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Unified Design

1:1:30 Understanding Rules And Constraints This webinar will discuss how Altium Designer supports your design process with hierarchical rules and constraints. Knowing how to define Watch Video

Worry Less About Schematic and Layout De-Sync

Design Synchronization Tools: Worry Less About Schematic and Layout De-Sync Drawing out your next great idea on the back of an envelope is much easier than drawing out a PCB by hand. This is where PCB software becomes important and is used to take your design all the way to production. Your schematic and layout need keep your design data synchronized throughout the design entire process. Keeping all your design data synchronized across your design tools is critical to maintaining high productivity. Your design software Read Article

Creating Library Parts and Attaching 3D Models Enables Clearer Designs

Creating Library Parts and Attaching 3D Models Enables Clearer Designs Between custom and standard components, your component helps you keep track of everything from SPICE models to basic 2D footprints for use during layout. As PCB design leaves the two dimensions and enters three dimensions, modern component libraries now come packaged with 3D models. Building a 3D model for your proprietary components is also a good idea if you ever plan to check mechanical clearances. But most PCB design software platforms don’t Read Article

An Introduction to Multi-board Design in Altium Designer

An Introduction to Multi-board Design in Altium Designer Brain games are a good way to stay sharp. One of my favorite ways to implement this is by doing daily puzzles. Although I love the crossword puzzles where you complete the words from a given clue, I think puzzles that require you to put the pieces together can be the most challenging, especially when it is a group activity. It reminds me of one of the more daunting problems for engineers and PCB designers, which is multi-board design. Not only Read Article

Multi-Directional Communication for Easy Mechanical and Electrical Collaboration

Multi-Directional Communication for Easy Mechanical and Electrical Collaboration My neighbor and I were sitting on the patio one summer dreaming up a Christmas display that would span both our yards. Engineers, right? Ambitious project, for sure, but we had fun visualizing Santa and his reindeer flying across our two roofs. We’d use LED light strings to span the rooflines and we’d incorporate controllers to synchronize Christmas music. Several months later after summer had turned to Fall, in comes the neighbor with a CAD Read Article

Choosing CAD Software: Privileging the Circuit over the System

Choosing CAD Software: Privileging the Circuit over the System Choosing the right CAD tools for your next PCB is all about selecting a software package that gives you the adaptability you need to build your device. Different electronics applications will require different routing strategies and tolerances, as well as customized electronic circuitry. You’ll need CAD tools that give you the capabilities to satisfy any device requirements. Your CAD tools are critical to building a device that can meet your Read Article

Tips for Connecting Hidden Pins with Altium Designer

Tips for Connecting Hidden Pins with Altium Designer By far, the greatest form of entertainment is magic and even a century after his death Harry Houdini is still hailed as the magician ever. Although, acclaimed for his various escapes, Houdini was the first to perform the often duplicated “Vanishing Elephant” magic trick. Of course, the elephant, named Jennie, did not vanish but was only hidden from the vast majority of the spectators. When designing a highly congested printed circuit board (PCB) Read Article

PCB Production for Industry Manufacturing with Supplier Information

PCB Production for Industry Manufacturing with Supplier Information Moving to PCB production is that breathtaking and nerve-wracking final step in bringing your next electronic device to life. Manufacturers require that a specific set of deliverables be provided by engineers and designers before they begin production. This includes your bill of materials, CAD/CAM drafts of your PCB, Gerber files, and component sourcing information. Probably the most important piece of information is the pricing and lead time Read Article

Schematic Capture Design Integration Thrives With Unified Partners

Schematic Capture Design Integration Thrives With Unified Partners The digital world is an evolving place. Just yesterday file formats were abundant for text and graphics. Or was that today? Sending a file to a friend can turn into disaster if their device doesn’t recognize the extension. Clicks occur rapidly while trying differing file formats to see if they will save and send. It gets a little trying and soon the search turns to a more elegant app. Designing circuits, iterating parallel ideas, and releasing Read Article

Annotate Reference Designators With Custom Global Properties

Annotate Reference Designators With Custom Global Properties Having a system to find many similar items in a short amount of time can be helpful in staying organized. Everybody has a silverware drawer and most are organized with caddys that divide the flatware into forks, knives, and spoons. Reference designators are the unique identifiers on a PCB for each and every component or free pad on the design. Best design practice is to number the reference designators consecutively on the PCB to allow easy Read Article

Generate and Export Gerber File in Altium Designer: the Language of PCB Manufacturing

Generate and Export Gerber File in Altium Designer: the Language of PCB Manufacturing It is always exciting to travel to a new country and explore the culture, sample the food, and meet new people. On these trips, it seems like every day is an adventure that ends with greater understanding, an altered palate, or new friends. However, to make the most of the experience, it is great to learn to speak the language. Otherwise, you may wind up spending most of your time in a state of confusion. This is similar to the confusion that can Read Article

Choosing PCB Design Software Which Priortizes PCB Design

PCB Design Software: Choosing A Unified Platform for PCB Design Priority Having the right tool for complicated and intricate tasks facilitates success. Having the wrong tool invites frustration. Rummaging through my tool chest the other day found me selecting the only tool available. Hours into the job with each step a struggle, I considered my hasty choice. It would have been better to spend a little money and order the superior tool. Spending the money for a superior EDA tool facilitates progressive and intelligent Read Article

Kick Your EDA Translators to the Curb: Choose Unified Design

Kick Your EDA Translations to the Curb: Choose Unified Design Personal computing devices have significantly changed how bills are paid. And it’s getting better as utilities, banks, and medical enterprises get onboard with unified, intuitive user interfaces. Not long ago, moving from writing and mailing checks to using online banking for paying bills was excruciating. All the environments and web pages were slightly different. Even the simple process of paying a bill was inconsistent and there was no Read Article

Menu Changes and Switching Units in Altium Designer

Menu Changes and Switching Units in Altium Designer When I was a kid, the one place I always felt safe and secure was at home. Regardless of what happened outside, my childhood home was my refuge and I wanted to live there with my parents forever. Of course, as I grew older, I longed to do new things, meet new people, and have new experiences, but to do so meant changing where I lived. Just as I had to embrace change to grow as a person, it is sometimes necessary to make changes in order to Read Article

Using Project Templates for PCB Design Development

Using Project Templates for PCB Design Development If you've ever had the opportunity to use a bush ax to clear out an overgrown plot of land, then you have glimpsed the hardship and difficulties that early pioneers experienced as they carved paths across North America. The efforts of these pioneers were an exhibition of the best aspects of the human spirit. Although being a member of that group is no longer possible, you do have the means to be a trailblazer for the fellow PCB designer. When Read Article

The Advantages of Using Project Templates for PCB Design

What Are the Advantages of Using Templates for PCB Design? The domestication of horses, inventing the wheel and developing the combustion engine are tremendous milestones that we laud for enabling us to get around more efficiently and explore new places. Although, this is true another creation that deserves at least as much credit for giving most of us the confidence to branch out from our familiar surroundings is the map. The knowledge that someone before us has traversed a path gives us confidence in Read Article

Choose Unified Symbols for Your PCB Prototype Design Documents

Choose Unified Symbols for Your PCB Prototype Design Documents I love spending hours at the bench soldering parts together and looking at the resultant signals they produce. It is satisfying to see the signals take shape on the oscilloscope as I refine each block. I’m surrounded by tools and equipment, little bits of wire and solder strewed from the invention process. Joining the beautiful mess are scattered components pulled from sample parts binders stored in the lab. Soon my prototype design will be ready Read Article