Circuitry Design

[Vipersassasin]

I have found some circuits online that I want to try and create a more professional looking PCB for.

My question, what PCB Schematic builder do people use, and what program has proven to be the easiest when designing these circuits?

I used the Digikey online "Scheme It" tool and created the circuit diagram, but importing that into a program is proving to be quite difficult (or maybe I'm just a noob). I have tried KiCad but that seems to be a bit too in-depth for simple circuits that only require Caps and Resistors mainly. I haven't dove into Altium all that much as it too seems a bit complex to use.

Any advice is welcome as I know barely anything on designing PCB circuits and how to get all the necessary layers/gerber files ready for a PCB manufacturer to produce.

 

[Big Monk]

In my opinion, DipTrace is far and away the easiest of the Circuit CAD programs to start out with.

JLCPCB seems to be the popular PCB fabrication house. I've used them exclusively on my boards and they put out great quality and their design team is good at asking questions when they see wonky stuff in your files.

 

[vigilante398]

I agree that DipTrace is probably the easiest program to start off with. It's very intuitive to use and navigate, and there are a good number of libraries out there with pedal components ready to go so you don't have to make your own from scratch. I will also say that I believe DipTrace to be hands-down the best free program out there.

That being said, I absolutely love Altium. I never would have made it in Altium without a solid foundation in DipTrace, but now Altium is my best friend and I have been using it exclusively for my designs for about 4 years. It's the most intuitive professional-level program, it's powerful, and it's loaded with features that help in design. $10k is a very steep pricetag for a hobbyist, but if you can score a license through school or work then Altium is a winner.

Eagle is one of the most common programs used by hobbyists simply because for years that's all there really was, but personally I always felt like I was fighting with the software to get things done, it wasn't intuitive at all. KiCAD is relatively new and has a big chunk of the hobbyist market now, and I've heard good things, but I've never personally used it.

So my opinion, in summary: if you have the means to get it, go with Altium. I'd be happy to share libraries and give tips, answer questions, and walk you through getting started. It's an amazing program and is used professionally in industry so if you ever take circuit design past the hobby level it looks good on a resume to have Altium experience. If you don't have the means to get Altium, get DipTrace. Period.

I Altium. Me and DipTrace broke up, but we're still on good terms.

 

[ICTRock]

When I read someone say KiCAD is relatively new I about spit out my Mountain Dew as KiCAD turns 30 this year. I suppose it is fair to consider it new as real work on making it great began about 10 years ago. Back then it was always something I skipped over when choosing packages during linux installations. I settled on it because it is free and available on my big 3 (Windows, MacOS, Linux) but I mainly use it for drawing up ideas.

 

[vigilante398]

When I read someone say KiCAD is relatively new I about spit out my Mountain Dew as KiCAD turns 30 this year. I suppose it is fair to consider it new as real work on making it great began about 10 years ago. Back then it was always something I skipped over when choosing packages during linux installations. I settled on it because it is free and available on my big 3 (Windows, MacOS, Linux) but I mainly use it for drawing up ideas.

Ah, I stand corrected, I apologize. Hopefully no Mountain Dew messes were caused by my ignorance. I assumed it was new because I had never heard of it until 7-8 years ago when it seemed (to my limited view) to come into more of the mainstream hobbyist view.

EDIT: fixed my incorrect post

 

[Vipersassasin]

Now comes the PAINSTAKING task of rearranging the PCB on DipTrace to make it as compact as possible... I feel like I am in college all over again! LOL

 

[Big Monk]

Now comes the PAINSTAKING task of rearranging the PCB on DipTrace to make it as compact as possible... I feel like I am in college all over again! LOL

I'm a Circuit CAD Luddite so I'll share a bit of my workflow: I don't route any traces until I have the basic form together and layout in a rough draft form.

At least this way, I'm usually just rearranging traces and not components.