Download a free trial to find out which Altium software best suits your needs

How to Buy

Contact your local sales office to get started on improving your design environment

Downloads

Download the latest in PCB design and EDA software

PCB DESIGN SOFTWARE

Altium Designer

Complete Environment for Schematic + Layout

CircuitStudio

Entry Level, Professional PCB Design Tool

CircuitMaker

Community Based PCB Design Tool

NEXUS

Agile PCB Design For Teams

CLOUD PLATFORM

Altium 365

Connecting PCB Design to the Manufacturing Floor

COMPONENT MANAGEMENT

Altium Concord Pro

Complete Solution for Library Management

Octopart

Extensive, Easy-to-Use Component Database

PRODUCT EXTENSIONS

PDN Analyzer

Natural and Effortless Power Distribution Network Analysis

See All Extensions

EMBEDDED

TASKING

World-Renowned Technology for Embedded Systems Development

TRAININGS

Live Courses

Learn best practices with instructional training available worldwide

On-Demand Courses

Gain comprehensive knowledge without leaving your home or office

ONLINE VIEWER

Altium 365 Viewer

View & Share electronic designs in your browser

Altium Designer 20

The most powerful, modern and easy-to-use PCB design tool for professional use

Altium Designer 20

The most powerful, modern and easy-to-use PCB design tool for professional use

ALTIUMLIVE

Annual PCB Design Summit

Forum
Where Altium users and enthusiasts can interact with each other
Blog
Our blog about things that interest us and hopefully you too
Ideas
Submit ideas and vote for new features you want in Altium tools
Bug Crunch
Help make the software better by submitting bugs and voting on what's important
Wall
A stream of events on AltiumLive you follow by participating in or subscribing to
Beta Program
Information about participating in our Beta program and getting early access to Altium tools

All Resources

Explore the latest content from blog posts to social media and technical white papers gathered together for your convenience

Downloads

Take a look at what download options are available to best suit your needs

How to Buy

Contact your local sales office to get started improving your design environment

Documentation
The documentation area is where you can find extensive, versioned information about our software online, for free.
Training & Events
View the schedule and register for training events all around the world and online
Design Content
Browse our vast library of free design content including components, templates and reference designs
Webinars
Attend a live webinar online or get instant access to our on demand series of webinars
Support
Get your questions answered with our variety of direct support and self-service options
Technical Papers
Stay up to date with the latest technology and industry trends with our complete collection of technical white papers.
Video Library
Quick and to-the-point video tutorials to get you started with Altium Designer

Altium Leadership

Altium is led by a team of highly passionate industry experts

Market Announcements

Announcements to the ASX market from the preceding 3 years

Customer Success

Our customers can be found changing every industry; see how

Weekly Digest: Design Data Management

Stephanie Hardman

| May 24, 2019

Dive deep into design data management this week with expert articles and VP of Marketing Lawrence Romine on the OnTrack Podcast. Learn all about the modern, streamlined experience that Concord Pro offers and the performance enhancements in Altium Designer 19.1 in this discussion between Romine and Judy Warner. New this week we also have Mark Harris, creator of the Celestial Database library, joining on as expert contributor to share his wisdom and experience. John Watson shares more about Data Management and Cherie Litson has contributed a comprehensive list of ways to approach building a clean and consistent PCB data library. For an inspirational story, read about award-winning student Piotr Lazarek who shares his idea and inspiration behind an autonomous device that is changing the way soil conditions are monitored.

Articles from PCB Design Experts

Read the latest articles published this week by experts in the field:

IPv6 and the Internet of Things - by Mark Harris
Why PCB Data Management is Important - by John Watson
PCB Designers Motivated by Data Quality - by John Watson
How to Build a Clean and Consistent PCB Data Library - by Cherie Litson
Budgetary Quote Early in the Design Process - by Tara Dunn
PDS Design For Ultra Low Power Implementations - by Kella Knack
Benchmarking Practices and Process for PCB Designers - by Happy Holden
Clearing Up Trace Impedance Calculators and Equations - by Zach Peterson
Passive Intermodulation in PCBs for 5G Systems - by Zach Peterson
Culture Shock: Agile and Individual Engineering Accountability - by Chad Jackson
Autonomous Device for the Preventive Measurement of Soil Condition - by Piotr Lazarek

For those who enjoy a little weekend reading, there’s never a shortage of informative articles on the PCB Design Blog. Click to explore and while you’re there please leave a comment with any questions or feedback.

The OnTrack Podcast with Judy Warner

The OnTrack Podcast dissects relevant topics and issues for pcb designers from schematic capture all the way to the manufacturing floor. On the design side, everyone has a need for a reliable library and component management tool. Learn about Concord Pro from Altium’s VP of Marketing Lawrence Romine in this episode of the OnTrack Podcast.

Did you miss last week’s episode? Find out what was covered with guest John Coonrod in these quick Youtube clips:

The OnTrack Podcast brings you tips, information and guidance from industry leaders such as John Watson, Lee Ritchey, Rick Hartley, Eric Bogatin and more. You can listen to or watch the podcast on all your favorite podcast apps including Podbean, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, Youtube, PlayerFM and if you can’t find us, let us know!

Altium Videos on YouTube

Stop by the Altium or Altium Designer Youtube Channels and keep up to date with videos and clips to help you in your PCB design career. While you’re there, please remember to subscribe!

New videos on the Altium Youtube Channel:

Lets Get Social on Altium Instagram - Follow Us

Have you seen the Altium Instagram account? Follow us to see the latest clips from the podcast, tips on how to use Altium Designer and more. Send us a DM or tag us if you have something to share related to electronics engineering.

If you’ve got burning questions, let us know, and remember to tag us on social media if you’d like to share your projects!

About Author

most recent articles

What Happens to Layer Changing Vias When Using PCI Express at Higher Speeds? In our one, two and three-day courses, which we conduct at technical and trade conferences as well as at private on-site classes, we will frequently be asked about particular technology trends and their impact on current design undertakings. Of late, a number of these questions have focused on how the use of PCI Express (also known as PCIe) at higher frequencies impacts layer changing vias. This article will address layer-changing vias, which Read Article

Altium 365 Getting Started User Guide - Available Now Hi Everyone, A month ago, I announced the release of the Altium Designer Getting Started User Guide. This week we are following up with the release of another helpful guide: Altium 365 Getting Started User Guide. The Altium 365 cloud platform offers the most connected experience for PCB design and realization with direct access from Altium Designer or any web browser. All active subscribers can access Altium 365 to unlock powerful functionality Read Article

OnTrack Newsletter: Modern Concurrent Collaboration with Your Supply Chain and Your Team, Brain Food - August 2020 OnTrack Newsletter August 2020 VOL. 4 No 2 A New Experience of Digital Collaboration has Positive Impact on Calumet Electronics In this article, we interview Rob Cooke of Calumet Electronics, a US Based PCB Fabricator in Michigan. Cooke shares his recent experience collaborating on a multi-board design with a design engineer and EMS provider using Altium 365. He talks about his impressions and the implications this will have on design engineers Read Article

Selecting and Tracking a General-Purpose Op-Am Learn the most critical parameters that should be considered when you're selecting a general-purpose Op-Amp. Read Article

Eric Bogatin Debunks Common Misconceptions About Transmission Lines In this episode, signal integrity expert Eric Bogatin aims to give PCB designers some needed guidance when it comes to dealing with transmission lines. Read Article

RGB + White LED Strip Controller I’ve been playing around with RGB LED strips recently for lighting up my test equipment rack as well as some display shelves. On the display shelves, I have the RGB LED strips behind the shelves, which gives a great definition to the objects on the shelf. But I also want to have a high CRI white LED strip on each shelf to light up the objects. Typical RGBW LED strips available through online marketplaces do not have very good white LEDs, and I’m Read Article

This is the DRC You Need to Add I was impressed that, right out of the box, the stock Design Rule Checks (DRCs) in my copy of Altium 20 pretty much covered all the bases on how to make a “standard” Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Altium defaults to “10 mil” rules, which means that the standard spacing and widths of copper tracks is 10 mils. What's more, most of the other spacings also default to 10 mils; pads to tracks, through-holes to other pads or vias. The exceptions being the Read Article

Know the Power Dissipation Understanding power dissipation of an individual component, an electrical block, or even the whole electronics system is essential for electronics engineers. It is important not only to avoid exceeding the maximum limits of components but also to calculate unknown parameters in input or output sides because power dissipation is related to system voltage and current. In this article, I describe my practices for analyzing power dissipation in Read Article

Insertion Loss is a Complex Issue: John Coonrod is Here to Explain It The OnTrack Podcast welcomes John Coonrod back to the show. John is Technical Marketing Manager at Rogers Corporation and a senior engineering professional with a rich background in PCB design, fabrication, processing, and modeling. John also has extensive experience with circuit materials, making him the ideal candidate for the topic of today’s podcast: insertion loss. Listen to the Podcast: Download this episode (right click and save) Watch the Read Article

US Department of Transportation Seeking Alternatives to GPS GPS-capable devices range from your phone to your smartwatch; simply type in your destination and follow the directions. Simple, right? According to the Washington Post, we should all stop using GPS as it’s ruining the navigation centers of our brains. Despite the neurological effects on perception and judgment, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) aims to find alternatives to GPS to provide redundancy. What started as a defense initiative Read Article

Back to Home