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Questions relating to designing PCBs
By 8Volts
#197817
Hello,

I was thinking to try and do my own PCB layouts myself
And then generate the gerber files so I can
Give them to my PCB manufacturer.

But I never used such a software and I would like
to ask this forum which one I should use?

It should allow me to design layouts from the smallest
To the biggest pitch sized electronic components for example 0402 components up to normal sized ones and
Chip pitches from 2.54mm to 0.5 mm.

I also need a software that is simple and popular to use with Plenty of tutorials on YouTube and that can allow
Me to design multi layered PCB with ground planes.

A support line would be nice also.
All suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks
By n1ist
#197822
I use KiCad; other popular ones are Eagle (though they have recently changed their licensing and have limitations), and Diptrace. I would stay away from ones that lock you into a specific vendor (ie. ExpressPCB). I haven't used the free Eagle or Diptrace so I don't know how well they work for multilayer. KiCad can handle up to 32 layers with planes or pours on any of them.
/mike
User avatar
By languer
#197850
Sparkfun supports libraries for KiCad and Eagle, so if SFE is one of your preferred sources for components you may want to stick with one of those. Adafruit and Pololu favor those as well.