Schematic software

[JMW]

I had Paintbrush on my old computer. It was perfect for my needs, basic electrical schematics. I had a "library" of switches, relays, generators etc. I could add colored lines and labels with little effort. A great feature was the ability to use the arrow keys to move the cursor 1 pixel at a time. "Paint" is no where near this level. I'm looking for a basic program that allows me to create schematics. I'm willing to pay 50 to 70 dollars for this.
Andy suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Winterstone]

Download and try the Demo-version of the program Splan.

It is very simple, but nevertheless very versatile with a huge library. Of course, you can define your own parts.
I have used this program since several years (for published articles as well as a textbook) .

 

[KMoffett]

I like ExpressPCB for schematics. Free, decent parts library, easy to create and edit components, and nice looking schematics. https://www.expresspcb.com/

Ken

 

[3v0]

There is a no cost version of Eagle. It also has a PCB editor which follows the nets created in the schematic.

 

[DerStrom8]

I second 3v0's vote for Eagle. I have used ExpressSCH for drawing schematics, and though it works and has a good library, the interface is bland and you can't really do much with it. I really didn't care much for it. Once I started using Eagle, though, I never went back. The interface is very neat and clean, and once you get used to it, it's very easy to use. The libraries are huge, and it also has a lot of special features. You can get the free version here:

 

[RichTheDude]

Being inherently lazy if I need to read a manual to learn software I can not be bothered. I got put off Eagle for this very reason, but it does have a very nice library of parts from what I have seen and I have seen some very nice PCBs made with it. KiCAD is a lot more usuable in my opinion (as well as being unlimited in board size, layers etc) but is hampered by its poor libraries : **broken link removed**

All the free ECAD programs sting you in one way or another in my opinion.

 

[3v0]

As far as I can tell cad is complex by nature. If you can use a cad program without a manual or tutorial then you will soon find it is also too limited.

 

[Ian Rogers]

RS components do designspark http://www.designspark.com/ Completely free! Schematics, PCB and 3D.....

 

[RichTheDude]

I keep meaning to try designspark sometime - shame its windows only. They could get a fair bit more of the hobbyist market by making it run on Linux...

I have yet to be limited by Proteus yet, and I have never read the manual . Labcentre should really release a cut down version (limited like Eagle) with no simulation capabilities. I think it would become very popular

 

[JMW]

I've downloaded Eagle and another I found, Tiny Cad. Both have a learning curve, but doesn't seem insurmountable. Let me add one more item. Both of these save the file in a proprietary format, Do you know of one that stores in .bmp, jpg, or .gif

 

[Jugurtha]

I use Cadsoft Eagle. Most of the stuff in the manuals is aimed for people with absolutely no intuition, so manuals can be read very fast by someone who isn't completly clueless computer-wise.

The manual for eagle is 72 pages and it's a great software. It's relatively easy to learn the tool, but using it to make beautiful things is what's hard . (i.e: Optimizing a board layout, etc...)

 

[KMoffett]

ExpressPCB exports to .bmp.

Ken

 

[DerStrom8]

ExpressPCB exports to .bmp.

Ken

I believe Eagle exports to a wide variety of file types, including bmp.

 

[RichTheDude]

I think all ECADs will offer some way of exporting a bitmap image.

72 Pages? That's like reading... Not even fun reading, it's a small boring book

 

[3v0]

Eagle also has user language program, ULP, which are scripts that can be used to preform and automate many tasks.

 

[DerStrom8]

Eagle also has user language program, ULP, which are scripts that can be used to preform and automate many tasks.

Oh, and Eagle also has a side-program that can give you a 3-dimensional image of your PCB. I know for a fact Express can't do that.

 

[Mikebits]

Hi, I even wrote a Eagle tutorial to get you started, no telling why it is in the theory section of articles, but anyways, here is the link. https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/vhf1-vhf3-uhf-where-is-vhf2.275/

let me know if this works for ya...

 

[strantor]

Download and try the Demo-version of the program Splan.

It is very simple, but nevertheless very versatile with a huge library. Of course, you can define your own parts.
I have used this program since several years (for published articles as well as a textbook) .

Hey, I just downloaded it and i see you can do hydraulic schematics! how handy! I've been looking for a hydraulic schematic program for a long time and this is the only one I've found. Too bad it's euro-style and very limited though.

 

[Mikebits]

Hey, I just downloaded it and i see you can do hydraulic schematics! how handy! I've been looking for a hydraulic schematic program for a long time and this is the only one I've found. Too bad it's euro-style and very limited though.

With the symbol creation portion of Eagle, you can make any sort of symbol you like.

 

[strantor]

With the symbol creation portion of Eagle, you can make any sort of symbol you like.

My eagle skills are only as good as they have to be. I really don't enjoy using that software. I've made my own symbols before but found it to be a huge time waster. I don't want to think about drawing up hundreds of new symbols just to have a hydraulic library. However, once I made 20 or so symbols in a row I would probably be more efficient/proficient at it and would not take me so long.