I’ve made a couple of PC boards in recent months, and thought I’d mention here the resources I’m using. For schematic capture and PCB layout and artwork generation, I’m using a newish program called DipTrace. After looking at as many PCB design programs as I could find on the web, I arrived at two conclusion: 1) most of them are really expensive, as in $1000 or more; 2) most of them have really arcane user interfaces that might seem appropriate to some CAD/CAM expert working in 1993 but are completely opaque by today’s standards. I don’t have very sophisticated PCB-design needs, so spending a bunch of money on a huge package and spending a bunch of time learning how to use it really doesn’t make sense. Fortunately, DipTrace is a happy exception. It’s fairly easy to learn and use and it’s reasonably priced (particularly if you can get away with the “lite” version, which should be adequate for most synthesizer modules). Its supporting programs are also easy to come to terms with. I’ve created new part diagrams without trouble, including a somewhat tricky pad and hole layout for a rotary encoder. There are some minor clunky points in the user interface, and I’ve found that the parts libraries tend to have very small annular rings, but overall I’m quite happy with it. (The rings can be manually adjusted, of course; the trick is to remember to make the adjustment before you fabricate the PCB.) I’ve used it to produce two PCBs and both have come out very nicely.
For fabrication, I’m using PCB Fab Express. They seem to have the lowest prices anywhere for small runs of PCBs with solder masks and silkscreening. I have received somewhat confusing email from them after submitting my files (they once cc:ed me on a message that was supposed to be routed only within the company) but aside from that I’m entirely happy with their service and the end results. If you do happen to use them, please mention my login, studionebula, and I’ll get a kickback for the referral.
