Good freeware circuit drawing program

Kicad is an integrated suite with both MS Windows and Linux versions.

The gEDA project is a more loosely connected family of Linux applications.

Each approach has some advantages and disadvantages. Give them a try.

--
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA

Circuitmaker/Traxmaker 2000 (CMTM2k) has been off the market for about five years. There are sites with "trial versions" on them. For my money (literally) it is about the best of the low-end market ... infinite pins, infinite board size.

Jim

--
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought 
without accepting it."
        --Aristotle


"sert"  wrote in message 
news:Xns9B3DBD0441A89jtjdfjdfjnbj@147.102.222.230...
> Any suggestions?

Eagle isn't open source, but there's a free trial version that'll let you do A size schematics and 3 x 4 inch boards. Upgrades to "paid" versions are inexpensive, and it's a currently supported project.

I use it here. I wouldn't want to use it on a board that needed 10 C-sized pages for the schematic, but for little things it's great.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" gives you just what it says.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Express PCB has a free schematic drawing program. Its output is designed to be used in tandem with their PCB layout program.

But you can still use it, even if you don't buy circuit boards.

-mpm

mpm wrote in news:7c6d85ce-3df4-4ff9-b126- snipped-for-privacy@s1g2000prg.googlegroups.com:

Boy, are there any that just let you DRAW circuits, without having to enter detailed parts and footprints in a library, and aren't packaged around creating a layout? I've been looking for a good tool like that to help with creating slides FOR YEARS

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

LTSpice, perhaps.

--

John Devereux

What point is there to creating a "drawing" of a schematic if it won't netlist??

It's not necessary to assign "packages" if you're not going to automatically compare to a layout.

I like (and use) the old original MicroSim PSpice Schematics. Been using it since it first appeared, gawd knows how many years now, to make ASIC's... no problems.

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
 I love to cook with wine     Sometimes I even put it in the food

You can use gschem (gEDA) stand-alone, without entering any of the extra information you'd need for simulation or layout. Heck, most of the user questions are about how to add that info! You're saving a step by not doing the layout ;-)

Jim Thompson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Picture teaching a course in circuits. Modifying a circuit in your lecture notes should not have to turn into a design project. Plenty of times, graphics are enough.

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

But if you're into generalities how many "library" parts can there be to "build"...

NPN, PNP, SCR, TRIAC, R, C, L, OpAmp, Comparator, NMOS, PMOS, and (most important ;-) LED ??

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
 I love to cook with wine     Sometimes I even put it in the food

Then, LTSpice is your answer. If you're teaching, then having something that you can enter the schematic with and eventually do some simulation, then it's a perfect solution.

Bob

--
== All google group posts are automatically deleted due to spam ==

Frankly, the apps others have mentioned are less of a dead end should the OP decide to produce actual hardware.

It would be nice if those who advocate for CRIPPLEWARE

snipped-for-privacy@t54g2000hsg.googlegroups.com would include instructions for how to print from it (disabled in the app)

--or at least a link which describes the hoops you have to jump thru.

It would be nice if those who advocate for this CRIPPLEWARE would mention that Gerbers must be PURCHASED from the fab houses which distribute this lock-in-ware.

Having to learn yet another app/interface when you *do* want to produce PCBs (using a general-purpose **non-locked** ECAD) makes learning/using these CRIPPLEWARE apps look silly.

For that matter, every CAD schematic capture tool that I've ever used included libraries. Some are even close enough to the right thing that you can use them for prototyping. All are good enough for slapping symbols on a sheet.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" gives you just what it says.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Those who advocate for EAGLE (properly written in all caps),

should also mention its DRM, implemented in recent versions, which CAN LOCK YOU OUT OF YOUR WORK PRODUCT. *-*-website+reuse+paying.*+*-I-will-switch+cracked-*+*.would.not.help.*+zzz+after-*-*-version-*+copied+*.*.unlock.*.designs+*-*-*-*-exchange-*-*-*-*-third-party+reused+qq+*-*-single-bit-*-*-*-*+useless+*-*-*-projects-could-no-longer-be-openednews: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com

It would be good if those advocates would include a link on how to circumvent this.

This is where Joerg usually mentions *no hierarchacal structure*.

What Cadsoft's app *does* have is forward- and backward-annotation, which is handy if you want to make PCBs.

I think you might use a schematic capture program that lets you draw components easily by drawing their "primitives", meaning their lines, circles, arcs, etc., without having to create components and using those components as a complete entity.

In other words, use it like a "draw" program (that happens to have have a set of primitives useful for drawing schematics.)

I have found that TinyCad lets you create components and draw things at least as easy as many of the others, and has a rather intuitive GUI too.

One man's "Free" is another man's "Crippleware". The OP said he wanted it for drawings, not for Gerbers. Get a life.

Yes ! Try Open Office.

It has a drawing feature.

--
Best Regards:
                     Baron.

Once I got a schematic from a client that was scanned in and they needed change recommendations pit stop style, right now, no time to re-draw it in CAD. So I used, , MS-Paint. Worked! Once you get the hang of fast copy&paste in there it's a breeze.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

"gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam.
Use another domain or send PM.

Joerg wrote:

Once you use a vector-based app with rubberbanding, using bitmapped paint apps without it is such a chore. 8-(

...and to the OOo Draw recomendation I say: Yeah-- because having to generate a library from zero is such a good idea

--NOT.