Over the past few months, our PC Board Design Tutorial series has provided a good look at the technologies and processes involved in PC board design and manufacture. Along the way, we've also recommended a number of guidelines applicable to actual board design, such as grid spacings, track widths, and much more.

Many of our readers have indicated that they are now ready to "have a go" at their first design but are not sure where to start. Over the next month or two, we hope to provide enough "hands on" information for you to bring your first design into reality.

Which software?

Fig.1 run ATX161ND.EXE at a DOS prompt to extract the Autotrax installation files.

Undoubtedly the most common question we're asked is "which PC board design software should I use?" There's simply no universal answer to this question; there are literally dozens of products on the market, with varying features and price tags. However, we strongly believe that you should "try before you buy". All reputable products are available in shareware or demonstration versions, allowing you to make sure that you're getting exactly what you need before reaching for your wallet.

However, if you're a beginner to PC board design, then it's difficult to know precisely what you need. In addition, if you don't plan to produce many boards, then you probably don't want to pay much (if anything!) for the software anyway. Well, the EDA software experts Altium (formerly Protel Technology) have come to the rescue. They've recently made the most popular DOS-based PC board design software available free!