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CAD Program opinions


Pinky

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I mean an electronics cad program like protel or eagle.
Sorry i didn't mention it.I thought it was obvious.

I am now using eagle and it is great.It has a huge component database and is generally very good,
but it has very small pads, that's why i asked for opinions to try other programs too.

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I use OrCAD which is a compete electronics development studio. It includes schematic capture, spice and layout editor.

I like it but it is not very easy to design a pcb. It has autoroute function but it is not so "clever" it can turn a simple pcb into a huge one. Maybe i make a mistake in operetion of that software.

Otherwise you can use it to manual route your pcb and then the result can be nice.

The component database is huge also and i have not noticed any pad problems.

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  • 3 months later...

I find that I use a number of different programs for creating schematics and board layout. The different programs all have their features and also some dislikes. If I want a small simple board, for example, it is not always easy or quick to do in OrCad or Eagle. In such a case, I just use a point to point drawing circuit board program like the old PC Boards package for DOS.
I have never tried ExpressSCH. Is there a link to a demo version?
MP

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Thanks Staigen. Since I like to make my own PCBs for small jobs and shop around for larger ones, ExpressPCB would be inhibitive for me. I did try it at one point but did not care for the lack of gerber output. Their prices for boards are not bad, I just worry that at some date in the future I would find a better deal on boards and be faced with laying out my boards again in another program. All other board manufacturers accept the gerber output. I am not sure if anyone else accepts the ExpressPCB files.
MP

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  • 5 months later...

Good link for Eagle Tutorial. I will also add two. Anyone got any others? It is nice to have as many sources as possible.

http://www.interq.or.jp/japan/se-inoue/e_eagle.htm
http://www.precma.com/informatica/tutorial.htm

MP

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Guest Kasamiko

ExpressSchematic is one great schematic layout program but it's companion ExpressPCB sucks!! >:( >:(
Everytime I print a PCB layout from ExpressPCB there is always a gray background..I don't know if this can be disabled??

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