PCB design software?

It seems like every circuit I build above the complexity of 10-15 components fails to work and I can't track down why mainly due to a level of complexity introduced by working with veroboard and not having anything but a schematic to work from.

Anyone here design their own PCBs? Iron their design onto copper laminate? Send their design off to be manufactured professionally?

Been looking at software packages for schematic capture and PCB design but it seems every time I try one out I quickly find that its missing a component in it's library I'm missing. I can't seriously expect every application to have a database of every component made since 1955 but surely a CXA1645 isn't that unusual?

 

There is probably a lot better out there but I have used ExpressPCB for my own designs in the past. Simple to use if you are new to it. Comes with ExpressSCH to for making schematics.

Worked great with the iron on stuff and got an old HP Laserjet for the job.

IIRC you need a 600dpi+ laser I was told for more complex designs I was told.

 

EaglePCB, Kicad, designspark

 

I've got an older HP 2600n color laserjet here as a workhorse. In need of a new set of toner carts (though I'm debating if the cost is worth it for all four or if I should jump to a new printer that has readily available toner carts). Specs point to it being capable of 600x600 DPI so I'm set in that regard. I'll look into the suggestions posted thus far.

Addendum:
Played with Designspark for about an hour and I rather like it, once I figured out why I couldn't place connections down between components. For practice (and practicality) I was replicating Tiido's circuit for the Genesis crystal clear mod seeing as I tried building it once using veroboard. The schematic is a lot cleaner than my replica but then again I've had about 1 hours worth of practice.

 

Altium is the way to go. Very nice software and more and more becoming the industry standard.

But you are not going to have with any software with a huge library of specialized IC. You are only going to have very basic one like 74 series logic.

It's alway a good practice to build you own footprint library. Take time but that how it work

Don't waste time doing you the pcb yourself, it is so cheap to order from specialized company nowadays.

See http://batchpcb.com

See the how to http://batchpcb.com/index.php/Help (Based on Eagle)

 

Not when its $5k lol

 

I have been learning to use EaglePCB as there are some nice tutorials available like these:-
http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/108
http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/109
http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/110
Plus there are video tutorials on youtube. I'm quite interested in trying Altium as well, but the lack of a parts library puts me off.

Also for small PCB quantities this is a fantastic service:-
http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/pcb_order
Its for hobbyists and run by someone called 'Laen' who compiles a number of PCB designs until he has enough for a bulk order to get a cheaper price. I ordered some PCB's from there and they turned out great

 

That reminds me...

I was given this link a few days ago, really really cheap (however, I have not used them yet)

http://iteadstudio.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=19_20&zenid=272ss4doapabgd43svsussheg1

 

Academic license for Altium are like 100$ and anyway it's not like their is no workaround......

Eagle is nice but if you are studying in electrical engineering you better learn right away to use Altium. I often see this as requirement in various job offer.

 

I played with Altium 10 and did find the libraries to be incredibly lacking. Designspark isn't exactly a Library of Congress but it has more than enough for me right now to place items on a schematic to play with it. Working with the PCB tool is actually pretty entertaining in terms of it almost being a puzzle game and found myself spending about 2-3 hours just messing with what I'd pop into the thing.

Though I definiately need to learn how to recognize my schematic when played out on a PCB. The crystal clear mod has some definitive "left side is where the inputs are the left side you solder wires into the console from" motif making it easy to design for simple installation into a Genesis.

Plus the library for just the resistors (for example) had some odd sizing for the components. Was all over the place but I'm pretty sure that is because I haven't taken the time to read up on the acronyms being used to denote differences in not the schematic symbol but how that choice will look on a PCB.

 

Usually you build you own library of component, at first it's time consuming but over time you have more and more device.

The more important to me is the software look & feel. The more a like to work with one software the more productive I am.

 

Eagle. Altium Designer is good for FPGA and really advanced circuits (Do what you want because a pirate is free, you are a pirate!)

 

Adafruit offers its own EAGLE component library, they have a lot of good stuff in there, and it's updated pretty often. https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-Eagle-Library

 

Sparkfun also do Eagle Librarys for their parts as far as I remember.

However, I have to agree with APE - I much prefer the Designspark software. You can also import library's from eagle into it (with a little messing around, but it works)

 

Rather than advocating piracy, perhaps we should be pointing out that Altium has a 30 day trial version if you want to see what it's like?

http://www.altium.com/evaluate/en/self-evaluate.cfm

You can also rent it on a monthly basis (although you're locked into a 12 month contract, during which you'll end up paying nearly 60% of the cost of buying it outright).

If you can't justify spending $1,000 or more on a piece of software, then there are other, cheaper alternatives - as mentioned, some are even free! For the others, take a look through the ads in an electronics magazine (EPE, for example).

 

Do they route or v groove the pcb's ? Can they handle 0402 size or just 0603 size components ,through hole or smd pcbs ,do they offer gold plated or tin coated boards

 

I've never used them, personally, but I think it's pretty safe to say they route the PCBs, and they do not do assembly / component placement -- so the component size question doesn't apply.

A friend has used them, and he told me that you can get gold-placed (ENIG) PCBs from dorkbot if you pay an extra fee to have the whole panel gold-plated -- or you might get lucky if someone else pays the fee. Otherwise, it's HASL.

I second the recommendation for Altium. I used to use Eagle (which was nice, because they have a native Mac version), but I can't bring myself to use it anymore -- I find it too frustrating to use. Altium has too many nice shortcuts like, you know, being able to just drag components around being able to rotate parts by hitting the space bar while dragging. Pick something and learn to use it...

 

I've used PCB wizard, it is, in all honesty, a piece of shit, and they don't care less for bug reports (there is a bug if you need to mirror your printout, the text doesn't mirror or change position on the printed version, print-screening to mspaint and word and printing it from there fixes that problem).
It's got auto-routing, generic sizes for components and no datasheets but I've only been doing simple things with it like PIC chip designs for a robot or my custom SNES designs, and it's done alright.

 

orcad or pads... dont know who makes them i just know thats what my dad uses for his pcb design.

http://www.cadence.com/products/orcad/orcad_capture/pages/default.aspx
http://www.mentor.com/products/pcb-system-design/design-flows/pads/

 

http://www.suigyodo.com/online/e/index.htm