EASY (read first time)PRESS N PEEL PCB LAYOUT PROGRAMS

[loss1234]

Eagle is a bit out of my league at this point. I have tried DIY LAYOUT CREATOR but I think this is really better for stripboards.

Anyone have any advice on prorgrams that help one make good Press N PEEL layouts?

thanks

[Luka]

im only just starting this but how about corel draw?

it is a vector program and you can build an object library
easy drag and drop objects and scultp traces
easy to scultp curves and shape polygons

[SineSurfer]

Hi loss, don't be afraid of Eagle, take a look at this links:

http://www.tangentsoft.net/elec/movies/

http://gaussmarkov.net/wordpress/tools/software/eagle-cad/


another alternative would be kicad:

http://iut-tice.ujf-grenoble.fr/kicad/


the vector route is good enough for simple layouts, otherwise is way faster to use the right apps but if you want to try with vector apps anyway, check inkscape:

http://www.inkscape.org/

[moosapotamus]

I've been using ExpressPCB for quite a while and it works great for me.

Another good one is DIY Layout Creator. The author of this software has a huge support thread going over at DIYstompboxes.

Tried Eagle several times but never had the patience to get over the steep learning curve. Seems like a great prog if you can get your head around it, tho.

~ Charlie

[fonik]

both ExpressPCB and Eagle have one big advantage: you can connect the schematc to the PCB layout and verify you layout (all points connected?).
ExpressPCB is good for their service and for creating press'n'peel layouts. it's easy to use and you can create your own devices very fast.
Eagle is usable for almost all PCB houses. it is not that easy to use but once you've got it it's great...

my 2 pence

[loss1234]

wait

so you CAN use express pcb for PNP layouts? i thought you could only do 2 layers and up (or maybe that is just hpw pcb artist is)

how do you do it? just print out the screen?

thanks all for the tips!

[Blue Hell]

I moved this to the developers corner as I think the layout factory was meant for layouts that are finished.

[moosapotamus]

Ya... you can turn off the component and top layers and just display the bottom layer... and change the color of the bottom layer to black. Then do a "print screen" and paste into Word (or whatever) to adjust the size.

~ Charlie

[loss1234]

so you have to use a screen grab program

but then how do you know the exact size to stretch it to? i suppose if you all do it that way it cant be that hard. thanks for the tip!

[moosapotamus]

No special screen grab prog is needed...

Get the image displayed as big as possible on your screen and hit the "print screen" key on your keyboard. That will put a screen grab image into your clipboard. Then go to Word (or whatever prog you like that can crop and re-size images) and do a "paste".

Crop out the PCB image so there's no other junk around the edges, and resize to the actual size. ExpressPCB will show you what the exact dimensions should be.

You can also double check that pin spacing on IC's (for example) is 0.1". Or even print out the image on plain paper and place some components on it to verify the fit befor eyou print on to the PnP.

~ Charlie

[loss1234]

thanks

i will have to try that!

[fonik]

you can just print out from ExpressPCB itself directly onto the printer, had no problem doing this using the latest version.

[loss1234]

this might sound like a dumb question...but if i print directly from expresspcb..is it flipped the way it should be? or do i need to reverse it somehow?

(i always thought you had to use the bottom layer reversed for press n peel. but maybe expresspcb does that?)

thanks

getting very close to having something to press n peel if i can print it properly!