Interesting article. Altium is OK but stupidly expensive. Nothing does routing and schematic capture as well. In fact nothing comes vaguely close. You hit the nail on the head!! I feel the same with one difference, i. Altium is not only over priced but the learning curve is a HUGE investment in itself. If you want a good laugh just use the Altium auto-router, The result would make any 3 year old happy.
The same issues exist in the schematic libraries. The only solution is to create your own libraries. To make matters worse, Altium users are constantly contacted by sales type that must work on commission to notify them that the problems in the previous version have been resolved.
The cost of a new CAD program is a minor detail, the cost of learning a different design tool is an expense to be avoided. Fantastic comments Jack and DiBosco! Both are overly complex and expensive. I prefer low-cost and easy to use. Good article and great plug for DipTrace.
It outputs Gerber files so you can have your PCBs made anywhere. Do yourself a favour and have a look at it! To really be an expert PCB designer understanding circuit design is essential. Avoid becoming an expert at using EDA design software that can make decisions for you. Even the simplest PCB layout software can produce high quality Gerber files if, and only if, the designer understands the circuit and the purpose of each component. If you need a simulator you are in the wrong business…. Nice comment Jack, and I agree!
We have been using Altium for over 10 years. I stop buying the service contract when we got to V10 because the support was not up to expectations. If you purchase this over priced, i. Excellent feedback Jack, and I agree! Many EDA packages are overly complicated with horrible user interfaces. This is why I still use DipTrace for all of my designs. I just did a semi-complex design using Diptrace and found the bom generation both inaccurate and exceptionally clunky.
I had to do so much double checking to correct it that it is too untrustworthy for important designs. This is rarely mentioned in reviews — most reviews simply compare feature lists. But, the interface is critically important if you are concerned with engineering design time and design errors.
Just moving a component requires an arcane sequence of clicks and right-clicks. Thanks for the feedback Brian! Great overview of popular EDA software. I too love Diptrace. Highly intuitive. No problem. One thing I like to mention is diptrace can be free for pins and 2 layers. Highly recommended for hobbyist and alike. Hello John, Thank you very much for the article. I was just trying to find a good software to design my electronic products as an entrepreneur and, since the time is very short, trying to learn 2, 3 or 4 softwares or even more and then have to quit them would be a problem.
There are so many PCB design packages out there it can be overwhelming to make a choice. Altium is great, but is a real sledgehammer for straightforward designs and expensive. Designspark, works fine but misses a few features I use such as array placement. Have not found it easy to create new component libraries, and the existing ones are mainly plain rectangles with pins. Eagle, only when I really have to to support a 3rd party design. There is also a psychological element- the way the software approaches the design problem should match the user.
And different people think differently. Thanks Julian for sharing your experiences. It never ceases to amaze me how many electronic design software packages there are out there. Your comments on Altium and Eagle seem similar to my experiences. It sounds like commercial for the DipTrace.
I made few prototypes of functional devices and for academic purposes I used all student available ECAD softwares, free, demo etc. DipTrace was most easy to learn but it was incompatible with any standard softwares that set those standards like Eagle which is not hard to learn for educated professional but it is for the amateur.
Article is not fer and conclusive in the matter of other softwares especially KiCad which is one of the best that came from the Open Source Community and free.
Eagle is somewhat sterile due to its origin and culture that made it. They respect functionality over aesthetics. Everybody who used Eagle knows that has everything to get a job done.
Thanks for your feedback! Also much of what I write is for amateurs so I feel it is one of the best options for those just getting started. The photo used under the heading of this article. What software was used in this photo? I have been using Orcad Layout, which is obsolete but still runs in Windows7.
The supported Cadence layout tool is Allegro, which is very complicated to learn. Does DipTrace do controlled impedance? First John, thanks for a great article. However I feel compelled to add that DipTrace is not the only solution for those on a budget. That even means that you are allowed to do commercial projects as long as they are open source, unlike free EAGLE which is limited in board size and layer count, and only free for non-commercial use.
This is much lower cost as well, but for private designs. Watch this space… changes are ahead. I agree with the comment by Mark that the primary important thing is learning about PCB design itself, and the CAD tool — well, my personal phylosophy not representing Altium is that designers should make themselves familiar with the two or three most popular. Afterall, you never know when you would need to walk into a new design job using a different tool.
The main software used by professionals and companies are as stated earlier on, in the replies. And here in lies the crux of the problem, people have to make their own decisions on which package is best for them, depending on their experience and the type and complexity of boards they are going to be working on…. If you are going to do contract work you need to use the same package as your customers.
In my view actually learning how to do PCB design is the complex task, playing about with the CAD systems is secondary….. Thanks Adebo! I really do love DipTrace. Checked out Diptrace and am totally hooked. Really looking forward to your tutorial videos.
Nice article. But I think it is the best circuit design tool for me, free, zero-install, easy to use and brings you easier EDA experience. It integrates powerful schematic capture, mixed-mode circuit simulation and PCB layout. One of the advantages is certainly that you can edit the schematics wherever an Internet connection and a current browser is available.
I use it and then loving to use it. It provivdes simulation viewform viewer. Your list of EDA software is very thin. Is fully depends on designer requirements and finance budged of course. I need my own uniformity components with my customized parameters and each components must be checked and correct I making library for many years. Thanks for the feedback! No doubt there are many other PCB design tools I could have included.
However, I think it would have made the article too much to digest if I included every package available. To my knowledge there are a couple dozen PCB design tools available. Thanks for this useful and pretty objective article.
You were up-front about your biases—rare these days! Share Tweet Notify of. Newest Oldest Most Voted. Inline Feedbacks. Niels Veng. Reply to Mahmood. Steven Pigliavento. Very good article and much appreciated John.
I appreciate your work and your mission. Steve P. Reply to Steven Pigliavento. Also thanks for sharing your experiences with EDA software! John Weiss. Reply to John Weiss. Reply to John Teel. Reply to Greg. Mihai Beffa. Karen Tellefsen. Mike Joyner. Reply to Mike Joyner. Wow, Mike that is one value packed comment!! Thank you for sharing. If any method is fast and easy to place footprints.
Reply to BabbuToor. Babbu Toor. Reply to Babbu Toor. Reply to Cliff. Marissa Altman. Mark Lewus. Hi John, Thanks for this series of articles. Reply to Mark Lewus. Exposed copper can also be the root cause of shorts on a design.
In version Outer layer copper objects, which can be clines, pads or shapes, are compared to geometries on system defined soldermask subclasses. The soldermask suite of checks is located in the Setup - Constraints - Design Constraints menu. No DRC for this option. If placed outside the Room a DRC is generated.
The limitations associated with this model do not allow non-room based components e. Apply at Design Level. The via model is based on the narrow band analytical solution and is derived from the Target Frequency. View Data Sheet. All Rights Reserved.
The Primary column identifies the default stackup structure for the design. Selecting the check box in the Primary column adjacent to the layer identifies the layer as part of the Primary stackup. The Cross Section Editor also updates the graphics to the right of the stackup tables for a quick visual reference.
The user can export the finished cross section definition to a Cross Section Technology file making the identical structure available for other designs. Remember that remark about accurate documentation? Once the stackup structure is defined in the Cross Section Editor, one of the benefits is the ability to create a stackup table for documentation.
The same data defined in the Editor can be extracted to a table in the fabrication drawing which the fabricator uses in their process. The fabricator now has the information on materials and structure to build your design accurately. With the new OrCAD PCB Design Solutions to go from prototype to production in less time and get it right the first time with real-time feedback.
Researchers ha As you are probably already aware—a lot goes into designing a printed circuit board. From routing to part s
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