Howdy. I gave this program a couple hours long spin and would like to share my experience.
a free HTML based app that quickly and intelligently creates a vero layout from a schematic.
the short version: for being free, it's downright incredible. next to no learning curve if you know how to draw a schematic. supports simple op amp, jfet, and BJT driven circuits as well as PT2399 builds. at a glance you expect it to be a little buggy and tedious, and it's not.
the nitty gritty: if you're someone (like me) who refuses to read the directions, you'll bump your head on a couple things. setting flags to be either internal notes or external connections, making a VCC flag, little things like that. the dialog box on the side will tell you if pins aren't connected, which is very helpful. the components are not sticky, which requires you to connect everything with a wire. the only real downside here is that it LOOKS like the components are connected, but they are not. the generated vero is very accurate and can be adjusted slightly after the fact to fit personal preference. when you are making small adjustments, it will tell you when you have moved something in a way that no longer agrees with the schematic, which is so rad. double links can be disabled, for those that abhor working with those. after some adjusting it turned out a compact and accurate vero layout that was only a little bit larger than mine. there were a couple of small errors, mostly that it would occasionally put jumpers on the edge columns on top of where we would connect wires for pots. before realizing I had to switch my VCC flag to internal, it was adding those connections to the board. that was on me and an easy fix. the vero generation takes less than a minute. if you're not someone who is obsessed with the tightest, most efficient layout on earth (like me) then it is going to generate a great layout with minimal room for improvement.
the less-than-perfect: first I'll say that I spoke to the designer and provided this feedback, to which they were incredible responsive and polite. some of the things I had mentioned were known issues that were on the slate for a later release. sticky components, jumpers over connections, more editing options on the vero end, all on the horizon. I mentioned the idea of standing resistors and diodes, and while I know some people refuse, it would be a good addition for those of us who don't mind it. the only reason my hand made vero layout was smaller was because I stood up a single resistor. currently the only way to adjust the size of the board in the vero editor is from the right side. if you freed up space on the left and want to make it smaller, you are basically building it from scratch. if you find a way to stretch a component to it's destination instead of using the jumper it generated, that jumper cannot currently be deleted, even though the program has accepted your edit as going to the correct place. currently there is no way to adjust the footprint of an electrolytic capacitor, so you might have to move some things around to accommodate space. a 220uf and 1uf cap are not the same size at any reasonable voltage rating. pretty sure everything but standing up components was already on the radar. I am certain that later updates will be spectacular.
all-in-all, I am incredibly impressed and hopeful for the future. currently it is not beating what I can make in DIYLC, but it very well might soon be able to. like that robot that eventually started beating people at chess. for the vero beginner, this is a HUGE step up from having to learn another program.
a free HTML based app that quickly and intelligently creates a vero layout from a schematic.
the short version: for being free, it's downright incredible. next to no learning curve if you know how to draw a schematic. supports simple op amp, jfet, and BJT driven circuits as well as PT2399 builds. at a glance you expect it to be a little buggy and tedious, and it's not.
the nitty gritty: if you're someone (like me) who refuses to read the directions, you'll bump your head on a couple things. setting flags to be either internal notes or external connections, making a VCC flag, little things like that. the dialog box on the side will tell you if pins aren't connected, which is very helpful. the components are not sticky, which requires you to connect everything with a wire. the only real downside here is that it LOOKS like the components are connected, but they are not. the generated vero is very accurate and can be adjusted slightly after the fact to fit personal preference. when you are making small adjustments, it will tell you when you have moved something in a way that no longer agrees with the schematic, which is so rad. double links can be disabled, for those that abhor working with those. after some adjusting it turned out a compact and accurate vero layout that was only a little bit larger than mine. there were a couple of small errors, mostly that it would occasionally put jumpers on the edge columns on top of where we would connect wires for pots. before realizing I had to switch my VCC flag to internal, it was adding those connections to the board. that was on me and an easy fix. the vero generation takes less than a minute. if you're not someone who is obsessed with the tightest, most efficient layout on earth (like me) then it is going to generate a great layout with minimal room for improvement.
the less-than-perfect: first I'll say that I spoke to the designer and provided this feedback, to which they were incredible responsive and polite. some of the things I had mentioned were known issues that were on the slate for a later release. sticky components, jumpers over connections, more editing options on the vero end, all on the horizon. I mentioned the idea of standing resistors and diodes, and while I know some people refuse, it would be a good addition for those of us who don't mind it. the only reason my hand made vero layout was smaller was because I stood up a single resistor. currently the only way to adjust the size of the board in the vero editor is from the right side. if you freed up space on the left and want to make it smaller, you are basically building it from scratch. if you find a way to stretch a component to it's destination instead of using the jumper it generated, that jumper cannot currently be deleted, even though the program has accepted your edit as going to the correct place. currently there is no way to adjust the footprint of an electrolytic capacitor, so you might have to move some things around to accommodate space. a 220uf and 1uf cap are not the same size at any reasonable voltage rating. pretty sure everything but standing up components was already on the radar. I am certain that later updates will be spectacular.
all-in-all, I am incredibly impressed and hopeful for the future. currently it is not beating what I can make in DIYLC, but it very well might soon be able to. like that robot that eventually started beating people at chess. for the vero beginner, this is a HUGE step up from having to learn another program.