Yes its is the same thing. Its shows connection between pads in the form of "rats-nest" (rubber-band connections). Now if you change/delete/add any net in the schematic, corresponding connection on the PCB is also changed/deleted/added and this is the main purpose of "link" or "annotation" function.
Once you start using this function, you'll find softwares like Eagle the best for PCBs as it is very good at this. Making PCB from schematic is really easy and reduces errors than making one from scratch without annotation function

You are not at all giving me a hard time ....Even I used to be curious and excited like you when I entered in this field. So no worries...throw in as many queries you want and I and others will try our best to help.

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One you are used to this is seems pointless to work without it. I am quite serious about this. Not having to worry about getting the connections right frees up the mind to work on the actual layout task.

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You are absolutely right 3v0. For hobby work its ok to use softwares without annotation but if you really want to take this to a professional level, you just cant do without it.

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Having the schematic capture feed the PCB layout is a huge time and error-saver, even for the hobbiest. Granted if you're a hobbiest making a small board with just a few components then almost any PCB layout program will do, but as a hobbiest I have several boards with *hundreds* of pins even though they have relatively few components.

Also, as we're all busy in our real lives(tm), saving time when doing one's hobby is a damn fine idea :-)

I have previously used Protel which is great to use but has now totally outgrown the reach of any hobbiest and even many small companies. Now I use ExpressPCB because it is hands-down the easiest tool to use. Eagle's UI sucks major rocks, as do the UIs of most of the others mentioned in this thread (I've tried lots of them!)

I've happily used ExpressPCB to create artwork for a single-sided PCB which I then etched at home... including one with 400+ holes (eek! I hate drilling!) This allows me to create initial prototypes without need to go straight to ExpressPCB for manufacturing. Now that I've got the design right, I'll add double-sided traces to replace the links and tidy the layout, then send it off to ExpressPCB.

Hope this helps,
P. (aka pantoine on Sparkfun forums)

 

Glad to hear of others good experience with Express PCB's program. I thought I recognized a good program when I used one. Being able to make your own prototypes sure takes the "angst" out or ordering. And getting factory made boards back in three working days is unbelievable service.

 

Sounds like ExpressPCB is worth a try. I have used Eagle enough to not mind the UI too much but I am still unhappy with the library search and the part editing could be better.

I have used Eagle enough that I do not mind the UI but I find it difficult to teach to others. So I will give ExpressPCB a try.

At this point I am going to go off topic a bit and talk about board making.

I agree and that is one of the reasons I am starting with surfacemount parts. But I am not sure how much the hole count will go down. You can not run traces between pins on surface mount chips so layouts tend to require more vias.

Last winter I discovered the local high school where I volunteer has a milling machine. Since then I have been using it and PCB-GCODE on Eagle to generate NC files. Works great and the holes are very neat. If I switch I will have to figure out how to generate the code to drill the holes. Maybe some EXECLON to GCODE tool.

The machine drilled holes makes alignment somewhat easier. I do some 2 sided boards but etch one side at a time. The other is covered with box tape.

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Does PC express have a way of converting a schematic into a PC board layout for printing?

I have been horsing around with eagle and it is a pain.
I cant get a schematic converted to a board layout.

 

I guess ExpressPCB wont come anything near Eagle when it comes to converting schematic to PCB (I am not against ExpressPCB but it lacks the features you'll find in Eagle). You just need one click of a button (Switch to board) and your components are placed (of-course randomly) on the board. Now its your turn to place them properly and route it either manually or using auto-router.

You can't expect that Eagle/any other software will do all the neat placement for you and even if it does...it is not at all efficient. For testing what I am trying to say just try out the "auto-place.ulp" in Eagle. No software is written yet to replace human brain

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Wow! Thanks a lot guys.Plenty replies.So I planned to work with EAGLE lite edition.
I have Express PCB too but I didn't try yet.

 

Its Express PC, lol. I guess I will horse around with Eagle a bit more and see. I tried the board command but nothing happens, just a blank board appears?

 

Zoom out/in a bit and see if you can see the footprints of components you laid on the schematic. If not try saving the schematic to some new location and use "switch to board" command again.

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The components are outside the board now and it seem I can move them on the board, is that all there is to it? Thanks.

 

Select single/all components and put them into the board boundary in one move.
Use your mouse roller for pan zooming.

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Ill give that a try, Thanks for the help kinjalgp.

 

Placing the components and routing the signals as much art as science. It is best to finish the board and then go away for a day or two. When you come back you can often see ways to improve it.

It helps to run through a tutorial or two.

Observations:

DRC (Design Rule Check) is used to check you layout for problems. It checks for clearance between traces and pads. The default is 8 mils. It is also where you can change the restring value which determines how large you pads will be. The default is 25%. I often use 35% which provides larger pads. Some connectors will not allow you to up the restring value

There is no good reason to use 8 mil clearance if your board will allow 10 or more. I like to route the board at 8 and change it to 10 whien I am finished. DRC will show me where there are clearance problems. Where possible I fix them to achieve 10 mil clearance. The ones I can not I leave alone. Then I set the clearance back to 8 and run DRC again to make the unfixable errors go away. I now have a board with 10 mil clearance execpt in a few places where it is not possible.

The default trace width is .016. Execpt for lines that carry current (power and gnd) I like to use .012 or .010 inch traces.

Neatness counts.

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