Continue your Easy EDA PCB design journey by learning how to do PCB layout.
The Easy EDA PCB Layout Process
Last time, you were introduced to Easy EDA and Schematic Entry. This time, you’ll learn PCB layout. Doing layout in Easy EDA is relatively easy, and you’ll be amazed at how fast you can finish wiring your boards.
Start by double-clicking the PCB file (the one with the PCB layout icon) on the left side pane of your Project Design tab. From there on, you can start your PCB layout.
CreatE a Board Outline
Create a board outline before doing anything with your PCB. Click on Place –> Board Outline –> Rectangle (or any other shape). This detail layer will automatically be placed on the Board Outline Layer, which you can see on the Layer tab in the right-side pane.
Begin Component PLacement
As with any other PCB design tool, you’ll need to place components before wiring your board. As they say, your PCB should be half-finished once you do a good component placement. Click and drag the components to place them. Use the spacebar to rotate the components. Below is a sample demo of a preliminary component placement.
Your final component placement should look similar to the one below.
Begin Wiring your Board
Begin routing by selecting Route –> Single Routing to wire single tracks. You can change the track width by going to the Single Routing Track Property, Track Width on the right side pane.
If you want to change units, go to View –> Units. Or you can press the Q shortcut. Thereafter, change your track width.
Easy EDQA has a special way of editing tracks. You’ll have to click the track and then click the specific segment of that track to modify it. After that, you should be able to stretch your tracks accordingly.
Placing vias
There are several ways to place vias. You can go to Place –> Via, and then drop your via. Navigate through the different layers to wire the via.
While routing, you can double-click to place a via. This method automatically transfers to the next layer to continue the track.
Via inner and outer diameters can be defined in the Design Rules found in Design –> Design Rule…
Below is an example circuit layout of the board w/o ground connections.
PLacing Copper Pours
Placing a ground plane makes your circuit more resilient to noise. Additionally, copper planes makes a very low resistance path ideal for ground potential. Below is a ground copper pour plane applied to the bottom layer.
Below is ground copper pour plane applied to the top layer.
Reinforce Ground Plane with Vias
Lastly, you can strengthen your ground plane by dropping reinforcing vias around your board.
2D and 3D Views of your Board
To see a simulated view of what your board might look like in real-life, go to View –> 2D or 3D.
DRc Check
It’s best to perform a Design Rule Check on every board before sending fabrication data to the manufacturer. With this, go to Design –> Design –> Check DRC. Fortunatley, this design did not produce any errors.
All is well after creating your EDA PCB layout. If you want to order the board (and its parts assembled) with JLCPCB, simply go to Order –> Order PCB. The Gerbers, BOM, and PCL files will automatically be generated for you. Your last step is to do a checkout.
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