Building your first board (PCB Section)

Building your first (PCB Section)

Step 1:
Select New from the File menu.

Step 2:
  From the PCB Files group box select Size A, and then click Confirm.

Step 3:
  CIRCAD will open the File Save As... dialog box giving you an opportunity to save the new file that you have just created. Enter a new name into the File Name field. It is most convenient to have the PCB in the same directory with the file name prefix as its schematic.

Step 4:
  As we have previously generated our schematic and netlist, we must now read them into this PCB file. One note first. In the Setup Options there is a check box that is named Display Log Files. If this check box is active when you read in the netlist, the .log file will be opened in a View Window in the upper right corner of the screen as well as being opened as an additional data file. To read in the netlist, type <NI> for the Netlist In function and select the netlist that we previously created. You will notice that the .log file indicates that there is an Unlinked pin at pin 5 of U1. The Unlinked pin warning is just that, a warning. If this pin is intended to be not connected (as it is here) then everything is fine. For additional information on Netlist warning and error messages see the Netlist In section of Chapter 7 in the CIRCAD Manual. If you zoom in on the lower left corner of the PCB you will see that the components have been extracted from the libraries and are lined up just outside of the drawing.

Step 5:
Type <NR> for the Nets Rat-nest function. This will construct ratlines between all of the pads that need to be connected. Move each of the components onto the PCB drawing sheet with the Grab Component function (<GC>), using the ratlines as a guide for which components are to be next to each other. After a quick placement you should have something that look looks roughly like this:

Step 6:
Using the Place Ortho-line function (<PO>), place tracks from the center of one of the pads that need to be connected to the center of the other. Repeat this process until all of the pads are connected. As you are busy connecting pads you may at any time re-ratnest the board using the <NR> function. This will remove the ratlines between complete connections. After the routing is finished and a little massaging to better line things up here is the finished result:

Congratulations! You're done!
(don't forget to save the files to disk)