Paying someone to design pcb + casing for an electronic device

loveforcircuits said:

I think in the first place, you need to look for somebody who is experienced in both PCB designing and 3D designing. If you cannot find one who knows both. If you cannot find one person for both, hire a PCB designer and a mechanical designer who can coordinate together. PCB and enclosure are tightly linked, so they should not be treated as completely separate stages.

From whoever you get the PCB work done, you need to receive the full PCB layout along with schematics and the original editable design files. I do not know how many layers of PCB you need to design. If you design a 2-layer PCB, tell the designer to submit you the full design files along with Gerber files, drill files, BOM, pick-and-place files (if assembly is needed), and also preview PDFs for top copper, bottom copper and top silk in separate formats for reference. When you have these, you can manufacture your prototype from NextPCB or anywhere else depending on which country you live in.

In case of enclosure, look for someone who is experienced in 3D design software like SolidWorks, FreeCAD or AutoCAD. You should get not only the STL file of the design, but also the STEP file and editable CAD source files so it can be modified later if needed. Ideally the enclosure designer should work from an exported STEP model of the PCB assembly so everything aligns properly. Then you can get the enclosure printed from a 3D printing company.

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