Hello everyone,
I'm David Cook from Robot Room. Like all of you, I've enjoyed etching and drilling boards at home for many years. You can see some of my work at my website.
I've written a new PCB layout program that is designed for hobbyists, students, and small shops. The software is easy to use and includes lots of features that target etching at home:
Easy printing (no messing with layer colors or flipping in paint programs)
Traces and drill holes in any size you want
Smooth font with standard electrical symbols (ohm, micro, and ground)
Tiny font
Distance-sorted hole locations in comma, tab-delimited, or monospace formats
Best of all, it is completely free to use for home etching.
Eventually, if you want to order commercially manufactured boards, there is an edition that exports to Gerber and Excellon. Also, there is the ability to save the files in an open text format and copy/paste elements in Excel. So, lots of opportunities for tweaking and external tools.
Screenshots:
http://www.robotroom.com/CopperConnection/Features.htmlDownload:
http://www.robotroom.com/CopperConnection/Download.aspxI would sincerely appreciate any feedback, including wish lists and any differences in imported files.
David Cook
RobotRoom.com