Publishing-quality schematic drawing tool
Alejandro Frangi
I am having a hard time finding a really good tool (hopefully free!) that
allows to draw high quality electronic circuit schematics. I do not need to
do any simulation, just drawing but allowing to insert arrows, text, symbols
and to export the picture as postscript file or any other format. I´d like a
tool where you could build up schematics easily and fast.
Does anybody have a good suggestion?
Alex
Spehro Pefhany
Can you define "publishing quality"?
If you mean like you see in magazines, you might have to use something
like Visio 2000, Illustrator or Mayura draw (the latter is almost free)
and make up your own library of components. Visio may have commercial
libraries available..
If you mean to 'publish' as in the schematics included with a manual,
there are many programs, some with substantial libraries. ISTR the "demo"
versions of some SPICE programs come with a pretty good library and
WISYWIG schematic editor (perhaps with some limits as to the size). You
can print from that. You don't have to use the connectivity features.
Best regards,
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
sp...@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
Contributions invited->The AVR-gcc FAQ is at: http://www.BlueCollarLinux.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Win Hill
>
> In sci.electronics.design Alejandro Frangi <afr...@posta.unizar.es> wrote:
>
>> I am having a hard time finding a really good tool (hopefully free!)
>> that allows to draw high quality electronic circuit schematics. I do
>> not need to do any simulation, just drawing but allowing to insert
>> arrows, text, symbols and to export the picture as postscript file
>> or any other format. I'd like a tool where you could build up
>> schematics easily and fast.
>
>> Does anybody have a good suggestion?
>
> Can you define "publishing quality"?
>
> If you mean like you see in magazines, you might have to use something
> like Visio 2000, Illustrator or Mayura draw (the latter is almost free)
> and make up your own library of components. Visio may have commercial
> libraries available..
Don Lancaster used to make very good looking schematics for his articles
with hand-coded Postscript files! He could get some very special features
this way, such as a slight gap on wire crossovers by using two lines,
first a fat white line overlaid by the desired black line.
OK, forget that!
The drawings in the 1st and 2nd editions of AoE were made the traditional
way by pen and ink. For the 3rd edition we are redoing all the drawings.
Our artist is using Freehand, on a Mac, and the results look better than
before. We've created our own attractive standard template symbols.
Once you have a set of symbols the drawings can be made pretty quickly
and you have complete control over what you want.
The resulting files are editable just fine in Illustrator. I spent some
time trying to make sample drawings in Illustrator using our symbols, but
found that I couldn't designate the needed grab points with Illustrator 8,
which made getting good line alignment very hard, even though it appears
to be very straightforward in Freehand. I have no idea if Illustrator 9
is any better.
Thanks,
- Win
Winfield Hill
Rowland Institute for Science
100 Edwin Land Blvd
Cambridge, MA 02142-1297
Jackson Harvey
>
> Spehro Pefhany wrote:
> >
> > In sci.electronics.design Alejandro Frangi <afr...@posta.unizar.es> wrote:
> >
> >> I am having a hard time finding a really good tool (hopefully free!)
> >> that allows to draw high quality electronic circuit schematics. I do
> >> not need to do any simulation, just drawing but allowing to insert
> >> arrows, text, symbols and to export the picture as postscript file
> >> or any other format. I'd like a tool where you could build up
> >> schematics easily and fast.
> >
> >> Does anybody have a good suggestion?
Sorry about jumping on the end of this thread; I apparently missed the
original post.
What I do for good quality schematics is draw the schematic in Microsim
schematics, which is no longer sold, but is readily available as it was
once popular. This can output to a DXF, which reads nicely into Canvas
or Corel Draw. A few simple commands makes a very nice looking picture,
with minimal effort.
Jackson Harvey
andy...@nokia.com
> Spehro Pefhany wrote:
>>
>> In sci.electronics.design Alejandro Frangi <afr...@posta.unizar.es> wrote:
>>
>>> I am having a hard time finding a really good tool (hopefully free!)
>>> that allows to draw high quality electronic circuit schematics. I do
>>> not need to do any simulation, just drawing but allowing to insert
>>> arrows, text, symbols and to export the picture as postscript file
>>> or any other format. I'd like a tool where you could build up
>>> schematics easily and fast.
>>
>>> Does anybody have a good suggestion?
>>
>> Can you define "publishing quality"?
>>
>> If you mean like you see in magazines, you might have to use something
>> like Visio 2000, Illustrator or Mayura draw (the latter is almost free)
>> and make up your own library of components. Visio may have commercial
>> libraries available..
> Don Lancaster used to make very good looking schematics for his articles
> with hand-coded Postscript files! He could get some very special features
> this way, such as a slight gap on wire crossovers by using two lines,
> first a fat white line overlaid by the desired black line.
Or you could look at xcircuit
http://freshmeat.net/redir/xcircuit/11856/url_homepage/
It does very good circuit diagrams directly in postscript.
Andy Pevy
--
We were always told that a million monkeys typing for a million years
would eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the
Internet, we know this is not true.
Dave Collins - SharewarePromotions
--
Dave Collins
SharewarePromotions.com
Be Seen Be Sold
<http://www.sharewarepromotions.com>
Spehro Pefhany
> Don Lancaster used to make very good looking schematics for his articles
> with hand-coded Postscript files! He could get some very special features
> this way, such as a slight gap on wire crossovers by using two lines,
> first a fat white line overlaid by the desired black line.
> OK, forget that!
Yes, you can do pretty much anything that you can do in raw Postscript in
Adobe Illustrator, Mayura Draw or Macromedia Freehand, all of which are
vector drawing programs that are more-or-less based on the Postscript
paradigm. And do it more easily. While I could see creating component
symbols, doing a whole schematic...
If there *is* some specific thing that is easier (say you want to create a
very specific accurate mathematical curve) you could do it in PS and
import it into Illustrator directly, or Mayura (one way,
paradoxically is through Ghostscript conversion to Illustrator format).
There's surely a way to get it into Freehand too, but I have not used it
that program much.
> The resulting files are editable just fine in Illustrator. I spent some
> time trying to make sample drawings in Illustrator using our symbols, but
> found that I couldn't designate the needed grab points with Illustrator 8,
> which made getting good line alignment very hard, even though it appears
> to be very straightforward in Freehand. I have no idea if Illustrator 9
> is any better.
Hmm.. I don't know why you would have any trouble, but admittedly have not
tried it. The grab points in a grouped set of entities are in useful
places such as the end of line segments, so, so as long as the line
segment ends are perfectly aligned with the snap-to grid nodes there
shouldn't be problems. You'd also want to keep an exactly consistent
stroke width on the line segments. Converting from another program there
are possible issues such as slight errors in the underlying calculations
(Illustrator defaults on using "points" (which Adobe has decided are
exactly 1/72 inch) as units for stroke width- probably is floating-point
under the hood. Of course you'd want to use the exact same snap-to grid
dimensions (or an integer multiple finer, perhaps) as the original
program.
Boris Mohar
One of the best "publishing quality" schematics are to be found in the old
Tektronix service manuals. Today's schematic capture vendors could use some
lessons from those
Regards,
Boris Mohar
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs
GGW
I haven't tried them so I hope that these "Light" versions qualify as
freeware and suit your pupose.
Vutrax Electronics CAD: http://www.vutrax.co.uk/
The full VUTRAX 12.3a system can be downloaded. From this you can
install from a 256 pin limited FREE system all the way up to a full
professional configuration.
WinSpice3 Electronic Circuit Simulator:
http://www.willingham2.freeserve.co.uk/winspice.html
Charles DH Williams
wrote:
> The drawings in the 1st and 2nd editions of AoE were made the traditional
> way by pen and ink. For the 3rd edition we are redoing all the drawings.
> Our artist is using Freehand, on a Mac, and the results look better than
> before. We've created our own attractive standard template symbols.
It probably won't interest many people these days, but I spent several
hours a few years ago and created a fairly nice-looking set of symbols for
use with ClarisDraw on a Mac and anyone who wants can have them:
http://newton.ex.ac.uk/teaching/CDHW/Symbols/ElectronixSymbols.sea.Hqx
They are used in many of my teaching materials for electronics courses
(examples at http://newton.ex.ac.uk/teaching/CDHW/ )
The trick was to make sure that they are grouped in a sensible hierarchy
and have connections on an exactly representable grid ( 8 lines per inch
in my case).
Charles
cpemma
Layout Editor, Proteus Isis, CircuitMaker, MicroCap, Vutrax) and they
all have big shortcomings for simple schematic production.
In Eagle I can't have an un-labelled diode, or a 1N4001, only *04. I
can't find things like unijunctions, thermistors or rotary switches in
some. I'm reduced to trying each for a circuit and heavily editing the
best in Paint Shop Pro.
I look forward to some useful answers to your question, but I suspect
the solution will be a good library of basic component shapes and a
vector drawing program.
"Alejandro Frangi" <afr...@posta.unizar.es> wrote in message
news:9gsl7a$9fc$1...@news.unizar.es...
>
> I am having a hard time finding a really good tool (hopefully free!)
that
> allows to draw high quality electronic circuit schematics...
Terry Pinnell
I've listed below about 50 ECAD packages with URLs and brief notes,
with an emphasis on amateur/hobby use. They're obviously a very mixed
bag in terms of capabilities, full version price and popularity. Most
of them include schematic drawing, of a quality that can probably be
assessed only by trying them and forming your own opinion. Relatively
few incorporate PS export. I occasionally amend this after receiving
specific feedback, but suggest you check suppliers' websites to be
sure of latest details.
Terry Pinnell
Hobbyist, West Sussex, UK
=================================
B2SPICE
BeigeBag
http://www.beigebag.com
"Analog simulator ... includes 3,000+ parts from manufacturers." From
$99.
Also B2 LOGIC "Digital circuit simulation & analysis tool with circuit
editor". Demos cannot save and print and are limited to a certain
number of components in a circuit. Trials are fully functional but are
limited to 30 days use.
=================================
BOARDMAKER
http://www.tsien.com/
Boardmaker2, DOS based Dongle protected CAD for PCBs, schematic
capture, basic auto routing options. Very easy to use but now
outdated. Boardmaker3 Windoze based all singing/dancing. Sadly program
leased by the year, demo on website.
=================================
CADINT PCB
CADint Sweden
http://www.cadint.se/
Free version "allows use of all features up to 250 pins, using manual
routing only. The application requires Window 95/98 or Window NT...
Note that all libraries in CADint PCB free version are cut down to a
minimum, to speed up the download process." Approx. 10.5 MB
=================================
CADSTAR
ZUKEN
http://www.zuken.com/solutions_els.asp
Schematic and routing. No demo/evaluation, but can download 'Entry
Level Brochure' (244Kb). "Complete PCB Design On The Desktop. CADSTAR
is Zuken’s Entry Level Solution ...runs under Windows NT, Windows 98
and Windows 95 operating systems."
=================================
CAPFAST
Phase Three Logic
http://www.phase3.com
"Includes schematic editor, symbol editor, symbol library, plotting
program, & utilities." $1,000 entry? UNIX evaluation version
available.
=================================
CIRCAD
Holophase
http://www.holophase.com/
"Written entirely in Assembler Language by Hardware Design Engineers
(not utility programmers), CIRCAD boasts the highest run-time
performance of any PCB CAD package on the market today. Schematics,
netlists, circuit boards, and gerber plots are all at your fingertips
awaiting your beck and call. For the more advanced users, CIRCAD even
has a "reverse engineering" feature that enables you to start with a
scanned image of a PCB and work backwards to the schematic." Download
version available.
=================================
CIRCUIT CREATOR
AMS
http://www.advancedmsinc.com/
"Includes full Schematic Design and Capture, full interactive Symbol
Editor, professional Printed Circuit Board Design and Layout, and
Automatic Routing." Free demo.
=================================
CIRCUIT LAYOUT
http://nstarsolutions.com/products/4488.htm
"... a printed circuit board design program ... Features include an
integrated autorouter, netlist import, Gerber photoplotter support,
and design rules checks. It is intended for hobbyists, and small
businesses." $82. Downloadable limited version for trial. Schematic
companion program also available, purchased separately, or in a bundle
for 104 USD from NorthStar Solutions.
=================================
CIRCUITMAKER & TRAXMAKER, Currently at version 2000
Protel/Microcode
http://www.microcode.com
"...allowing you to design, simulate and output your printed circuit
board designs. Exceptional ease of use and tight integration means
you'll spend less time learning the software and more time
designing... all the features of professional, high-end software at a
fraction of the cost." Student Version, same as CM 6 with the
following limitations: Max 50 devices per design (any type); Device
library limited to 1,000 models; Symbol editor and Macro feature
disabled; PCB netlist export limited to TraxMaker format; Technical
support limited to fax and email only.
Technical Support for the FULL version is pretty abysmal in my
opinion, so it's just as well that paper and on-screen Help is
relatively good.I'm a user of CM Pro 6.2c myself.
=================================
COMPUTAMATION SYSTEMS
Vutrax
http://www.vutrax.co.uk/
No simulation. Demo version limited to 256 pins. Includes autorouting.
Extensive libraries, plus "...you can draw anything you like". Approx.
9MB download (7 floppy-sized files).
=================================
DESIGN WORKS
Douglas Professional CAD/CAM
http://209.35.53.132
Demo for Mac downloadable. For Windows send for CD-ROM.
=================================
DESIGN WORKS LITE
Capilano Computing
http://www.capilano.com/
"Draw, save, edit and print complete, professional circuit diagrams
using powerful features like bussing, multi-level Undo/Redo, and
automatic gate packaging. Use the library of common 74XX and discrete
symbols provided or create your own libraries using the built-in
symbol editor. Send compact circuit diagram files to friends or
colleagues over the 'net. They can get their own free copy of
DesignWorks Lite to view, edit and print the circuits."
=================================
DOUGLAS PROFESSIONAL CAD/CAM
Douglas Electronics
http://209.35.53.132/
"Schematic capture and more..."
=================================
EAGLE LAYOUT
CADSOFT
http://www.cadsoftusa.com/
"... easy to use, powerful and affordable schematic capture and
printed circuit board design"
Available also as a free version (only two layers, max dim 100 x 80
mm) with the full library, autorouter and the like, aimed squarely at
the hobbyist.
=================================
EASY-PC
Number One Systems
http://www.numberone.com/main.htm
"Integrated Schematic and PCB design environment· Four Product
Variants· Easy to use· Outputs professional manufacturing files· Shape
Based Copper Pour· True Split/Partial Power Planes"
Demo available.
=================================
EDS-LITE
VAMP Inc
http://www.mccad.com/
"... fully operational EDA design system which will actually produce
maufacturable outputs...includes a Schematic Capture module, a PCB
Layout module, a Gerber Tranlator Module and a robust set of Library
symbols and footprints. An abrieveated [and hopefully spell-checked]
users manual is also provided in PDF format." This LITE version has
net, pin and board size limits.
=================================
EDWIN
Swift Eurotech
http://www.swiftdesigns.co.uk/
"EDWin is totally integrated CAD/CAE software packages..." [sic]. Demo
available. Full versions £165 - $540 @ Feb 2001.
=================================
ELECTRIC
Static Free Software
http://www.staticfreesoft.com/
Free download. "The Electric source code distribution contains code
written in C, which can be compiled and run on UNIX (all variants),
Macintosh (system 7 or 8), and Windows (9x/NT/2000). In addition, the
distribution includes the user's manual (in HTML) and supporting data
files (libraries, samples, etc.)" Looks a bit tricky to set up on
Windows? Full Windows version approx. $175.
=================================
EXPERT PCB
Sage Eda
http://www.sage-eda.com/
"ExpertPCB II for MacOS costs $1695 per seat. A competitive upgrade is
available for $995." Limited demo version.
=================================
gEDA
GPL Electronic Design Automation
http://www.geda.seul.org/
The gEDA project is working on producing a full GPL'd suite of
Electronic Design Automation tools. These tools are used for
electrical circuit design, schematic capture, simulation, prototyping,
and production. The gEDA project was started because of the lack of
free EDA tools for UNIX.
=================================
ICAP
INTUSOFT
http://www.intusoft.com
"...the most powerful analog and mixed-signal simulation toolset on
the market... sets the industry standard for accurate, easy-to-use,
and feature rich SPICE software with state-of-the-art technology at a
price affordable by ANY budget."
Student version IsSpice4, "... the same as the production version.
However, IsSpice4 will only accept SPICE netlists with fewer than 20
top-level components... Simulator: Circuit Size Limited to 20 main
circuit (top-level) elements, special limitations are applied to
subcircuits... The key difference between the demonstration version of
ICAP/4Windows and the ICAP/4 Students version is that ICAP/4Students
comes with a much larger library of models (900 vs. 75+), full product
support, and a printed manual."
=================================
INTERACTIVE IMAGE TECHNOLOGIES - Electronics Workbench (EWB)
Multisim - Schematic Capture, Simulation & Programmable Logic
(I recall EWB used to be the name of the package. But now it's the
name of the company, and the package itself is now called Multisim.)
You can download the Multisim V6 Demo for Windows 95/98/NT (large -
msmdemo.exe is 22.5MB). Full version approx. $1,000?
Also Ultiboard: Powerful PCB Layout & Ultiroute: Autorouting &
Autoplacement.
=================================
LAY01
http://www.baas.nl/
PCB CAD/CAM software with 200 pin demo version for free download.
=================================
MATLAB
The MathWorks Inc
http://www.mathworks.com/
Student version available
=================================
ORCAD 9.2 LITE (CD-ROM)
Cadence
http://www.pspice.com/download/evalrequest.asp
ORCAD PSPICE R9.1 (STUDENT)
http://www.orcad.com/Product/Simulation/PSpice/download.asp
ftp://ftp.orcad.com/dwn_file/Pspice/
With Capture and Schematics. 28 MB. Also available from same page or a
click away is the R8 Eval version. These all have limited part size
and functionality. But PSpice is THE choice of professionals for
simulation. "PSpice is the de facto standard for analog and
mixed-signal simulation... includes a powerful and robust simulation
engine and works with Orcad Capture or PSpice Schematics in an
integrated environment..."
=================================
OSMOND PPC
http://www.swcp.com/~jchavez/osmond.html
Free MAC PCB CAD/CAM software.
"The latest release is Version 0.99b2, built January 14, 2001...
During the public beta testing period, I am providing current versions
of the Osmond PCB application and documentation for the adventurous on
a free trial basis. The application is fully functional and not
crippled in any way."
=================================
PADSPCB
ftp://sss-mag.com/pcb_design/pcb.txt
"...small printed circuit board cad package... three programs: an
autorouter, a board viewer, and a board printer." Free limited demo
version on this ftp server.
=================================
PCB
Thomas Nau/Harry Eaton
bach.ece.jhu.edu/~haceaton/pcb/index.html
Free unix PCB editor. "...free software for making printed circuit
board layouts. It has many features and is capable of
professional-quality output. pcb was orignally written by Thomas Nau
of University of Ulm, Germany, and is now maintained by harry eaton of
the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel,
Maryland, USA."
=================================
PC LOGIC
Circuit Layout
" Design your circuit with PC Logic's schematic capture program --
This easy to learn program is an ideal front-end to PC Logic's Circuit
Layout PCB editor. Schematic capture should have always been this
easy!"
=================================
PCB ASSISTANT
A. Waldherr (Germany)
http://www.waldherr.com/
Low cost PCB CAD software. Limited demo version, PCB Editor DEMO V3.0
(900 KB)
=================================
PCB DESIGNER
http://www.niche.co.uk/
Low cost PCB CAD software. You can download limited demo version.
"... Microsoft Windows application (see PCB Designer Requirements)
that enables you to design masks for printed circuit boards. It's main
goal is to make this process as easy as possible... ideally suited for
use in educational establishments, for the home hobbyist and for small
businesses." £49 ($77 USD). English and French language libraries
included in both full and demo versions.
=================================
PCB ELEGANCE
Merco
http://www.merco.nl/
CAD/CAM software for schematic and routing. You can download limited
demo version. "In the limited version of PCB elegance all the
functionallity is available, except the design limited is set to 200
pins."
=================================
PROTEL
Protel
http://www.protel.com/
Expensive, professional use. 30 days free trial available.
=================================
PROTEUS LITE
Labcenter
http://www.labcenter.co.uk/
Low cost CAD/CAM software. (Shareware). Limited demo version. I tried
it a couple of years ago and personally found its interface very hard
work.
=================================
PROCAD POWERSTATION 32
Interactive CAD Systems
http://www.icadsys.com
"... a single Editor solution for Schematic Capture, PCB Layout,
Wizard driven component creation, and Mechanical drafting. You don't
need to use three or more packages with different interfaces - We do
it all in one very easy to use EDA Editor..." Lite version for $50.
=================================
QCAD
Microcad
http://www.winqcad.com/
"Qcad 14.1 is a complete electronics design software running with
Windows 95/98/NT operating system. It includes schematics and PCB
design, and a state of the art autorouter together with a post-routing
optimizer. Depending on the features and pin capacity, Qcad is
available from just $59 US."
=================================
QUICK ROUTE
Quickroute Systems
http://www.quickroute.co.uk/
Poor web site - no details of Quick Route as at 14th Feb 2001.
=================================
RANGER 2
Seetrax
http://www.seetrax.co.uk/
PCB CAD/CAM software. Limited demo version (no saving facilities).
=================================
SCORE
[Unclear who developed it]
members.ol.com.au/score/
Free schematic capture software for Windows. (Alfa version). "Ability
to import SDT and OrCAD Release IV schematics. Can use directly either
.LIB or .SRC libraries. No design size limitations. Export EDIF
netlist"
=================================
SILVACO
SmartSpice
http://www.silvaco.com/products/analog/crusade/smartspicent/smartspicent_br.html
"SmartSpice uniquely provides vendor compatibility with major Spice
vendors and platform compatibility between UNIX and PC platforms...
compatible with HSpice, PSpice and Berkeley Spice. Designs completed
under HSpice and PSpice can be re-simulated without modification."
=================================
SIMETRIX
Newbury Technology
http://www.newburytech.co.uk/models.html
"...the most complete and high performance solution for electronics
design using personal computers. Includes full Schematic Design and
Capture, full interactive Symbol Editor, professional Printed Circuit
Board Design and Layout, and Automatic Routing... 100% customer
satisfaction. Since its inception 5 years ago, not one single customer
has returned or asked to return a copy of SIMetrix, or expressed
dissatisfaction with SIMetrix in any way." $249? Free demo available.
=================================
SUPERSPICE
Kevin Aylward
http://www.anasoft.co.uk
"... Cheap, No Shit!, a GUI xspice, unlimited component, mixed-mode
Windows simulator with Schematic Capture, waveform display, FFT's and
Filter Design...computer locked, unlimited node, student version for
20 bucks"
=================================
SPICYCLE
TATUM LABS
http://www.tatumlabs.com
Two-level schematic editor & PCB layout; reverse-engineering
capability; imports a netlist & represents it schematically. $300
entry?
=================================
TARGET2001
I.B Friedrich (Germany)
http://www.ibfriedrich.com/
Limited demo version available.
"For a LAYOUTER the migthyness of the functions is most important...
TARGET 2001! V8 design station ... is a Schematics / Simulation / PCB
/ Auto Router and EMC-Analysis package in ONE SINGLE PROGRAM and all
project data in ONE SINGLE PROJECT FILE (real time forward- and
back-annotation). You can have schematic and the PCB together on your
screen or work in different projects at the same time."
=================================
TINA Pro 5.5
http://www.designsoftware.com/
"The Complete Electronics Lab for Windows
Analog, digital, symbolic, RF and mixed mode circuit simulation with
sophisticated graphic presentation, virtual and real-time
measurements.
Now with advanced Spice and S-parameter models, user defined
components,
hierarchical design, ERC and much more... fully interactive
simulation...
available in a range of versions..."
Free trial demo available.
=================================
TopSPICE/Win32
PENZAR DEVELOPMENT
http://www.penzar.com/topspice.htm
"For Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000. An affordable integrated computer-aided
circuit design software package offering advanced native mixed-mode
mixed-signal analog/digital/behavioral simulation based on the
industry standard SPICE program."
=================================
ULTIBOARD
Ultimate Technology (merged with Electronics Workbench 1999)
http://www.ultiboard.com/
"Ultiboard is a powerful, yet easy-to-use PCB layout and routing
program..." Limited demo version available. Ultimate also supplier for
Multisim, UltiROUTE and UltiCAP.
=================================
WINBOARD PCB
http://www.ivex.com/
CAD/CAM software for schematic and routing. Can download limited demo
version. Starts at $250?
=================================
WINCIRCUIT 2000
Alain Michel
http://www.kagi.com/alain.michel/anglais.htm
"Creation of printed circuits for Windows 3.x, 95, 98 ou NT...
translated into English, Spanish and French... includes automatic
routing. A view in pseudo 3D makes it possible to have a good idea of
the side circuit."
No print facility in evaluation version (600 KB). Full version $30
(USD) or £20 (UKP).
=================================
XCIRCUIT
Tim Edwards (senior staff engineer at Johns Hopkins University,
Applied Physics Lab, Space Dept.)
http://bach.ece.jhu.edu/~tim/programs/xcircuit/
"There are drawing programs, and there are schematic capture
programs... Rarely is the output of a schematic capture program really
suitable for publication; often it is not even readable, or cannot be
scaled... XCircuit is my UNIX/X11 (and now Windows, if you have an
X-Server running) program for drawing publishable-quality electrical
circuit schematic diagrams and related figures, and produce circuit
netlists through schematic capture... XCircuit is flexible enough to
be used as a generic program for drawing just about anything, and is
competitive with powerful programs such as "xfig". It is especially
good for any task requiring repeated use of a standard set of
graphical objects, including architectural drawing, printed circuit
board layouts, and (my personal favorite) music typography..."
=================================
Last amendment: 14th May 2001
Christopher Dubea
(www.pulsonix.com). I haven't really had a chance to break it in, but
I think this would do what you want. It's a professional level
schematic and PCB layout package with abilities to read and write a
large number of EDA formats.
Give it a try and let us know.
On Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:16:22 GMT, Win Hill <wh...@mediaone.net> wrote:
===========================================================================
Christopher Dubea Phone: (985) 847-2280
Vice President of Engineering Fax: (985) 847-2282
Moving Parts L.L.C. email: cdu...@movingpart.com
P. O. Box 6117 URL: http://www.movingpart.com
Slidell, LA 70469-6117
zeki
"John Eaton" <jo...@vcd.hp.com> wrote in message
news:9gttr6$uto$1...@news.vcd.hp.com...
> Alejandro Frangi (afr...@posta.unizar.es) wrote:
> : Hi all,
> Add the requirement that it can produce output in multiple formats. I want
to be
> able to drop a file on a web page and/or into a document and/or to a
printer and
> I want them to all look the same!!!! Is that to much to ask?
>
>
> John Eaton
>
>
Jim Weir
->> Add the requirement that it can produce output in multiple formats. I want
->to be
->> able to drop a file on a web page and/or into a document and/or to a
->printer and
->> I want them to all look the same!!!! Is that to much to ask?
Circuitmaker (www.circuitmaker.com) has a free student edition that will allow
you to draw schematics. I use CM Pro for my publisher and he is happy with the
results. The way I do it is print out of CM to a PDF file in Acrobat and send
him the PDF file to manipulate as he sees fit with any of the other Adobe
products. If I need a .jpg file, I open the PDF file in Photoshop and save it
as a .psp (??) Photoshop native format, then open that in Paintshop and save as
a .jpg. Yeah, it's going to Dallas by way of Chicago from LA, but what the
hell.
Circuitmaker has an export routine that makes a .wmf file directly, but it has
little glitchies in the lines that don't print up well.
Don't expect any customer support from Circuitmaker, either for the student or
the pro edition.
Jim
Bill Sloman
> What have you tried? Visio, RFFlow, SmartDraw...? There are so many....
Schematic entry programs have the advantage that their output can
usually be converted into net lists and fed into printed circuit
layout programs, and they usually come with libraries of standard
symbols for electronic parts.
Visio is not a schematic entry program, and if you draw circuit
diagrams with it, they will enventually have to be redrawn into a
proper schematic capture program.
I don't know RFFlow, but it sounds as if it might do schematic
capture. SmartDraw sounds more like another Visio.
For Linux enthusiasts, the free GNU-licensed gEDA program would be the
way to go. http://www.geda.seul.org/
---
Bill Sloman, Nijmegen
Leon Heller
> that
> > : allows to draw high quality electronic circuit schematics. I do not
need
> to
Pulsonix (http://www.pulsonix.com) give away the schematic capture software
for their new PCB package.
Leon
AtPCLogic
>> that
>> > : allows to draw high quality electronic circuit schematics. I do not
>need
>> to
>
I have been following this thread, and have yet to hear anyone answer the
question that was asked in one of the very first postings...... Exactly what
are the characteristics of a publication quality schematic? Until this
question is answered the rest of the discussion is merely a listing of personal
favorites, without any way to objectively (or subjectively even) determine
which schematics are 'publication quality'.
Brad
PC Logic 'Circuit Layout' PCB Design Software
http://members.aol.com/atpclogic/index.html
paul b
>Add the requirement that it can produce output in multiple formats. I want to be
>able to drop a file on a web page and/or into a document and/or to a printer and
>I want them to all look the same!!!! Is that to much to ask?
>
>
>John Eaton
>
>
If you use a windows or linux cad package then just print to a file
in postscript and use ghost script to convert to pdf. Allthough not
native HTML most people have a pdf reader installed.
Paul