Hello Everyone, i hope you had a good Easter because mine was not that bad :lol: .

As you know the smallest is the best so, as small as the microProcessors ou Controlers can get we have problems designing and making at home the very circuit board, so i ask you all, what are the best or most used programs to design Printed Circuit Boards with the most recent libraries (including the most recent component packages) and some companies that work on manufacturing these designed boards (World Wide or with atractive priçes ).

Share your knowlage with us .

Thank you .

I use Protel DXP at work. It's a good tool. A bit expensive ~$8. But this is fairly normal for profesional level tools. Eagle has free or cheap tools. I use PCBExpress.com to maufacture boards. 2-6 layers 7mil traces with through hole plated vias.

Brent

I also have a version of Protel (for windows, i got it at Philips friend designer ) but i don't have the most recent libraries to implement the new Component Packages, can you help me with that ?

Thank You

You can go to the Altium website and download their newest libraries.

http://www.cadsoftusa.com

Sees lots of hobbyist use. You can use their "free" version as long as your board is small, if it needs to be outside that, you're screwed. It's expensive and frankly has flaws. But hobbyists use it often, and PCB mfg places will accept its files. (http://www.olimex.com does prototyping damn cheap)