If you are an engineer who aspires to develop or use a PCB, you need to have the right tools for the purpose. Deciding on what design to use or which software to use can be hectic and head aching. Using PCB free software might not give you the best results without creativity, passion, and dedication in your project. There is a variety of features and qualities that you can choose from. This guide has carefully selected the best and crucial elements to give priority to consider.
Schematic Capture
It is best to consider the schematic approach for simple designs as it is simple and easy to use. You need to be very careful, however, if your design is a bit complex. It is vital to ensure that you don’t repeat and replete defects and errors you can easily avoid otherwise.
DRC Automation
You need to check or ensure that the design is compliant with the legal rules and aspects. This also applies to structures that are complex or are repetitive. Automation is a crucial aspect of ensuring the excellent utilization of labour resources such as operating costs.
Routing Options
Manual routing might be only best if your circuits are simples and few. Otherwise, you might want to consider automated routing as it saves time and energy doing it manually.
If your circuits are complex or contain many vias, you need to consider automating your routing. This will help in ensuring that there are fewer challenges in the whole process of routing.
Placement Options
If you have a simple design, the components used are few, manual placement can be effective. Auto placement is best where there are large numbers of elements. The only challenge with manual placement where components are many is consuming a lot of time and resources.
Type of Annotation
Whether your design is complex or straightforward, you might consider forward or backward annotation. Laying the board is quite essential, and no matter how challenging it might be, you need to complete it for your design to work best.
Real-time Data Component
If you have a simple structure or design, it means that the components are few and manageable. It is up to you to research the capability of the components in a simple design. However, you must keep data of your components for complex structures and designs to avoid time consumption.
Import and Export Options
General standards for the DFM procedure of importation are crucial and apply for simple designs. For complex structures, the specifications must conform to the capabilities of the CM equipment or tool. You might need to consider the program’s ability to export Gerber files if the structure is simple.
The range of the CMs that can be used depends on the complexity of the file packages of the program. Besides the above features, you must check out your design’s signal and thermal analysis. The visualization should be able to support the 3D feature, especially for complex structures.
