[sdiy] What's your fav PCB package?

[ryan williams]

hi,

Thanks for pointing out this kicad program. I've been trying it out all 
day (in Windows).  For a while now, I have been searching for a free 
schematic capture and pcb design program that I like.  From what I have 
seen today, I think my search is over. 

I have used Eagle (free version) in the past but the very small board 
size limit makes it impossible to use for most circuits I build. kicad 
seems to be a good alternative without the limitations.  The GUI 
interface is similar to Eagle.  The schematic and pcb documents look 
great, and it has been very easy for me to learn.  Since I've started 
today, I have created some new schematic symbols, pcb footprints and 
done a schematic and pcb for a small circuit.  It does not seem to be as 
fully featured as Eagle but it has been a while since I used Eagle so I 
can't really say.  The component libaries are fairly small so many 
components won't have schematic symbols or footprints.  I would 
deffinently say that it is worth a try for anyone interested in a free 
pcb design package.

Daniel Kruszyna wrote:

>Did someone say open source? :)
>
>I use xcircuit for schematics and PCB for well, pcbs. Both were written
>for *nix. There is also "gschem and friends" to create schematics with.
>I prefer xcircuit because it is simpler and handles hierarchy well. Its
>file format is actually a superset of postscript, so I can send my xcircuit
>files directly to the printer. However, I have to create all my symbols, as
>its library is limited (it was initially created for VLSI designs). Gschem
>has a much better library, and also interfaces well with PCB.
>
>There is another program Kicad which handles both schematics and boards
>as one project like Eagle, but I haven't tried it yet. It uses wxwindows
>and runs on both Windows and *nix.
>
>-- Daniel
>
>xcircuit:      http://xcircuit.ece.jhu.edu/
>PCB:           http://pcb.sf.net/
>gaf (gschem):  http://geda.seul.org/
>kicad:         http://www.lis.inpg.fr/realise_au_lis/kicad/
>