I have done some circuit design for building a controlled RO watermaker. My software (C) is finished except for the actual interfacing beyond my development board and display. I am using Microchip's PIC18F4550 controller, a port MCP23017 port extender plus the I2C bus. Now is the time to start designing and documenting my required interface circuitry. Sure, I have circuits on paper written in pencil, that is not the way to go.
I searched somewhat for different FREE options such as Kicad, CircuitLab and DesignSpark to get ideas. One thing I would like is to be able to download Microchip's libraries among others so I don't have to redevelop the wheel for controllers with all their many pins.
This site has many, many users who are using free schematic capture/PCB software. So I am searching for recommendations. Please note, this is for home use and not commercial and I have zero intentions of trying to learn AutoCad or other complicated programs. And I don't have any immediate needs for Spice.
if your board is smaller than 80 x 50 mm and only double-layer you can try Eagle. It has a lot of libraries with it. I also tried kicad which is free without limits but has much less libraries. Just try what is the best to you.
You will always need some time to learn working with the software because routing a PCB is a rather complex job.
EAGLE, EAGLE then EAGLE are my top 3 choices
for smallish boards it's free
it's industry standard and worth the effort of learning
that's my 2 <> worth
if your board is smaller than 80 x 50 mm and only double-layer you can try Eagle. It has a lot of libraries with it. I also tried kicad which is free without limits but has much less libraries. Just try what is the best to you.
You will always need some time to learn working with the software because routing a PCB is a rather complex job.
Elektrix
Just to correct the details, Eagle free version is limited to 100x80mm, one or two sided, non-
commercial use. Its cross-platform (Linux/MacOS/Windows) and seems rock-solid.
I use DipTrace. It's about a zillion times easier for a novice to learn to use than Eagle. It doesn't have as many libraries and components available for it as Eagle, but the flip-side is that it's pretty easy to make your own component and footprint. Also, it comes with a script that lets you export stuff from Eagle in ASCII format, then import into DipTrace. So you can pretty much take advantage of Eagle's libraries with the ease of use of DipTrace.
