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[Reply #15 on:]

http://iliyakovac.com/free-but-not-free-or-im-off-to-cancun/

Free but not free or “I’m off to Cancun”

You wake up and the sun is shining. Yep, it’s a great day. “I fancy a bit of that electronic designing that I keep hearing about” you proclaim as you drink your first coffee of the day.

So you power up the laptop, click on Google and wow loads of free PCB design software, “I’ll have a bit of that” you announce to the world, but only the cat is in the room. The cat gives you a funny look.

You download the freebie feeling well pleased with your mastery of the internet and the bundles of cash you have just saved. You make a mental note to “book vacation in Cancun”.

You start up the software and off you go, Edison “eat your heart out”.

Your first Gizmo is a success.

A couple of months pass by. Now “let’s turn Gizmo into Super Gizmo” you say with a big smile. So off you go, the freebie is up and running and you are well into the new design then bang, smash, wallop a dialog pops up saying you have reached the freebie limit and it’s time to pay up. You yelp in pain. The Super Gizmo must be done; you’ve spent another 2 weeks on it. Out comes the plastic, you tap in a few digits ($500) then you are up and running.

The following week Super Gizmo is let loose on the world.

A couple of months later, you wake up with the cat licking your face, you thought it was the girl you meet last night but she dumped you as you both were leaving the bar. A bright idea enters your head “let’s turn Super Gizmo into Mega Gizmo”.  So off you go, the not so free freebie is up and running and you are well into the new design then bang, smash, wallop that darned dialog pops up again saying you have reached another limit and it’s time to pay up. You yelp in pain. The Super Gizmo must be done; you’ve spent another 2 weeks on it. So you look for alternatives, you see DEX; it’s real cheap and no limits. , “I’ll have a bit of that” you yell. Download DEX but what’s this? You can’t move your design from the not so free freebie to DEX, the not so free freebie developers keep their file format secret. Nobody else can read it. You have been well and truly screwed.

Out comes the plastic, you tap in a few digits ($1000) then you are up and running.  You make a mental note “cancel Cancun”. The cat hisses at you, turns round and legs it for the door.

The following week Mega Gizmo is let loose on the world and you wonder what to do during your vacation at home.

You have just been stung.

In the business it’s called the Trojan Horse.

Regards
Iliya Kovac

[Reply #16 on:]

AutoTRAX is correct about his analysis. Also the fact he posts on here is a good sign, truthfully I know very little about the program AutoTrax; so I can't say much about it.


In general finding the right PCB CAD is a bit like choosing an OS. There are benefits and downsides to them all and LOTS of fanboys.


EAGLE is the most commonly encountered CAD for the hobbyist. It's one of the OGs when it comes to PCB CAD for hobbyists.
Benefits:
HUGE userbase - this can't be understated. If you are having problems people often have EAGLE CAD installed and can help you.
Lots of parts libraries - since its the most common, lots of parts libraries for it. No need to re-invent the wheel if someone else has already amde it for you.
Free version

Downsides:
Can be a bit counterintuitive and intimidating to a new person.
Kind of difficult to make your own parts libraries (obviously difficulty is all relative)
Limits on board size make some designs unaffordable (if you want to make large boards with relatively few parts, it doesn't matter you still have to pay up)
Can be pricey if you want to use it for profit and need larger boards




KiCAD - the open source PCB CAD
Benefits:
Full featured
Free
Open-source
No limitations

Downsides:
Can be a bit counterintuitive and complex
As with many open-source projects feature creep can be an issue.
Can be buggy from time to time (usually pretty stable though)


DipTrace (full disclosure this is the one I use and prefer YMMV)
Benefits:
The one I found most intuitve
No board size limitations (just pin and signal layer limitations, no limit on ground planes or power planes)
By far the easiest to add parts and make your own custom libraries
The developers listen to the users
Prices and upgrading is logical (upgrading between levels, you just pay the difference between them)
Free non-profit version allows 2 signal layers,500 pins (this is a LOT actually in my experience)

Downsides:
Much smaller user base
The included libraries are kind of weirdly organized (getting better but still not great)
Not free