When we chooing a software for designing the PCB, there are many options.
This article want to simply show you the difference between a few kinds of PCB design software, so that you can easily figure out which one is the suitable one for you.
Altium Designer
Altium Designer is a PCB design software with the largest users in the world, with long history and rich resources, classic version such as Protel, Protel 99SE is the sentimental version of many engineers, and then the software was called by the company name Altium, named Altium Designer, simplify with AD. It has upgrated to Version AD20 in 2020, this software can be used for free within a month for full functions, after 1 month, you will need to pay for the membership to keep using it. It is only supporting in Windows systerm.
OrCAD
OrCAD is a classic PCB design tool, its name originally from Oregon+CAD, it intergrated simulation(PSpice) and analyze tool as well as CIS (Components Information Systerm), also can generate the Netlist in HDL format, what's more it has full functions free versionfor your experience, deeply combined with famous design tool Allegro.
PADS
PADS is a strong functions interactive layout design software driven by principle, including PCB logic, PCB Layout (PowerPCB), PCB Route, and can be docked with popular software like OrCAD，CAD350, Autodesk, ProE. It also support DRC, DFT, DFM calibration and analysis. Many Chinese engineers is using it and was defined as an advance CAD software, it is a very professional PCB design tools under Mentor Graphics.
EAGLE
EAGLE is a scriptable EDA tool with schematic input, PCB layout, automatic wiring and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) functions. EAGLE (Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor) was developed by CadSoft Computer GmbH in Germany and is now owned by Autodesk Inc., a world-renowned CAD tool provider. Eagle can run on three mainstream platforms: Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Its charging model is monthly. The free version limits the circuit diagram to only two pages, the PCB to only two layers and the maximum size is 80cm". College users can use the full-featured version for free, and the full-featured paid version is not expensive. Its library resources are very rich and are adopted by well-known open source hardware providers such as SparkFun, Adafruit, Arduino, and Seeed Studio. Design source files and libraries in Eagle format can be downloaded from the websites of these companies or Github.
KiCad
KiCad is a free, open source PCB design tool that provides a large number of functions required to meet the design needs of any project. It was originally developed by Frenchman Jean-Pierre Charras. This tool provides an integrated development environment for schematic input and PCB layout. There are also functions in this tool for generating BOM.Gerber files and performing 3D drawing on the dead P: In 2013, c5RM drink class acid production needs unified alliance record) network BECO-HT The department started the page to donate some resources to support it to become a tool software similar to commercial CAD tools in the field of open source hardware.
KiCad (websites of non-commercial groups use org more often) released version 4.0.0 in December 2015. It is the first version of a commercial tool developed by CERN developers. CERN also hopes to support more developers to improve this software through donations. The latest stable version is 5.1.6.
The main features are as follows:* KiCad is a full-featured PCB design tool.
* Free and open source, it is very suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises, especially beginners.
* Supports multiple platforms and can run on Windows, Mac OS and Linux.
* The application suite includes schematic drawing Eeschema, PCB layout and routing PCBNew, Gerber file viewing, 3D solid model viewing, etc.
* Python scripts support circuit board and package library automation.
* There are a large number of symbols, packages and 3D model libraries available for download.
* Applications and documentation have been translated into multiple languages.
In addition to the project management function, the KiCad tool suite has 8 important parts;
(1) Eeschema (schematic drawing editor).
(2) Symbol Editor (symbol editor), providing cooperation services for Eeschema.
(3) PCBNew-PCB layout and routing, which includes 3D viewing functions.
(4) Footprint Editor (footprint editor), providing cooperation services for PCBNew.
(5) GerberView: View Gerber files.
(6) Bitmap2Component: Convert image files to PCB footprints.
(7) PCB Calculator: Parameter calculator on PCB.
(8) Page Layout Editor: Page layout editor.
6. Online PCB design tools
* PCBWeb: Supports multi-page schematics and multi-layer routing; integrates Digi-Key's device information and BOM management functions.
* Scheme-it, a free online schematic drawing tool.
* A cloud-based version of OrCad in cooperation with Arrow, but the network speed will be slower in most cases.