All you do is public - open source but as I see it more or less the full Altium Designer. Cloud based.
I make my own PCBs myself, so a PCB with a small error in it isn't such a big deal as I can easily churn out another board if it is absolutely necessary. Error checking is nice, but I never use it as the time spent drawing up the circuit for the program to check would be better spent elsewhere (At least for myself with the way that I do things.)
As a result of this I cannot therefore comment on the usefulness of various packages based on their ability to error check, but here goes anyway.
Eagle - was a pain to get to grips with and was counterintuitive in many ways leading to a lot of irritation when I was originaly trying to get used to it. I shelved it and didn't bother buying a retail version. All of the options seemed too costly for what they provided and had limitations in place, that for me, made absolutely no sense to them.
Ultiboard - pricing is ridiculous, so ended up stearing clear, but for the time I did use it I found it to be brilliant. Very intuitive with excellent wizards and configurability. I just wish the company made a cheap version aimed at hobbyists that didn't cost so much.
Designspark PCB - Free. Even free for commercial use, which is perhaps important if you're intending on doing any on-the-side projects that you intend on trying to sell things with. Isn't amazingly intuitive but once you learn how to work with it it's actually very straightforward to use. It has built in wizards for component creation, albeit not as good as Ultiboards and the libraries are much less intuitive to work with, but they are there. You then have access to a massive online database while you work for pulling up component footprints from RS components catalogue. Not all of their stocked products are available mind you, which is a right pain. I HATE - READ HATE - making new footprints for obscure parts, connectors etc it seems that's what I'm doing half the time.
Those are actually the only three that I've spent the time on to learn how to use. Once you get to grips with one program and have a reasonable user library already made you feel far less inclined to try out another one.
As a result of this I cannot therefore comment on the usefulness of various packages based on their ability to error check, but here goes anyway.
Eagle - was a pain to get to grips with and was counterintuitive in many ways leading to a lot of irritation when I was originaly trying to get used to it. I shelved it and didn't bother buying a retail version. All of the options seemed too costly for what they provided and had limitations in place, that for me, made absolutely no sense to them.
Ultiboard - pricing is ridiculous, so ended up stearing clear, but for the time I did use it I found it to be brilliant. Very intuitive with excellent wizards and configurability. I just wish the company made a cheap version aimed at hobbyists that didn't cost so much.
Designspark PCB - Free. Even free for commercial use, which is perhaps important if you're intending on doing any on-the-side projects that you intend on trying to sell things with. Isn't amazingly intuitive but once you learn how to work with it it's actually very straightforward to use. It has built in wizards for component creation, albeit not as good as Ultiboards and the libraries are much less intuitive to work with, but they are there. You then have access to a massive online database while you work for pulling up component footprints from RS components catalogue. Not all of their stocked products are available mind you, which is a right pain. I HATE - READ HATE - making new footprints for obscure parts, connectors etc it seems that's what I'm doing half the time.
Those are actually the only three that I've spent the time on to learn how to use. Once you get to grips with one program and have a reasonable user library already made you feel far less inclined to try out another one.
French guys says: le beurre, l'argent du beurre et le cul de la bergere!
But you pointed right, the available librairies.
Another point, the interfaces.
The last point, the ability to correct errors.
My 2 Cents. I'm out.
Jean-Paul
But you pointed right, the available librairies.
Another point, the interfaces.
The last point, the ability to correct errors.
My 2 Cents. I'm out.
Jean-Paul
I'm still fumbling with KiCAD. (See http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/software-tools/278580-pcb-layout-software-advice-2.html#post4451993 ) There's a new "pre-release" version posted this week, or try the latest experiments at http://downloads.kicad-pcb.org/windows/ .
It's a no-charge download published under GPL, so it automatically starts out pretty favorable on the cost/benefit scale. I can turn out professional-grade commercial work with it, but I still spend half my time - or more - trying to remember, or discover, where the feature or capability you want is hidden within some menu, icon, or shortcut key. C'mon now, you're 20 minutes into a project and you want to capture all that info about title, date, designer, drawing number, etc so it can show up in all the title blocks. Do you enter it under "Preferences"? "Options"? "Setup"? "Defaults"? No, no, no, and no. Would you believe, "Page Settings"!
So half an hour later, you're ready to lay down the first trace. You can't just tell it, "I want a trace that's 17.5 mils wide." (or whatever size you need). You have to select the width from options in a list. From prior experience, I recall you first gotta populate the list with the widths you want to use. Fair enough - that's like laying out the tools you expect to use, and ONLY the ones you will need, before tackling a job. Nothing gained from having 50 specialized screwdrivers close at hand when all you need is the medium #2 Philips. But where, oh where, is that menu where you specify the trace-width options that will fill the list?
And the libraries, though extensive, are as frustrating as ever to find something in.
On the other hand, it has a useful level of DRC (though it didn't squawk when I laid some silk screen on top of a bare pad) and it really CAN turn out some really fine results. And then there's the price . . .
Well, I definitely WILL skin this bear, but in today's round the bear got the upper hand.
Dale
It's a no-charge download published under GPL, so it automatically starts out pretty favorable on the cost/benefit scale. I can turn out professional-grade commercial work with it, but I still spend half my time - or more - trying to remember, or discover, where the feature or capability you want is hidden within some menu, icon, or shortcut key. C'mon now, you're 20 minutes into a project and you want to capture all that info about title, date, designer, drawing number, etc so it can show up in all the title blocks. Do you enter it under "Preferences"? "Options"? "Setup"? "Defaults"? No, no, no, and no. Would you believe, "Page Settings"!
So half an hour later, you're ready to lay down the first trace. You can't just tell it, "I want a trace that's 17.5 mils wide." (or whatever size you need). You have to select the width from options in a list. From prior experience, I recall you first gotta populate the list with the widths you want to use. Fair enough - that's like laying out the tools you expect to use, and ONLY the ones you will need, before tackling a job. Nothing gained from having 50 specialized screwdrivers close at hand when all you need is the medium #2 Philips. But where, oh where, is that menu where you specify the trace-width options that will fill the list?
And the libraries, though extensive, are as frustrating as ever to find something in.
On the other hand, it has a useful level of DRC (though it didn't squawk when I laid some silk screen on top of a bare pad) and it really CAN turn out some really fine results. And then there's the price . . .
Well, I definitely WILL skin this bear, but in today's round the bear got the upper hand.
Dale
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