASA it now has shove and shuttle is it not? lets be realistic for a moment "power/price" for Altium is a finite value otoh for KiCAD its infinity (anything/0=inf) so "power/price" wise, KiCAD is the answer. the other answers are, you either wait for "Altium Hobbiest" version that has been announced somewhere, or you wait for me (which completion date is unannouced aka unknown).

[lorth]

KiCAD is continually developed by NASA it now has shove and shuttle is it not? lets be realistic for a moment "power/price" for Altium is a finite value otoh for KiCAD its infinity (anything/0=inf) so "power/price" wise, KiCAD is the answer. the other answers are, you either wait for "Altium Hobbiest" version that has been announced somewhere, or you wait for me (which completion date is unannouced aka unknown).

You mean CERN? CERN are the ones that implemented the shove...  http://www.ohwr.org/projects/cern-kicad/wiki

[Araho]

I second Proteus, as mentioned above by digsys. It's fairly cheap, has a simple-to-use part/footprint editor, and can do basic 3d-visualization. Cheapest version is £150, but that doesn't give you 3D, for instance. However, I made the transition from Proteus to Altium last year, and don't think I'll be going back anytime soon. Sorry pal, you don't get all the features for "a fraction of the prize", just not realistic.

[free_electron]

Hi,

I am looking for a very high quality PCB schematic capture and PCB layout program on the level of Altium Designer but at a fraction of the cost

Lemme know when you find one ...

meanwhile, i just paid my yearly subscription ... just in case you won;t find one before it runs out

[popamp]

a while ago i played around with eagle, diptrace and kicad. i decided to go with diptrace to make a few boards because it was the easiest to use, and have been very happy with it. of course,  there are a few things that i don't like too but overall i would highly recommend it.

ymmv etc

[Monkeh]

+1 for diptrace
you can try it for free
kicad and eagle have awful user interface ...

As opposed to one from 1998 which seems to be based around having a single display at 800x600?

None of them have a nice interface, frankly.

[Dago]

I'd vote kicad or diptrace. Kicad is fine for most hobbyist level stuff except differential routing and memory buses and such. At least not EAGLE... I use it at work and I think I will never get used to its backwards ways of doing things.

[kripton2035]

+1 for diptrace
you can try it for free
kicad and eagle have awful user interface ...

As opposed to one from 1998 which seems to be based around having a single display at 800x600?

None of them have a nice interface, frankly.

I don't say diptrace as the best in class user interface ! but in front of kikad or eagle yes it's best.

[BytesGuy]

+1 for DipTrace here.

If it's for non-profit use you can email them to get a key for DipTrace Lite (2 signal layers, 500 pins), which is great. Used Eagle a bit ages ago, but I really coudn't get on with it.

Like others have said, the user interface for DipTrace isn't the best, but it gets the job done!

[peter.mitchell]

More votes for diptrace, it is a terrible user interface, but somehow still manages to be infinitely better than kicad.

[Ondre]

I'd like to have a little whinge about EDA tools as well. I've been using Eagle as a hobbiest for years now and every time I have to create a new footprint for a part or move traces on the pcb, I want to kick and scream and call my computer names! Also the board size limitations are rediculous. Why do you have to pay for the professional version even if you just want to make a tiny 2 layer board that needs to be a bit longer than 160mm?!  So I tried KiCad to create my board...Ok, the UI looks nice, but in my opinion it's even more illogical and counterintuitive to use than eagle. Next stop: Diptrace. The UI...well...eyecandy it is not. You could run it on an vintage 1980's amber screen and it would still look the same. It has some really nice features that makes it far better than Eagle (creating new parts and footprints is really easy here), but there are also things that can't be done. Drawing a board outline to fit some case had to be done inside another CAD tool in order to get the exact dimensions. Really annoying is the fact that there are virtually no keyboard shortcuts. But overall, not too bad for the price.

Well, yesterday I installed a trial version of Altium Designer and went trough some tutorials...I don't think I want to get back to any of the other tools 

[poorchava]

DipTrace presents a very good value for money IMO. The interface is bad (almost complete lack of hotkeys!) and the library system is pain in the ass to use, but it's way better and Eagle, KiCad and other joke-of-a-PCB-CAD software.

[DerekG]

Hi,

I am looking for a very high quality PCB schematic capture and PCB layout program on the level of Altium Designer but at a fraction of the cost -  around a few hundreds of dollars.

I don't believe there is one out there. If there was, we would all be using it & Altium would have gone broke.

Do you really need 3D visualisation? If not, & your boards are less than 500 pins/16 copper layers, consider the Proteus package for US$248. It has autorouting & in many ways is more powerful than Diptrace (which I use along with Altium ver 6.9). You have to move up to get autoplacement, however think carefully about your design needs over the next 12 months will really be. You can always move up to the autoplacement version & pay just the difference ($734 plus you get 1000 pin limit).

Remember that using micros reduces the number on pins heaps, plus you save on board loading due to fewer components being loaded.

Check out their on-line videos, particularly the manual (interactive) PCB routing one. You will see it is much more powerful than DipTrace.