Circuit Board Design Tools

• Circuit board design tools help you layout PCB boards and schematic drawings. Maria Toutoudaki/Photodisc/Getty Images

  A printed circuit board (PCB) is a circuit board that is comprised of one or more insulated layers with electrical conductors, and the PCB board is designed to connect electrical components. If you wish to make one of these boards, then you need software tools to help you layout and design the board. These software programs help you see your circuit board in a virtual environment, and you can add common circuit board components, including pins and wiring.

Eagle

• This is a computer aided design (CAD) software program that is offered under the freeware license, and this license allows you to use and share this program without paying a licensing fee. This program allows you to layout both schematic drawings and PCB boards, and schematic drawings can help you with your PCB design, especially if you are a beginner. This program also comes with an editor that you can use to edit text components, and it also has a parts library of commonly used electrical components. You can also copy sections of your design and paste it into new or existing drawings. Eagle is compatible with Mac Operating System X (OS X) 10.4, Linux and Windows 2000, XP, Vista and Windows 7.

FreePCB

• FreePCB is offered under the open source, GNU General Public License methodology, which allows you to use, manipulate or share this program without paying a licensing fee. You can create PCB boards using either the English or metric measuring system, and it can support between 1 and 16 copper layers. You can also create a PCB board up to 60 inches by 60 inches, and it has a footprint library. There is also a footprint editor, which allows you to customize footprint components, and a footprint wizard, which walks you through the process of adding items to your board.

PCB123

• The PCB123 Design Software program allows you to create both PCB boards and schematics, and it uses a CAD interface. This program is designed for beginners, and it comes with a wizard feature, which helps you create your first circuit board. Other features of this program include that there is an import and export feature, allowing you to import items from or export data to other programs, and the program has a 3D preview feature, which allows you to virtually see your designs from multiple angles. Since the schematic and PCB design are connected, the program will automatically update the schematics drawing when you update the PCB design and vice versa. This is a free program.