Open Source Fritzing PCB Software

[amspire]

I just tried out the Open Source PCb package Fritzing.  ( http://fritzing.org/welcome/ ).

It is for basic 2 layer PCB's, but for what it is, it looks pretty good.

It has 3 view - the Schematic, the PCB and the Prototyping board layout. All three live update if you edit any of the other views. The breadboard allows for different types of breadboard such as perfboard, stripboard or the various types of plastic pluggable breadboards.



So it means you can document the prototyping, and once the prototype works, the schematic will be correct and so will the PCB. Ignore the extra blue wire on the prototyping view - I forgot to delete it after adding and removing some extra components.

Fritzing also gives the option of ordering reasonably priced prototyping directly from the package, or you can export Gerbers, PNGs, etc.

For something that takes you from prototyping to a basic 2 layer board, it is a nice package.  It would take no time to learn.

Richard.

[Jimmy]

Yeah I have used fritzing it is awesom for beginners and a first step into making pcb's. With no grid or snapto grid you will soon move on

[amspire]

Yeah I have used fritzing it is awesom for beginners and a first step into making pcb's. With no grid or snapto grid you will soon move on

5 minutes of using the schematic editor and it was obvious that it was not good for a big project. For one thing, it does not allow for an unterminated end of a track to exist in the schematic editor. So if you delete a component at the end of a schematic track, any attached tracks are deleted as well, even if the tracks go to other components.  It does show the ratsnest lines for the missing connections, as the connections will be preserved in the PCB and prototyping views, but you have to put the track back in.

But for the quick board with 20 or 30 components, I think it would be pretty good. They have kept it extremely simple.