Tango-pcb plus free download. KiCad EDA Portable KiCad Portable is the Open-Source Electronic Design Automation Suite that facilitates the design of. Jan 31, 2013 - Supporting your need to work with design files in other formats and from other tools, install this plugin to import a Tango® PCB ASCII file (*.pcb).

554 Shares Article Technical Rating: 7 out of 10 There are numerous software packages available for designing printed circuit boards (PCBs), too many in fact. That being said, there are three PCB design packages that are the most popular: Altium, Eagle, and OrCad. However, I prefer a less well-known PCB design packaged called DipTrace. I always strive to be honest and upfront.

This article is not intended to be an unbiased review of every PCB/schematic software package available. There are many, many packages not discussed in this article because I’ve never personally used them. Instead, I wrote this article to share my own experiences. No doubt about it, I’m a biased fan of DipTrace. Although as you’ll learn it’s not the best option for everyone. For a struggling hardware entrepreneur or even for a freelance engineer just getting started, all three of these packages are probably prohibitively expensive. Launching a new product is already rather without also spending thousands of dollars on just design software.

NOTE: This is a long article so here's a of it for easy reading. Altium Designer is considered the Ferrari of PCB design packages and starts at over $7,000! No that is not a typo. It’s good software, but that’s pretty crazy. Altium is the most popular PCB design package among those with a company’s budget behind them. Because of that it’s also the package that many new freelance engineers are most familiar.

A good amount of freelancers splurge on Altium because it’s what they already know. Most people developing PCBs independently, like entrepreneurs, hackers, and freelance designers, usually can’t afford to shell out that kind of cash on software. Although significantly cheaper than Altium, neither Eagle or OrCad can really be considered affordable. OrCad has a price tag of $2,300. Eagle recently changed their payment structure to a recurring fee of $65 per month ($780 annually), or you can save a bit by paying annually at $500/year. Nonetheless most will find the requirement to pay a recurring fee indefinitely to be a big negative for Eagle. They are all also difficult to use.

Plan on spending at least several days, but more likely weeks, learning how to use any of them (especially Eagle!). A powerful, but cheaper and easier to use PCB design package is called, which is what I personally recommend, especially for new designers. Although Diptrace is a fantastic option for new designers, it’s also powerful enough to handle the most complicated designs. One of my favorite things about DipTrace, other than its low price, is that it offers several upgrade levels starting from only $75.

The top package is $995 and allows designs of unlimited size. However, most projects won’t require the top package, and you can get by with one of the lower level packages costing only $495 to $695. You can start with the $75 Starter version and work your way up as needed. You only pay the difference between each level. What about the various free PCB design tools available?

Normally, I don’t recommend any of them because they force you to use their PCB production services. That may be okay for a hobby project but not if you plan to ever mass produce your product. These free tools usually lack the ability to output the PCB layout as Gerber files which is necessary if you want the flexibility to manufacture your boards via any vendor. One exception is which is an online PCB design tool that not only includes schematic and PCB layout design, but also circuit simulation capabilities.

EasyEDA is very intuitive to use, features Gerber file output, and best of all is totally free. PCB Design Software Pricing Comparison DipTrace Full No limits $995 Eagle No limits $65/month, $500/year Cadence OrCad PCB Designer No limits $2,300 Altium Designer No limits $7,245 DipTrace Lite 500 pins, 2 signal layers $145 DipTrace Starter 300 pins, 2 signal layers $75 DipTrace Standard 1,000 pins, 4 signal layers $395 DipTrace Extended 2,000 pins, 6 signal layers $695 EasyEDA No limits Free So Who Exactly Needs PCB Design Software? Let’s look at the types of people most likely to need a PCB design tool. I’ll discuss four groups of people likely to use circuit design software, although I’m sure there are several more: GROUP #1 – Corporate engineers – Most established companies can easily afford to spend thousands of dollars on software.