DesignSpark PCB (Printed Circuit Board) is a design tool based on a CAD system; its standalone interface means that the user doesn’t need to install it as an add-in for any other software. It is powerful and simple to use, free to use and loaded with the most complete parts libraries available.
Developing a PCB is easy. This software provides exactly the tools the designer needs for shaping the board, put the connection pads, the routes for the nets, add the copper shapes, and the copper-pour-areas, working in a schematic view to design the net, or in a PCB view to visualize the nets interaction, highlighting a specific net, viewing the components installed on each one displaying them with different colors.
As any other CAD system, this program also lets the user work in layers, assigning them different colors and properties. First, the software opens a PCB file by default with a board and its components. The user can close it and start from scratch, defining a folder and a path to store the new project, which is a good idea to keep all the documentation of each project ordered and easy to find later.
The user draws the board shape with the shape tool, drawing free hand or orthogonally (constrained to vertical or horizontal lines only), being able to type the exact coordinates for each new point, then the designer places the drag-and-drop components available in the library, making the connections, drawing the net and assigning the power connections.
Then the software enables the user to check error by using many different tools like a ruler to measure the board, a Design Rule Check tool that checks many features like the spacing for the tracks, pads, shapes, texts, drills and components, checking the manufacturing features like the minimum paste size or the Drill Breakouts, among others. The designer selects all the options to analyze and runs the analysis. Other tools are available to help the designer in the process. For instance, the Auto-place Components tool, which calculates the better position for each component according to where it was placed, the Auto- Route Nets tool, which checks all the nets for errors by feeding the maximum effort value, the number of passes the program should do and adding Vias, Side Pad exits as needed or restricting these values. The Auto- Rename components tool helps avoiding errors by assigning each component a different name.
Once the design is completed, the designer can plot it into a PDF file or send it to a Gerber CNC router, a drilling base or other devices generating all the documentation needed for each department or person involved in the manufacturing process.
Another great feature is the ability to produce a 3D digital representation of the new design providing a better understanding of the designer’s intentions for other people.
Then the user can export the new design to an DXF, LPKF, or IDF document to share the project with other users that may not have this software or for the integration with the design of the casing in other programs with CAD capabilities.
v6.1 [Sep 3, 2014]
Due to space constraints, we deeply regret that we have not been able to provide the compelete change-log for this version of DSPCB below. We have included only 10 (out of 26) change-long entries below. The interested reader may visit http://www.rs-online.com/designspark/electronics/eng/knowledge-item/designspark-pcb-change-log to view the full change-log.
1. 3D View
Prism shapes in user-defined packages were not being inverted for a component that had been placed on the back of the board.
When package type is set to DILSwitch, if it happened to match with a PCB symbol containing only a single pin, the application would quit while attempting to generate the 3D impression.
When creating a new 3D package, sometimes the details would not be saved the first time round, requiring the details to be entered a second time before the new package would be saved to the library.
Each successive redraw would increase memory usage.
2. Change Style
Changing the track style of a zero-length track between a via and a pad at the same location could cause the application to quit as the track is tidied out after making the style change.
3. Design Rule Check
Component-to-Component checking was being done using the ‘edges’ of the component bounds, rather than treating the bounds as a ‘solid’ box, thus leading to fewer errors being reported than should have been the case.
4. DXF Import
Certain commands were not being interpreted correctly in DXF files in recent formats, potentially leading to nothing appearing in the design after import.
5. DXF Output
Long layer names could cause the DXF file to be unreadable in other software such as AutoCAD and TrueView, despite the published length limit of layer names being 255 characters.
Text items could be misplaced from their proper locations.
6. Gerber Import
The holes defined by drill files were not always being matched to the corresponding pads during Intelligent Gerber Import, resulting in pads without holes.
If the folder where the import process tried to write its report file was not writeable, the application would quit.
7. Goto
The Goto bar would sometimes retain information (such as Component names) from a design that had been closed or reloaded, which would cause the application to quit if you clicked on any of those items.
8. Library Manager
The presence of a comma in the name of a 3D package could cause the application to quit as it encountered that name when reading the 3D library.
9. Forward Design Changes
In designs containing some types of PCB-only component, running Forward Design Changes or Integrity Check could cause the application to quit as it attempted to generate the report.
10. Startup
On a tiny number of machines, usually running Windows 7, the application would ‘block’ on startup after a Windows API function call failed to return. The application process would be visible in Task Manager but nothing would be displayed on the screen.
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Review 2D and 3D designs without using the application they were created in
