Skip to main content
Mobile menu
PCB Design
Altium Designer
World’s Most Popular PCB Design Software
CircuitStudio
Entry Level, Professional PCB Design Tool
CircuitMaker
Free PCB design for makers, open source and non-profits
Why Switch to Altium
See why and how to switch to Altium from other PCB design tools
Solutions
For Enterprise
The Last Mile of Digital Transformation
For Parts and Data
Extensive, Easy-to-Use Search Engine for Electronic Parts
Altium 365
Resources & Support
Explore Products
Free Trials
Downloads
Extensions
Free Altium 365 Tools
Online PCB Viewer
Resources & Support
Altium / Renesas Scheme: Information for Shareholders
All Resources
Support Center
Documentation
Altium Community
Forum
Bug Crunch
Ideas
Education Programs
Professional Training / Certification
University / College Educators
University / College Students
Webinars
Store
Search Open
Search
Search Close
Sign In
PCB Design
Main menu
Home
PCB Design
Collaboration
Component Creation
Data Management
Design Outputs
ECAD/MCAD
HDI Design
High Speed Design
Multi-Board
PCB Layout
PCB Routing
PCB Supply Chain
Power Integrity
RF Design
Rigid Flex
Schematic Capture
Signal Integrity
Simulation
Software
Altium 365
Altium Designer
Enterprise Solutions
PDN Analyzer
Upverter
Education
Programs
Altium Academy
Engineering News
Guide Books
Newsletters
Podcasts
Projects
Training Courses
Webinars
Whitepapers
FREE TRIALS
Easy, Powerful, Modern
The world’s most trusted PCB design system.
Learn More
PCB Design
Reverse Engineering PCB Project Libraries
Receiving PCB design files from clients isn’t always as smooth a process. Clients may send incomplete project files, project library files with unstandardized component libraries, or other files that don’t match what you actually need. When that happens, how do you proceed with the project? Outsourcing has become the de-facto solution for companies seeking to cut costs and increase their profit margins. Rather than consuming their own resources
Read Article
How to Simplify Your Output Generation Workflow
Handing your design off to manufacturing can be a project in itself. Learn how to simplify your output generation workflow in Altium Designer
®
to create error-free and accurate PCB documentation for manufacturing. You’ve completed an exhausting PCB design. The project is done, right? Not at all; it simply is an intermediate point before the product enters fabrication and assembly into the final product. Handing the design to manufacturing can be
Read Article
How to Utilize Queries to Save Time and Resources
Navigating your PCB boards and verifying their compliance to your project’s design rules is becoming ever more complex in today’s dense and elaborate designs. How can you maximize your time and leverage your design rules to their true potential? Read on to find out. Using Queries to Save on Time and Resources It’s becoming increasingly more complicated to navigate your boards and verify their compliance to your project rules in today’s
Read Article
If All Else Fails, Read the Instructions...
Remember that catchphrase when you were an engineering student: If all else fails, read the instructions… By our very nature, engineers just love sussing things out – how does that work? Why is it like that? What does that switch do? Engineers and designers actually thrive on the challenge of working it out, poking and prodding, testing, examining, and thinking about how this amazing thing is meant to work. But not every device/product
Read Article
Expedite PCB Production with a Live Drill Table
Having visibility over the number, size and symbols that represent each hole in a PCB design can reassure that no hiccups will delay production and increase costs down the road. Now you can expedite the production of your PCBs with access to the live drill table in Altium Designer
®
. Read on to learn more. One of the most important elements involved with manufacturing printed boards is the PCB drill table, also called the drill legend. This table
Read Article
Eliminate Mistakes in Your Schematics with Electronic Rule Checking
In times of rising design complexity and shortened timelines, it’s more and more for mistakes to sneak through in the schematic that can translate to the printed circuit board. Read on to find out how to easily identify and eliminate issues in your schematic with the Electronic Rule Checking your PCB in Altium Designer
®
. Many designers and companies put all their efforts in having a proper PCB layout and, nowadays, checking in real time the
Read Article
Isolate Objects on a Design with Custom PCB Queries
It can be a great challenge for engineers to make edits to specific objects on overpopulated boards. Leverage the global editing and custom query features in Altium Designer
®
to easily locate objects and maintain consistency in your designs. Read on to learn more. Every faces significant challenges once a board gets overpopulated with and traces. One of the greatest tasks of working with complex electronic designs is managing a large number of
Read Article
Communicate Design Intent with the Right Output Job File
Learn how to save hours of manual labor by automating your output job file creation process using the Project Releaser in Altium Designer
®
. In my previous blog post , I talked about the manual processes still being used to create professional PCB design documents like fab and assembly drawings, and how a tool like Altium Draftsman
®
can help automate that process. Unfortunately, creating your drawings is only part of the battle you face when
Read Article
The PCB Design Guide for Engineers Part 2 - PCB Planning
As a PCB designer, the planning of the development of a one or several printed circuit boards can be a daunting task. There will be a host of other software tools that will be used in the development of your project. From tools that can be used to track the progress of your human resources within your team to the software tools used by your internal and external resources to bring your project to life. What about high speed components, the solder
Read Article
Experience a Completely Unified Design Environment
With today’s ever growing market expectations, strict project deadlines, and increasingly complex designs, what solutions exist to minimize the time spent switching between your design tools to complete projects? Now you can successfully deliver products on time and within budget in a completely unified design environment. Read on to find out how. Do you feel like your schematic and pcb tools are from different planets? Are you still using a
Read Article
5 Tips for Specifying PCB Hole Size Tolerance in Pads and Vias
One of the crucial yet often overlooked aspects of PCB design are the holes through which components are mounted. Specifying the tolerance of hole dimensions in PCB fabrication ensures proper fit of plated-through-hole (PTH) components. Just as important, those dimensions must be clearly communicated to the fabricator so that the boards are properly made. Now, Altium
®
PCB design software allows you to add hole tolerance attributes for your pads
Read Article
Not All PCB Design Birds Are Meant to Fly
My first job was for a large company, which was surrounded by anxiety and excitement. My main goal was to apply years of learning to justify the fifty-thousand-dollar price tag of my education. I used electronic CAD applications in school, all of which were Windows-based, but my first foray into professional design tools was all Unix. My cube was occupied by a Sun Solaris and HP UX box, both of which generated enough radiation to power a small
Read Article
PCB Design Variant Management to Synchronize Designs
Product customization is increasingly popular to satisfy customer demand as both time-to-market and the complexity of products continue upward without abatement. By making variations of a baseline product, the new products can address different markets and requirements. But how do you go about keeping synchronized PCB variants? Making the Case for PCB Design Variants You are developing a PCB layout for a smartwatch that comes in three different
Read Article
Can You Place Bypass Capacitors Before or After the Circuit
In my experience working with teams of engineers on PCB design projects, there inevitably comes a point where the brains in the rooms start disagreeing with each other. In some cases, the answer as to who is in the right is clear. However, as is often the case in technical trades, there are also times when it’s not clear (and the difference is chalked up to “different styles”). A disagreement between electrical engineers that I’ve run across is
Read Article
Gaining Insight into Your PCB with Color Displays
How many PCB design hours have you wasted trying to decipher a legacy project you just inherited? How about wading through thousands of connection lines, trying to determine the best component placement? It can be disheartening, to say the least. What if there was a better way? How Color Override Can Help You Restructure Designs Let’s take a look at how you can use Net Color overrides to provide visual enhancements for both the schematic and PCB
Read Article
Synced Up Designs: Syncing Your Schematics and PCB Layouts Increases Efficiency and On-Time Delivery
A while back, I was working at a company that designs and installs systems for automating smart irrigation and environmental monitoring. We had gotten into the habit of making last minute “hacks” (pin swapping, gate swapping, etc.) to our boards to accommodate a specific need from a job (or to compensate for a design flaw or oversight on a particular model after getting it back from the manufacturer). While this improvisatory method worked in the
Read Article
Optimize Component Power Ratings with Embedded Design Rules
Ensuring your initial design rules are properly applied the first time is critical to eliminating the need for redesign. By creating conditional limitations and implementing embedded design rules, you can circumvent the potential for error to avoid respins and ensure precise power ratings in your PCB layout. Read on to learn more. I remember my first design that failed during qualification. It was a proven design that had already passed a
Read Article
Pagination
First page
« First
Previous page
‹‹
Page
201
Current page
202
Page
203
Page
204
Page
205
Page
206
Next page
››
Last page
Last »
Load More