Hi all, have spent a bit of time trying to design a PCB for a project of mine. I drew out the trace and component placement to scale on piece of paper 60mm x58mm, then tried leaning heavily on copper side of board to transfer the design, it did not work. I then tried to scribe the design onto the board by using the point of an old protractor, poor result.
Have tried a few PCB design software packages but my IT skills along with PCB design are not great.
Apart from the print transfer method is there any other way a novice like me could transfer the circuit design onto the copper board, so that it looks semi professional?

 

Permanent marker and your hand.

 

yep.. black Sharpie marker on all the areas to keep prevents etching pretty well..

Of course PCBs are cheap now too I'd never spend the time to etch one on my own anymore..
This is $19.90 for 10pcs + shipping.. And that price is for all 10 boards not each board..
https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping/2layer-green-pcb-10cm-x-10cm-max.html

 

Tried that before didn't work well, hard to get accuracy when free handing.

I'm in UK probably cost more to post, have seen a few manufacturers over here will keep in mind for future projects, have etching bought so want to do myself.

 

@Copey84
I am a long time PCB maker. I made my first board with plastic model paint and small brush in the late 60s. Now I use dry film photo resist. Being able to make your own PCBs is a great asset to someone who likes electronics. There are three major paths a home hobbyist can take to make PCBs. All the paths require a printer tailored for that process. The toner transfer method requires a laser printer that prints a thick layer of toner. The Dry film photo resist and positive pre-sensitized boards requires a high contrast transparency. What kind of printer do you have?

Making good quality PCBs at home takes some planning and a little investment. Learn a good process and invest a little money (<$100) and it will benefit you for the rest of your life. There are two theads in the "completed project section", one about toner transfer and one about photographic methods. Check them out.

 

Hi lestraveled, I don't have a laser printer was going to use a mate's but I still haven't mastered the PCB design software yet. Wanted to get this project finished soon so thought I'd ask on here to see if there is a simpler method. Have some photographic paper, gonna see if I can transfer ink from it onto PCB. If no good then I will just have to draw on directly and try and keep board as clean as possible.

 

yep.. black Sharpie marker on all the areas to keep prevents etching pretty well..

Of course PCBs are cheap now too I'd never spend the time to etch one on my own anymore..
This is $19.90 for 10pcs + shipping.. And that price is for all 10 boards not each board..
https://www.itead.cc/open-pcb/pcb-prototyping/2layer-green-pcb-10cm-x-10cm-max.html

Wow, that is pretty cheap, I just calculated the price of a company in Taiwan, the price as :
100mm x 100mm, 10pcs
NT$6432元(24hrs), NT$5432元(48hrs), NT$4432元(3 days), without tax
NT$6432元(24hrs) x 32.13 = US$ 200.187
NT$5432元(48hrs) x 32.13 = US$ 169.16
NT$4432元(3 days) x 32.13 = US$ 137.93