Drawing PCB's...

[eeka chu]

Please let me know how you draw your's out.

I am aware of Eagle, PCB123 and CAM350.

I need to be able to custom draw the pads, in Metric, to a resolution of 0.01mm, as the board will be populated with fine pitched SMT.

The easer it is to use, the better - I don't have the time for another vertical learning curve.

 

[borisov57]

If you want quick learning curve, try Pulsonix.
If you want the best, try Expedition or Allegro.

 

[Pjotr]

Hi John,

If you want on the cheap and quickly on the run (almost no learning curve):

Sprint-Layout

It is just a plain PCB drawing program, I would not recommend it for big designs.

Cheers 😉

 

[Bolinder]

Arn't Expedition and Allegro very expensive? Do you know approximately what they cost?

Here are a few more links:

http://www.edwinxp.com/
http://www.labcenter.co.uk/
http://www.expresspcb.com/ExpressPCBHtm/Costs.htm
http://www.cadsoft.de/ (runs on Linux)
http://www.olimex.com/pcb/dtools.html
http://etronics.free.fr/dossiers/softs/soft00/logiciels.htm
http://bach.ece.jhu.edu/~haceaton/pcb/ (Unix/Linux: free)
http://pcb.sourceforge.net/ (NetBSD: free)

Anybody that knows about recent independent tests of PCB CAD?

Bolinder.

 

[eeka chu]

Thanks everyone.

Once I've printed my boards out, would you suggest that I genuinely develop and etch them, or have any of you tried Press N' Peel?

I saw a few websites with really neat results on them using Press N' Peel, and it seems to save the effort of UV lamps, as I already have a HL-1450 laser printer.

The first board in question is a very small SMD switchmode converter. So, I will most likely produce a negative of the board to maximise the material left for conduction; only etching away the brakes.