Printed Circuit Board Design Software that is Productive and Painless to Use

 

Introduction

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) form the foundation of electronics products. A well-designed PCB is crucial for product functionality, performance, and reliability. The PCB design process involves many complex tasks - schematic capture, layout routing, analysis and verification, library management, etc. Specialized PCB design software automates and streamlines the entire workflow, saving engineers enormous amounts of time and effort. However, not all tools are created equal. Ease of use, productivity, and painless operation set great PCB software apart. This article examines the key features that make PCB design programs intuitive and trouble-free to use.

Selecting the Optimal Software

With the wide range of PCB software options available, setting criteria ahead of time helps narrow down the choices:

• Entry barriers - Look for a tool with a gentle learning curve that allows getting started quickly. Extensive training requirements indicate overly complex software.
• Workflow integration - Seamless data flow between schematic, layout, library manager, and analysis tools prevents repetition. Fragmented workflows are inefficient.
• GUI flexibility - Customizable menus, toolbars, hotkeys, and panes enable matching the interface to personal preferences. Fixed GUIs reduce productivity.
• Library support - Availability of vast component libraries saves creating parts from scratch. Advanced paradigms like unified parts/footprints aid design reuse.
• Design rule intelligence - Rules that interactively highlight violations and auto-fix issues prevent manual checks. Rules that merely flag errors add extra steps.
• Connected Ecosystem - Integrations with version control, supply chain, and enterprise systems streamline collaboration. Isolated tools impair teamwork.

By scoring PCB programs against these criteria, the options with superior usability and productivity quickly rise to the top. Let's explore the must-have capabilities that make design software painless.

Low Entry Barriers Enable Quick Onboarding

For occasional PCB designers or users switching CAD systems, software that requires extensive learning is counterproductive. Look for these onboarding aids:

Intuitive Commands

Well-named, logically-organized menus and toolbars speed learning software functions. Icons should clearly depict the associated action. Commands should also be searchable.

Contextual Help

Hovering over tools should display help information relevant to the current operation. Embedded tooltips replace hunting through manuals.

Guided Interfaces

Wizards, dockable panes, and interactive menus streamline completing sequential steps for tasks like creating schematics, defining design rules, and generating manufacturing outputs.

Smart Defaults

Tools optimized for common workflows come preconfigured with default options to avoid unnecessary decisions. Settings can be customized once users gain experience.

Self-healing Operations

For routine editing tasks like moving components or routing traces, the software should automatically rejigger connections and re-pour copper rather than forcing manual fixes.

Macros and Scripting

Recording and playing back repetitious operations in macros, or creating scripts for batch processes, prevents tedious rework. This automated power should be readily accessible.

With features like these to smooth the initial learning curve, new users can become productive on the PCB design software quickly.

Unified Toolsets Prevent Workflow Fragmentation

Moving between separate applications for schematic capture, PCB layout, library management, and analysis disrupts workflow continuity. Integrated tools are more efficient:

Common UI Environment

A consistent user interface paradigm, command structure, and customization options across all modules keeps usage familiar. No need to relearn UIs switching contexts.

Linked Schematic-PCB Datasets

Changes propagate bidirectionally between the schematic and PCB layout. Signal name, component position, properties synchronize automatically without exporting/importing files.

Unified Component Libraries

A central component library accessible to the schematic editor, PCB editor, and bill of materials generator prevents duplication and divergence. Component data includes schematic symbols, footprints, models, documentation, etc.

Seamless Design Analysis

Immediate, automated feedback from design rule checking and signal integrity analysis keeps the workflow moving. No need to exit the current editor.

Version Control Integration

CAD tool integrates with enterprise version control systems for controlled save/restore of design files and libraries. No reliance on manual copies or external utilities.

With end-to-end data continuity, engineers can focus on design rather than workflow management.

Customizable GUIs Match User Preferences

Fixed, rigid user interfaces slow users down. Superior PCB programs allow extensively customizing the workspace:

• Adjustable UI themes - Select color schemes for graphically distinct editing modes like layout, routing, and inspection. Easily toggle between light and dark themes.
• Configurable panels - Show, hide, dock, tab, or float panels like hierarchy tree, properties manager, layers manager to suit project needs.
• Editable toolbars - Add, remove, and arrange toolbar buttons. Create multiple specialized toolbars for specific contexts.
• Keyboard customization - Assign preferred hotkeys to frequently used commands. Import/export hotkey sets to share with team members.
• Scriptable extensions - Enhance native capabilities through user-defined scripts and plug-ins. For example, custom design automation scripts.
• Multi-monitor support - Flexibly move panels across monitors to create an optimal multiple-display workspace.

Leveraging these customizations helps maximize individual and team productivity on the PCB design tool.

Component Libraries Accelerate Design Reuse

Well-constructed part libraries prevent reinventing components for each design. Advanced paradigms like unified libraries also ease design translation between tools. Key library features include:

• Extensive vendor parts - Large libraries of manufacturer-certified components in various packaging styles minimize creating new parts.
• Parametric generation - Quickly generate footprints, schematic symbols, and 3D models for families of components like resistors, capacitors, connectors based on dimensions and other parameters.
• Unified component data - Single component record integrates schematic symbol, PCB footprint, spice model, documentation, parametric properties, etc for easy synchronization.
• Part lifecycle management - Library tools to version, compare, merge, purge components prevent clutter. Reuse past designs from archives.
• Direct supplier integration - Libraries connected to component vendor portals allow one-click incorporation of latest part data into designs based on sourcing needs.
• Automated data validation - Libraries actively check components for missing fields, incorrect pin mappings, duplicate parts numbers, etc to maintain integrity.

With robust library architecture and management, engineers spend minimal time reinventing components and maximum time focused on the design.

Intelligent Rules Prevent Errors Early

Manually checking designs against a mountain of constraints and specifications is tedious and error-prone. Smart PCB software dynamically guides designs toward correctness via:

Real-time Visual Feedback

When routing traces or placing components, rules engine visually flags rule violations like clearance shorts or zone overlaps. This immediate feedback keeps designs clean without constant checks.

Preventive Logic

For critical constraints, the tools actively prevent violating rules like electrical spacing or maximum current density rather than just warning. This shifts the burden from designer to software.

Automated Remediation

Beyond flagging conflicts, the software offers semiautomated assistance to fix issues like automatically re-pouring copper or nudging components to legal locations with minimal rework.

Rules Driven Routing

Autorouter applies directives like preferred direction, layer assignment, track widths, spacing, etc rather than just blindly connecting nets. This satisfies design intent, not just connectivity.

Custom Rule Definition

Easy tools to codify complex custom checks tailored to company libraries and standards prevents reliance on error-prone manual inspection.

Regression Testing

Design rules actively scan changes for new violations as the project evolves. No need for repeated manual audits after each edit.

Sophisticated rules engines seamlessly enforce constraints in real-time, freeing designers to focus on high-value work rather than fixing errors.

Extensibility Enables Customization

Each company and design team has unique needs, so custom-programming PCB tools adds tremendous efficiency:

Macro Recording

Recording commonly repeated manual operations into playback macros automates tedious rework. Macros are easy to create without programming.

Scripting

For more sophisticated process automation, integrate the PCB tool with Python, VB Script, C#, etc. Bulk processing operations can be coded that operate unattended.

Custom Plugins

Plugin architecture supports developing custom add-ons to augment native functions. Share plugins across groups.

COM/ActiveX Interoperability

Expose native functions through COM or ActiveX APIs for controlling PCB design tools from external applications. Allows integration with internal IT systems.

Command Line Control

Directly call tool commands from scripts and command line batch files facilitates automation. Avoid reliance on slow GUI interaction.

DFM Extensions

Create custom design-for-manufacturing checks that operate directly on design files, extending the native rules engine with company-specific needs.

The best programs expose automation options for power users to vastly boost team productivity on repetitive tasks.

Design Collaboration Features

Enterprise integration and collaboration capabilities also ease PCB design:

• Version control system plugins - Native integrations with version control platforms like Git or Perforce simplify change tracking. Check-in/check-out design files with minimal overhead.
• Real-time team transparency - Multi-user awareness shows teammates online, recent edits, active windows, other interactions to smoothly coordinate work.
• Automated revision control - Maintain a complete audit trail of design changes. Quickly navigate history, compare versions, and roll back to milestone revisions.
• Remote conferencing - Built-in voice/video chat and shared screen viewing provide virtual face-to-face collaboration without third-party tools.
• Managed permissions - Granular user permissions provide controlled access for specific tasks like BOM editing, test procedures, or manufacturing handoff.
• Electronic signatures - Digitally sign off reviews and approvals to validate workflow completion. Integrates with digital rights management.
• Data interchange - Quickly move design data between different PCB tools via standardized file formats like ODB++, IPC-2581, and STEP models.

With robust collaboration support, design teams maximize productivity and design quality.

Conclusion

Picking feature-rich PCB software is only the first step. The tool must empower users of all skill levels to be productive. Intelligent aids that smooth the learning curve, streamline workflows, adapt to personal workstyles, and automate rote tasks characterize software that feels easy instead of frustrating. This transforms the design process from a struggle into a pleasure. Engineers can spend more time innovating and less time fighting the tools. With so many excellent PCB programs now available, there is no reason to settle for software that is painful to use.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best way to get started learning a new PCB design tool?

Find basic tutorial videos provided by the software vendor, then try recreating simple example projects from their templates. Gradually increase complexity. Maintain cheatsheets of commands. The vendor's technical support team is also invaluable for answering initial questions.

How can I tell if a tool's component libraries will meet my needs?

Check details like the source and comprehensiveness of the default libraries, whether parametric footprint generators are included, and availability of advanced part management features for lifecycle control. Try creating a few common parts you use to test the experience.

What should I look for to determine if a tool can support my custom automation needs?

Key factors are extensibility features like macro recording, native scripting languages, customizable plugins, exposed APIs/COM interfaces, command line control, and programmatic access to core functions like design rules. Test automating basic operations like batch PDF generation to validate capabilities.

Which capabilities are most important for collaborative PCB design?

Top features that smooth teamwork are built-in version control integration, multi-user editing with change awareness, automated revision tracking, digital markup and redlining tools, access permissions by role, automated reporting, native data interchange abilities, and conferencing integration.

How can I quantify potential productivity gains from new PCB design software?

Analyze current workflows and identify pain points, bottlenecks, repetitive manual steps, and frequency of errors. Estimate time savings per board by eliminating these inefficiencies. Project based on initial learning curve to reach proficiency with the new tool. Consider extras like custom automation and collaborative improvements.