Learning DipTrace

The last few days I have been playing with a Demo copy of DipTrace - A Schematic and PCB Design Package. I have looked at it before, but did not have time to understand enough about it to appreciate its ease-of-use and its functions.

After now taking some time - it looks like I can use it for most things that I need for my PCB building process. The print output provide camera ready art for Laser Printer direct toner-contact-etch-resist or photo etch processing. For more professional projects, Gerber and other output formats are available.

Several of the really nice things are; its blended use of the "auto router" with easy manual edits, and its "Copper Pour" abilities. For some circuits, (i.e., an RF Sections) manual routing is almost always desired.

The Demo copy allows for two sided boards and a maximum of 250 pins - which is enough for most ham hobby projects. DipTrace Lite with 500 pins is $145.00 and available for download.

I will provide information and photos of my future projects.

For my use, I use the Windows version of DipTrace 2.0.06 via "wine" on my Ubuntu 8.10 Linux workstation.

Google for DipTrace for download and more information.