Free pcb design software to replace eagle. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: abaxas
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2014, 10:59:27 pm
content: Hi all. First post so please be gentle!After a 20 year 'holiday' from the world of electronics, EE degree but ended up working with computers. I'm back......First project is to build some pinball machine test equipment. So I downloaded eagle, did 2-3 hours training and things start to return from the back of my brain and the schematics are done.So I try and do a pcb layout.... and it wont fit on 100x80. BuggerHence the question..... which software to move to? Suggestions please.

author: Phaedrus
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2014, 11:11:56 pm
content: DipTrace is good, one of the best free ones I've found.I actually like ExpressPCB's schematic software (ExpressSCH) better than DipTrace's, it's better for quick sketches. But DipTrace's PCB layout software is an order of magnitude better than ExpressPCB.

author: ludzinc
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 15, 2014, 11:26:53 pm
content: My vote is KiCAD.I'm 'normally' an Altium user at work and just recently switched to KiCAD for home projects. I've been using it for less than a month, but find it carries enough features for PCB design.Only downside so far is that it is _not_ Windows software and thus the user interface is a bit weird to grasp. What I mean by 'not Windows' is that it's multi-platform (Windows, 'nix, Mac) and thus it doesn't 'work' like other Windows programmes. For example right click - copy / paste just isn't an option.Good luck!

author: lgbeno
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2014, 11:31:31 pm
content: I've managed well with DesignSpark PCB. I prefer the user interface over Eagle and KiCad particularly for Sybil and footprint creation

author: GiskardReventlov
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2014, 11:33:22 pm
content: Quote from: ludzinc on April 15, 2014, 11:26:53 pmDon't feel bad, apparently it doesn't follow the look-and-feel of any of the platforms it runs on. The author chose to do what they wanted to do.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2014, 11:36:14 pm
content: Yeah, it's completely, uh, "unique".It's right click -> "Save Block", by the way (or Ctrl-C), followed by Paste, which as far as I can see only exists on the toolbar.

author: ludzinc
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 15, 2014, 11:43:11 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on April 15, 2014, 11:36:14 pmThanks for the tip. As far as I could work it out, 'Copy Block' just grouped your selection. I had no idea you could paste from a toolbar.Dear KiCAD - a paste hot key would be FANTASTIC!

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 15, 2014, 11:44:39 pm
content: Quote from: ludzinc on April 15, 2014, 11:26:53 pmThat has nothing to do with being cross platform, and everything to do with the kiCad developers not being able to design an intuitive user interface if their life depended on it.Quote from: abaxas on April 15, 2014, 10:59:27 pmMy vote would be Diptrace. It has a fairly generous limit for the free version (300 pins)

author: Teledog
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2014, 04:48:57 am
content: ..found every program has it's pros & cons.started with Eagle, then was thrown into (old) Orcad, then PADS &..yada yada ....no, I'm not a designer..just part of the job.I like Kicad lately because of the plenty of open source hardware files out there (software? ie:GoodFET?) and being able to easily upload Gerbers to OSH Park./end my silly rave

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2014, 10:35:40 am
content: I tried kicad but struggled to get a simple schematic entered so switched to gEDA. At least I got the schematic in although the step of getting the PCB layout done is proving a bit more cumbersome.I suspect that kicad is the more capable program but will stick with gEDA now until it runs out of steam.

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 16, 2014, 11:16:46 am
content: Diptrace.The only thing is missing is an automatic BOM.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2014, 11:38:51 am
content: QuoteNo native Linux version.Not a complete show stopper as I have plenty of Windows boxes available but my main machine is Linux.Yes, I know DIPtrace will work with Wine but I don't use that for anything else so it's an extra item to set-up.pcb has a wierd UI though - I mean do I really need to rotate a bunch of objects by putting them in a buffer, rotating the buffer, then putting them back on the diagram.And why no tools to align or distribute items (I want lines or grids of LEDs).

author: ion
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 16, 2014, 01:22:23 pm
content: Quote from: grumpydoc on April 16, 2014, 11:38:51 amJust discovered this the other day: Edit > Copy Matrix...