Circuit board design software generally includes two major modules: schematic design and PCB design.
The current mainstream circuit board design software are PROTEL, ORCAD, VIEWLOGIC, POWERPCB, CADENCEPSD, MENTORGRAPHICES Expedition PCB, Zuken CADSTART, WINBOARD/WINDRAFT/IVEX-SPICE, PCB Studio, TANGO, PCBWIZARD (PCB production software package supporting LIVEWIRE) ), ultiBOARD7 (PCB production software package supporting multiSIM2001) and so on. PROTEL software is the most widely used in our country, but the number of users using pads is also increasing.
There is nothing better than free, even PCB software. It cannot be said that more expensive software is better than free software. In this article, we will take a look at some of the popular PCB design platforms from time to time. First clarify a standard, the software we choose below are all software that has been updated at least once in the past two years.
- ZENTIPCB
ZENTIPCB is the ZENTIPCB platform from MIRKO BRUNO SORTINI, which provides a series of free software to help users design their own PCB. ZENTICAPTURE allows users to quickly and easily use a simple tool set to design schematics, which allows users to place components (component symbols) through orthogonal locking and pin snapping. Once the schematics (in the form of diagrams) are completed, they can be transplanted to ZENTIPCB.
ZENTIPCB is a CAD-based program that allows users to import netlist files and visualize their charts. The layout editor provides the function of importing components directly from the library using the cursor, and supports single-sided and double-sided panels according to different needs.
- TINYCAD
TINYCAD comes from SOURCEFORGE users BEISCHER, DON_LUCAS and MATTPYNE. Don’t underestimate this software because of its name. This software provides all the functions of PCB design and wiring design. This software contains 42 libraries with a total of 755 symbols, including digital logic gates, electromechanical components and even microcontrollers. And each component can be edited, and users can even add their own component symbols. TINYCAD supports multiple netlist formats (Eagle SCR, PADS-PCB, XML, etc.), and can also generate SPICE netlists.
- COMETCAD
COMETCAD is another excellent example of a free software platform, which provides an electronic circuit schematic editor and a PCB layout editor. But this software only supports Windows platform. The COMETCAD electronic circuit schematic editor supports multi-page schematic, symbol rotation, parts list and netlist schematic output. The PCB layout editor provides almost all the functions mentioned above (component library, double-sided PCB, etc.), and also has the function of outputting CAM files. At the same time, it can also be used to design rectangular multi-PCB boards.