Simple schematic diagramming software - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: galvanix
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2020, 09:02:58 pm
content: Hello!Does anyone here know which software was used to create the following schematic diagrams?I've also seen a similar diagram on Alan Yates' (VK2ZAY) website like this.Obviously drawing stuff up in KiCad and exporting it won't look nearly as neat as these diagrams so I was wondering which software was used to do that.Thanks!

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2020, 09:20:38 pm
content: Very pretty, I agree.I'd say any graphics software, where electronics symbols are available or even home made.Certainly not a CAD schematic program.Most likely, the author has moved from paper to graphics directly. Nice.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 20, 2020, 10:12:09 pm
content: Schematics made for some magazines used to be re-drawn in a DTP or other graphical program just for the purpose of publishing, while other magazines used to just reprint whatever format was available.Especially Elector has a distinctive house style for schematics and somewhere in the '80ies they wrote an article about this process. It was not just about the "house style" but also the length to width ratio to fit with columns of text etc.Apart from that, I fail to see why these 2 schematics would be so "beautiful". they are severely pixelated (slanted lines, circles, texts).They do have a sort of "clean" feel to them. Part of this is because they keep to the most common conventions of signal flow from left to right and voltages from North to South. Another part of it is is probably because all the refdes numbers are not shown.Quote from: galvanix on May 20, 2020, 09:02:58 pmI do not agree at all with this. KiCad's default schematic symbols are simple and practical, but KiCad has enough flexibility to make a schematic look much alike to what is shown here. You would just have to experiment a bit with line widths and make some loops on the inductor symbols and other small things like that.I have not found a way to use another font in KiCad, but KiCad's font looks very similar to the font used in these pictures anyway.

author: richard.cs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2020, 09:37:02 am
content: I have never used it but KISSCAD (https://ludens.cl/Electron/kisscad/kisscad.html) claims to do the kind of pretty diagrams you are after. Certainly I think a lot of the more recent schematics on his website are drawn in it.

author: olkipukki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2020, 01:16:17 pm
content: Quote from: Benta on May 20, 2020, 09:20:38 pmWhy not?I cannot say for all CADs, but most allow to draw basic elements and there are plenty free fonts available too.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2020, 01:17:27 pm
content: Quote from: Doctorandus_P on May 20, 2020, 10:12:09 pmYes, KiCad can export in various formats including vector graphics (EPS, SVG, PDF...) which is IMO mandatory for publishing. You can set the export to B&W, and frankly it looks nice.Sure you may want to design your own symbols (at least for some parts), but other than that, it's now perfectly usable IMO.Regarding the font - that's IMO the only culprit so far. It's definitely not good IMHO for on-screen display (unless you use high zoom levels). For exporting/printing, it's OK, but it sure would be nice to be able to use other fonts - especially truetype fonts. I think this is going to be available in KiCad 6.x.One schematic editor that allows to draw nice looking schematics is sPlan. It's not free, but not expensive. The schematics can look close to the typical Elektor ones.There are also a few LaTeX packages, for people using LaTeX. You can get very nice results, but of course it's a bit tedious, and if you don't otherwise use LaTeX, probably not worth it. Just thought I would mention that though, and I know a few people here use that, they can probably show you some examples.

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2020, 01:37:54 pm
content: Everyone raves (or did!) about Spice/LTSpice etc. For the uninitiated, it can appear like the Cockpitof a Jumbo Jet, and 'Runs' by way of a short sampling of time, after you 'design' it, for your data.However, I personally love "Circuit Wizard", that allows you to design virtually any circuit you like,as in your example images. It has a massive array of components/data to use/modify, and can runit continuously in Real-Time. While running, you can hover the mouse over any component/wire, andsee all the respective voltages & currents, etc.The beauty of it, is that you can instruct it to create the final PCB for you too. Auto-arranging all thecomponents/tracks, and considering all the on-board & off-board components. This final view is photorealistic with the board, and all components, and can be 'run' in this visual mode too!!Here's a 'before' image while designing a schematic...Here's an 'after' image, with auto PCB creation!...You can 'run' and 'edit' it in real time from the 2nd mode above, also! And add any externals as shown.And you can 'print' your PCB layout, with overlays, from numerous views...P.S. Here's the example PCB Artwork!!...

author: engrguy42
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2020, 03:16:22 pm
content: Yeah, I've had my eye on Circuit Wizard for a while. It has that slick real time adjustment of component values during a simulation that LTSpice doesn't have.I recall one of the issues was that I could never find out exactly WHO the developer is. I think I saw a few commercial versions around for vastly different prices. Like $70 for one and $300 for another, but seemingly identical versions (educational, 1 user, etc.). And I recall there was squat in terms of youtube videos on it. Except for the standard "how to crack the software" nonsense.Any idea who the legit developer and seller is?

author: Messtechniker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 21, 2020, 03:25:19 pm
content: Been using Splan from Abacom for ages.See screenshot example. Printouts do not have steps.

author: GlennSprigg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 23, 2020, 12:47:13 pm
content: Quote from: engrguy42 on May 21, 2020, 03:16:22 pmHi there..."Circuit wizard" is the current flagship product of...https://www.new-wave-concepts.com/ed/circuit.htmlYES, there are 'Educational' versions, and people can also find 'others'.