PCB layout software?

Hi folks:

Can anyone recommend a good Windows 98SE-compatible program for cheap or free that I can use to lay out simple printed circuit boards and generate proper Gerber files? No more than two layers, usually only one with printing on the component side. TIA!

Peace,
Paul

circuitmaker/traxmaker student edition is free but limits you to something like 50 pins. if you are doing small things then this is a way to go.

:thumb:

Eagle is pretty good, you can do dual layer eurocards with the demo download.


www.cadsoft.de

Get Rimu at http://www.hutson.co.nz/

Rimu PCB Standard Edition - $65.00
Rimu Schematic Standard Edition - $59.00

Rimu is easily in the ?best $124 I ever spent? category.

Using gerbers from my Rimu designs, I?ve ordered double sided boards from http://advancedcircuits.com on two separate occasions and both ordeals went without a hitch.

Anybody ever take a look at 'FreePCB'?? www.freepcb.com

FreePCB is an open source circuit board editor. It is written in MSoft Visual C++ and runs under Windoze ...

If I knew more about MSoft Visual C++ ... I could be tempted to move
:roll:
or
if 'FreePCB' could inport and export CM and DOS Protel files ... that could be enough for me to look into it.

A package with the possibility of modifying and changing in the future has a lot to offer. As a Group it could be worth the time and effort to invest in something that really suits our needs.

Our DIY isn't compicated by today's standards and a dual layer A4 sized PCB will get most jobs done.

The usual outputs are required but jpg and bmp import and export and a graphics layer for reverse engineering and logos would be useful.

I'm happy to join a group with some money if we can find some experienced and like minded programmers

Well Kev ....

I have been programming with MSoft Visual C/ C++ and more recently C# for the last 20 years. It is how I have earned my living! My audio interests have always cost me more money than I have made from them. I have often thought about proposing projects here that involve a little bit of code along with the hardware. For example I've toyed with building a 'flying faders' kind of automation project or perhaps a remote controlled mic pre project. Any thoughts???

[quote author="Carl_Huff"] .... I have often thought about proposing projects here that involve a little bit of code along with the hardware. [/quote]

great
but I was thinking of the PCB layout software first

but Hardware/Software projects are a good idea.

For example I've toyed with building a 'flying faders' kind of automation project or perhaps a remote controlled mic pre project. Any thoughts???

Click to expand...

ok
BUT
having this stuff hook into existing software packages is a better bet.
There is already a few 8 way Mic-pre's that will repond to the sofware in Protools and makes it think there is a Digi PRE on the end.


Audio follow Vision is a large project I'd love to look into.
A remote controlled switcher volume unit is always useful and even though there are a few already I don't think I've seen the best DIY version yet.
... this is one of many DIY projects at the Factory that can't be seen yet.

Well, I've downloaded FreePCB and am struggling through it. It's a program designed for schematic capture, which I'm not trying to do.

It seems kind of buggy; at least, it's performed illegal operations several times. I also couldn't get the manual to unzip properly; it only gave me the opening page. I did read it online.

Finally, the software seems incapable of doing a one layer PCB; I tried editing footprints to create pads on the bottom only, and it doesn't seem to allow that. (But I'm sufficiently unfamiliar with it that I may be dead wrong.) I've written the author.

First impressions. Right now I find it way the hell easier to design boards with Visio, but then I don't get anything I can send to a PCB house, just drawings for home production.

Peace,
Paul

Personally Paul,

I am adicted to the Editor that you get free from the good people at www.expresspcb.com. It is a very easy graphical 'click & drag' kind of thing. The only problem that I have with it is that it doesn't create gerber files. It only creates a proprietery file format for the ExpressPCB circuit board service. I've always had great luck buying boards from them but I do hate being that committed to a particular vendor.

Although I've never confirmed it, I understand that the ExpressPCB file format is infact the IVEX file format. Anybody know of a piece of software that converts IVEX files to gerber?