CAD for PCBs

摘要

PCBs are essential nowadays, even for very small production runs or one-offs for the lab in a company of any size or on the workbench of a hobbyist, not only because they look nice but also because the stability and reliability of electronic circuits are strongly dependent on how well the circuits are built. Unfortunately, it costs time and effort to learn how to make PCBs with a CAD program. In addition, the files these programs generate for schematics and PCBs are often specific to the program concerned and difficult or impossible to import into other programs, although this does not apply to files in standard production formats such as Excellon. Different programs also often offer very different features and functions. A schematic editor and layout program are indispensable basic components, but some packages also feature integrated simulation or 3D visualization of the PCBs, which can be helpful for choosing an enclosure. The program resources are also significant, especially the number of components in the libraries. Although you can always create your own components, that takes a lot of time and effort. The CAD packages intimately associated with component distributors score especially well in that area.