Fastest schem. draw software

You could look at ExpressSCH from

Mark

::which software package is the fastest and easiest to use ::for analog circuits? IOW simple and most intuitive. :: Jim Morgan

In addition (not intuitive): With EAGLE, most users have a break-in period where they have to get used to its inverted interface method: Select function; select object. (The opposite of Windoze.)

The demo is fully functional, allowing a very thorough test drive. The only limit for the demo on schematics is *single-page* (not tabbed). I'm not crazy about the Euro-type symbols in the default libraries but as Joerg points out, the Library Editor is right there.

Try Kicad, it's free and runs on Windows and Linux and its library covers most of your needs. Go to:

Ian

Some enlightened? pieces of software let you do it either way (Pulsonix and Pads come to mind) -- you can select a function and then keep applying it to a bunch of objects (and the function remains "sticky") or you can select the object and hit the function to have it performed once. Seems like a nice way of getting the best benefits of both approaches...

Hello Jim,

I found Cadsoft Eagle to be very easy for schematics. Creating new library parts isn't as intuitive as it was with OrCad but you should be pretty happy with what's there already. You can export the schematics in all kinds of popular graphics formats which will be very important for what you are planning to do.

LTSpice also contains a simple schematic editor and is free. The upside of that is that if you had analog functions you could simulate them.

Regards, Joerg

What is the English documentation like? I was looking for something that I can run on my Sun running Solaris (I hate Windoze) and I see that is multi-platform, so is quite attractive to me.

But when I looked it seemed the documentation is only in French, although a translation is occuring. Just wondered how much of a hinderance it will be to not speak French.

I'm using the 4.15 freeware version (haven't been able to sell anything yet), and mine has both styles. Some of the libraries even have two versions, one library EU and one US. Most have duplicate symbols in the library, though, one symbol EU and one US.

John Perry

Hello Jeff,

I found that quite easy. Then again I have lived in Europe. The real puzzler is that they often use "cut" in the same way every other program uses "copy". I believe that dates back to their ancient versions, so probably they didn't want to confuse longtime users.

The libs that came with mine (a licensed version) had both. If, for example, you go into the RCL library it contains both EU and US symbols for pretty much anything. It's up to you which one you place. I did try the freeware for a spin before buying but don't remember if it had that as well. AFAIK their libs are all freely available for download but I'd bet all versions come with the RCL library.

Regards, Joerg

Since nobody's mentioned it yet...

If you want YAFIYGI instead of WYSIWYG, you might try

Matt Roberds

I've tried a bunch recently. Micro-Cap 8 has a limited function SPICE for free download, but the real thing is quite pricey. The interface works nice; fast and intuitive, depending on your background. Eagle 4 also works nice, is reasonably priced from free to low hundreds. It draws schematics and lays out PCBs. A separate simulator sorta integrates with it -- I haven't tried it yet -- and also ranges in price from free to low hundreds. Eagle is appealing for its board layout. I'm using the freebie version, and don't feel confined yet for the things I do. It's quite usable for small two sided boards.

thanks for the link. one of the minor problems that gEDA has in competing w/ Eagle is the lack of web file sharing, imo. last time i looked @ kicad, the site did not have the sharing feature. maybe i just missed it.

however, kicad is not in the pipeline for debian, as eagle is...

this is unfortunate.

to

in

to

Protel.

TinyCad is great, I've even been thinking to donate. KiCAD is very powerfull but I find the drawings come out rather ugly if you don't make all the parts yourself.

--DF

The English documentation is quite usable and as complete as the original French. Both need expanding but there is enough for most things. After that there is the user group I set up at:

None at all. The help and other docs are now all in English.

Ian

If you have taken the trouble to create your own better looking parts, please donate them via the Kicad user group at:

After all, that's what open source is all about.

Ian

See my notes and links to some 60 ECAD programs at

Terry Pinnell Hobbyist, West Sussex, UK

I see now you have file sharing which is nice. my point was that I missed it before, when I looked at kicad last month.

is slackware debian based?

My 2c worth : LTSpice schematics are ugly and component creation a pain. The commands are weird.

I use TinyCAD for my schematics - bog stadard Windows controls and quick to learn. A nice copy to clipboard feature, which lets me paste the picture in Word for documents or Paint to get saved as GIF or PNG for the internet. You can select the portion to get copied. Freeware at

Roger Lascelles

my point was that i missed the users-upload feature of kicad when i was looking it over a while ago. it's a nice website feature that is lacking for gEDA to my knowledge.

w/ the different wiget, i'm not convinced kicad won't break my linux box. gEDA is very stable and works well for me now. Is slackware debian based?

No. Slackware preceded Debian. http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:LNg9zwyrNQgJ:

There's also NGPaint although AFAIK no development has been done on it for several years.

John