Swiching from Eagle Pro to Altium Designer ver 23 (latest) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2023, 07:15:00 pm
content: Hi,I am experienced Eagle Pro schem/layout user....moving to Altium as customer wants it....is there a good video for switchers like my_bad_self (and others)?Most of the tutorials are explaining what solder resist is etc...but i already know that.I am only doing a small 2 layer 20W offline SMPS board.I just want to get the job done, without neeeding (at this point) to use the huge myriad of Altium functionality, which will take too much time just now.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2023, 08:07:58 pm
content: Can you not design in Eagle, get it done, then convert to Altium as a final step?

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2023, 08:45:00 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on April 26, 2023, 08:07:58 pmBad plan. Converting between PCB packages is rarely succesful. It is likely that the low level primitives used by the PCB packages are different and can not be translated. You end up with Chinglish.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2023, 09:09:45 pm
content: My point was, unless what he is doing is different than anything with which I have been associated, timeliness is next to cost and often is even more important (given a reasonable cost). We have seen such projects of his go on seemingly forever while ruminating over details. Get it done.If the conversion is not right, then do the conversion yourself, but delivery is critical. Starting with a new tool will likely cause delays and even errors. I suspect any customer will want the product and documentation before paying. They will also want to test it. He can work on the conversion and/or new creation during that time. A delay in deliver slows the whole process. A delay in completing documentation shouldn't delay testing, and at most delays him getting paid.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 26, 2023, 09:16:07 pm
content: That sounds like doing a half-arsed job twice. If time is critical then outsource the layout work to somebody who has experience with the package the customer requests. I never use an unknown-to-me software package if time is cricital and / or it makes no sense for me to learn the particular piece of software. Instead I hook the customer up with somebody who can use a particular package and work together with that person. That gives a much better end result in terms of quality and economics.But you are right, this is Faringdon stepping in yet another turd

author: johnboxall
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: April 27, 2023, 03:20:32 am
content: Altium have a lot of videos on YouTube. Also check out "Phil's Lab". Some AD license types also include an online tutorial series.

author: VanBudd
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2023, 04:50:32 am
content: Check out Robert feranecs videos, he's also got awesome courses where he teaches you the basics like creating libraries and do basic schematic and layout in altium.

author: Gribo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 27, 2023, 11:25:05 am
content: Eagle to Altium conversion is quite decent, from my experience. Make sure your Altium library is correct, Eagle's online libraries are usually saddled with tons of junk.