Gerber - PCB Layout Software??

[Melanie]

Well if you think that most software that outputs Gerber is 'buggy' then it's time you stop playing with hobbyist software.

We use Easy-PC from No.1 Systems...

http://www.numberone.com/

It works, there's no issues, and it's been around for some 23 years...

Btw... we also use Solidworks for designing enclosures, custom parts and the like - expensive, but it does what it says on the box.

[dhouston]

Look at Sprint Layout. It is about $50 and is truly outstanding.

• http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/sprint-layout.html

[tenaja]

I have been using EAGLE for the last 8 years or so, and the new 5.0 version got rid of every complaint I had about it. It's free, with a $50 license. I highly recommend it for hobbyists.

In December I bought Labcenter's Proteus Ares. It is truly amazing, and with the simulator option (ISIS) you can actually watch your code run, step, and watch variables.

[kevj]

Well if you think that most software that outputs Gerber is 'buggy' then it's time you stop playing with hobbyist software.

LOL. Interesting you say that.

It's actually our current outside contractor that's painted that picture - this is the stated reason the past couple designs we've handed them - simple one page schematics with 30 parts have turned into month long ordeals to get from trace layout in graphics software to Gerbers for the board house.

That didn't sound right to me either. I'm rather sure that using the right tools, it should be a pretty simple process.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm happy to look at any others and I'll check out the ones suggested.

[Tobias]

If you don't mind having to purchase your boards from a certain PCB Manufacturer, you can get PCBArtist for free from Advanced Circuits. I actually used it for about a year. It worked out great. I then moved to EasyPC. PCBArtist is very similiar to EasyPC.

[manxman]

I can strongly recommend DIPtrace. It has excellent linked schematic and PCB layout functions. My only criticism would be that library function and designing custom components is over-complicated. Otherwise, brilliant and the support is good.

[kevj]

Thanks everyone.

I ended up going with DipTrace for now. As manax said - I agree creating components is a bit harder than it probably needs to be, but the rest of the software seems very clean and easy to use. I'm running it on an old XP laptop and its sailing smooth. Thanks for the suggestions. Much appreciated.

[Lajko]

I used PCB123 for schematic design and board layout. You can order boards right from the program.
Its free, but they make the boards. They do a nice job for a reasonable price. I've had to make and customize some components, but that is really easy to do. It does come with a very large library of components and footprints.

[RCTrepoman]

I have used Eagle from Cadsoft. It is easy to use and has a huge library of components. The free version has PCB size limitation, otherwise it is fully functional. Compared to other PCB programs tht output gerber files the single user version is realitivly inexpensive. Here is a link: http://www.cadsoft.de/