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beenthere

beenthere

Joined Apr 20, 2004
15,819
It's really a matter of personal preference. I still use a DOS CAD program because I find the Windows apps feel awkward and look bad at the schematic level.
 
mik3

Thread Starter

mik3

Joined Feb 4, 2008
4,843
beenthere said:
It's really a matter of personal preference. I still use a DOS CAD program because I find the Windows apps feel awkward and look bad at the schematic level.
Click to expand...
The one i like is an old version of the Easy-pc software. But this has problems with printing with windows xp.
 
A

ametso

Joined Apr 30, 2008
13
Well it debends what you mean about "the best". If you mean the "best free" layout tool - I do not know.

But if you mean the best tool for professional use then I can recommend a "PADS system". There is included a schematic capture as well as a very powerfull layout tool... Espesially i have had like a dynamic route editor, which will push (on the fly) allready routed traces away from new one. Only minus is costs... The license is quite expencive.
 
D

Dave

Joined Nov 17, 2003
6,969
mik3 said:
The one i like is an old version of the Easy-pc software. But this has problems with printing with windows xp.
Click to expand...
Is it feasible to run it on a supported OS, perhaps inside a virtual machine? This is what I do with both OrCAD and AutoCAD.

Dave
 
D

DC_Kid

Joined Feb 25, 2008
1,242
i use DipTrace. you can get a free version of it (limited in pins and layers). it takes schematics and does auto-routing to pcb layout. it has lots of features i am still learning about.
 
C

Caveman

Joined Apr 15, 2008
471
mik3 said:
The one i like is an old version of the Easy-pc software. But this has problems with printing with windows xp.
Click to expand...
One trick that I've found that works when you can't get printing to work with old software is to print to pdf. Get cutepdf from cutepdf.com. It acts like a printer to windows, but it prints to a pdf file instead of a printer. Then you print that out to paper using Adobe, which has more updated print drivers.

If it works, you won't have to change your cad software.
 
C

Caveman

Joined Apr 15, 2008
471
DC_Kid said:
i use DipTrace. you can get a free version of it (limited in pins and layers). it takes schematics and does auto-routing to pcb layout. it has lots of features i am still learning about.
Click to expand...
I tried and hated DipTrace. It was so hard to see 4 layer boards because of the limited ability to control layer visibility. But to be fair, for two-layer boards it works great. I just need more.
 
roddefig

roddefig

Joined Apr 29, 2008
149
I use gEDA. I used to use Eagle but the free version will only do two layers, and I needed to make a four layer board. gSchem (the schematic editor...) is really well done and I liked it a lot. PCB (the layout software...) is powerful, but the UI is a little awkward. I didn't try the auto-router. Overall, documentation is lacking for the whole project, but with a little persistence you can accomplish quite a bit.

I guess in conclusion, if you're willing to put in the time, it's great software, and I would recommend it.
 
John Luciani

John Luciani

Joined Apr 3, 2007
475
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