What software to draw schematics?

Kicad

and gEDA are both FOSS apps that include schematic capture. Both also include netlist generation and PCB layout that you may not use BUT since they are intended to do real boards they both have rule checking capability that you may not find in pure drawing programs and which may be useful in warning you about interconnection errors.

Kicad is a little easier to install under Windows. There is a Windows port for the gEDA toolset but it's happier under Linux/Mac.

--
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA

=========================== tinycad?

True, though understated.

Actually, no. I had some old bookmarks to earlier Windows binaries of gEDA, but those pages no longer exist. The versions were so out of date that they were deleted (I'm guessing).

Getting someone to put together a Windoze installer these days seems to be a once-bitten--twice-shy thing. Windoze weenies take a lot more hand-holding and are very vocal and insistant that they get help; Because of the relative cluelessness of those users, releasing Windows binaries seems to simply hurt the brand.

It *is* possible for Windows users to build gEDA themselves:

*-*-*-*-*+your.*.*.expertise+theoretically.possible+*.*.yourself+version+ahvezda+distribution.and+2007+missing.dependencies+*-*-*-despair+Linux "Words to the Wise" at the bottom.

I thinks it's more that users of Unix-like OSes are simply more clueful and more easily contented with works-in-progress software.

That can't be emphasized enough.

The one from

will do nicely. You'll need their ExpressSch package. I don't know if you need to download the pcb package, too.

The only odd thing is getting used to clicking then hitting the spacebar to end a wire connection.

Bob

You could also give the free/student version of pspice a try. It has a windows installer and the usual windows handholding.

Going that route, rather than using the crippleware version of software that is increasingly poorly supported, he could get a free copy of LTspice.

If you don't intend to produce PC boards, (or generate netlists or do electrical rule checks) then almost any general CAD program that allows you to create re-usable symbols or blocks can be used - your first few drawings may take some extra time as you build a component library, but you'll soon have all the symbols you commonly need built (and they'll be built the way _you_ want them).

Even after using professional ECAD program with a large component library (Protel/Altium) for many years, I still find I have to build a new component or two for each new job.

--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI  
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca  

Most of the commercial CAD pacakages have limited versions available free of charge.

Otherwise you could try ExpressPCB's software

or one of the several freeware packages.

Graham

LT Spice draws decent schematics.

John

Late at night, by candle light, George penned this immortal opus:

TinyCAD is good for schematic capture, it comes with a rather well rounded library of common parts. However, it won't export to any common CAD formats. OTOH it exports net lists.

A9CAD is pretty nice for electrical and mechanical drawings, saves

*.dwg and *.dxf but the free version doesn't make libraries.

DraftChoice for Windows is another option, it's abandonware by now so just ignore the nags. Makes libraries and exports *.dxf.

- YD.

--
Remove HAT if replying by mail.

I fully agree, and it is possible to post the ascii file in usenet so others can evaluate the circuit and modify as needed. But it does not have a good library of TTL and general purpose analog ICs, other than what they sell. But for just drawing a schematic, it is as good as any, with the bonus of being able to simulate operation.

I use PADS Logic for schematics, and it is good if you want to do large designs and generate netlists and use component libraries for PCBs. It can be hard to use for a beginner, but they have a free version of their entire package that will work for small designs. You can get it at

Paul

Thanks very much for the suggestions.

Does each program have its own proprietary file format? For example, I ran across some project documentation that has everything in Eagle format. Is an Eagle .sch file the same as an ExpressPCB .sch file? In other words, are there any standards for this, or are the formats for each different?

At the risk of being ungreatful, it seems to me to be less than totally useful to require installing a particular program just to view a schematic. Such as in this example:

Anyway, my intended output would probably be .gif or .jpg files, but I can see where it might be useful to at least have available a format that someone else could take further and produce boards from if they wanted to. So maybe something like Eagle Light or ExpressPBC would be the way to go. Not sure whether TinyCAD would do that.

Very topical:

*-magic-tool-*-*-*-*+file.extension+left-to-the-industry

The longer you keep it in vector format, the more flexible it will be. Stay away from JPEG completely.

If you are planning to use other people's libraries, EAGLE is the WORST choice you could make; others have found their labors unusable (DRM):

**The Downside of EAGLE** by Markus Zingg *-*-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-opened

I've spent the last hour or so running sims in LT Spice, and the schematic editor is OK. It does have the annoying feature that it can leave line segments dangling and doesn't move parts very intelligently. The ascii format is indeed cool.

I use PADS Logic for official schematic entry, and it's the best schematic editor I've ever seen. It's very smart, moves everything right, and never leaves anything dangling. The resulting schematics also look great, on the screen or printed. I sure wish it could copy and paste between sheets, without the silly "group" thing.

PADS can ascii-out a schematic, too.

John

well you can just view the exported PNG schematic here

limor

Well, I found this summary of what's out there:

And it appears to confirm what I've noticed elsewhere - that Eagle is probably the most widely used among the occasional-use/hobbiest crowd where I would be.

I installed TinyCAD, but didn't really like the layout much. So I may try Eagle Light, and at least I'll see what others' Eagle schematics look like.

Thanks very much. Obviously I had missed that. I apologize for, uh, being ungreatful. And not being very observant.

And thanks for all the projects.

Is this some kind of external program? I remember Jon something wrote an LTSpice to ascii translator. Or, is it built in now? If so, how to I access it?

Thanks, Bob Monsen

A nice page by Andre Knoerig; it is more current than many others. It appears he wants to produce his own software to enter the low-cost ECAD market niche. ...but the page is sketchy WRT Cadsoft's limitati>>If you are planning to use other people's libraries,

::[link re-inserted] ::**The Downside of EAGLE** by Markus Zingg ::

*-*-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-opened ::

As I pointed out, reusing others' library components with recent[1] versions of Cadsoft EAGLE is a minefield.

My intuition is that a lot of those data points are old posts going back years and years and years that reflect a distortion of the "installed base"

--and don't reflect the *current* reality.[1]

If, OTOH, you look at the trend of *new* users, the trend is moving in the **open source** direction. Most folks don't like the notion of *changing the rules down the road* as Cadsoft has done surreptitiously.

e.g. KiCAD doesn't have the size/layers limitations of a demo AND IT DOESN'T LOCK YOU OUT OF YOUR FILES.

Here's an extreme example of "No limitations" (gEDA)

*-*-square+zz-zz+qq+boards-up-to and another (gEDA again) . . [1] Those who are aware of the more-recently-added DRM are avoiding EAGLE (and, as Markus' post shows, old users are abandoning EAGLE).

Maybe you've used Windoze so long that you are used to being treated like a thief. I find that most people don't like that sort of behavior. Giving money/support to companies/people who treat you badly seems foolish to me.

$65000+Nail.Your.Boss+$35000+*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-treats-us-poorly+unlicensed.copies+*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-to-fight-them