[sdiy] Schematics Software

[Ben Bradley]

I was taught Autocad in a work environment circa 1989 to draw ...
circuit schematics.  I think Autocad has been famous for a rather
tough learning curve, but I don't recall it being especially hard to
learn, or maybe the guy who tutored me was really good at teaching as
well as Autocad. He also used it for PCB layout (!).  Circa 2001 I got
Cadopia Intellicad 4, an Autocad work-alike, and I continue to use
that version, for schematics and general mechanical drawings.

I've used ExpressPCB a few times over the past 15 years, it has free
software that's very easy to learn and use, but uses a proprietary
format that's only good for having PCBs made through ExpressPCB, and
the prices perhaps weren't too bad way back when, but compared to
what's available now they're really expensive.

In the last year I've been learning Eagle and more recently Kicad. The
learning curves on both of these are greater than expected, and way
more than the ExpressPCB software (which admittedly doesn't do as
much, and I haven't even used the schematic entry functions in their
recent versions). Maybe I'm reading the wrong instructions, but it's
been tough going, or maybe I'm getting old and it's getting harder to
learn things - I'll try these pages on Hackaday and see how I do.

Back to the OP's question of FREE drawing or schematic capture apps, I
can't think of much offhand. There's an object drawing program as part
of LibreOffice (in Writer? I forget), kind of like MacDraw (if anyone
else remembers that), but I haven't learn the LibreOffice draw program
because I haven't had a need.

Oh, there's LTSpice, it has a learning curve, but I feel like I've
mostly mastered it because circuit simulation is so useful that I kept
at it. The schematic-drawing interface is definitely clunky, but
again, I've used it enough that I feel "accomplished" in it. I don't
know that the schematics look "professional" but it's a free download
to try it. It's the best bet that I know of.


On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 5:37 PM, Quincas Moreira <quincas at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Don, I'll check it out!
>
> On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 4:36 PM, Quincas Moreira <quincas at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I think Ornament and Crime was designed in Fritzing!
>>
>> On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 4:31 PM, Pete Hartman <pete.hartman at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 4:18 PM, Peter Pearson
>>> <electrocontinuo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> This is a good cross comparison:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://hackaday.com/2016/09/21/creating-a-pcb-in-everything-introduction/
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Friends don't let friends use Fritzing" LOL :)
>>>
>>> Pete
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Synth-diy mailing list
>>> Synth-diy at synth-diy.org
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>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Quincas Moreira
>> Test Pilot at VBrazil Modular
>
>
>
>
> --
> Quincas Moreira
> Test Pilot at VBrazil Modular
>
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
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>

On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 5:37 PM, Quincas Moreira <quincas at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Don, I'll check it out!
>
> On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 4:36 PM, Quincas Moreira <quincas at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I think Ornament and Crime was designed in Fritzing!
>>
>> On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 4:31 PM, Pete Hartman <pete.hartman at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, May 19, 2017 at 4:18 PM, Peter Pearson
>>> <electrocontinuo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> This is a good cross comparison:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> http://hackaday.com/2016/09/21/creating-a-pcb-in-everything-introduction/
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Friends don't let friends use Fritzing" LOL :)
>>>
>>> Pete
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Synth-diy mailing list
>>> Synth-diy at synth-diy.org
>>> http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Quincas Moreira
>> Test Pilot at VBrazil Modular
>
>
>
>
> --
> Quincas Moreira
> Test Pilot at VBrazil Modular
>
> _______________________________________________
> Synth-diy mailing list
> Synth-diy at synth-diy.org
> http://synth-diy.org/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
>