There are numerous Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design programs available on the web. Each piece of software has a different specialty, and choosing the best among them for your purposes can be time-consuming and frustrating. This article features the top-selling and most-popular PCB software, along with details about each program's features. All the software included in this article must be paid for, though all have free trial versions.
NI Ultiboard
National Instruments Ultiboard is PCB design software known for its automation and performance speed. Along with automation, the program also gives you the option of manual design for greater precision and customization. NI Ultiboard has a very user-friendly and intuitive interface and offers compatibility with industry standard file formats. The price of the software depends on your country of residence. The trial version, however, is free for all.
Pulsonix Suite
Pulsonix, certified Microsoft Development Partner, has developed the Pulsonix Suite of PCB design tools. Pulsonix 6, the latest version as of September 2010, offers dual screen support, giving you more screen area to work with. It also has a a unique feature called "Embedded Views." Embedded views allows you to create a snapshot of a part of your design and gives you the option of adding more details to it.
CadSoft Eagle
CadSoft Eagle is PCB design software that offers multilingual support and documentation. There are two versions of Eagle software -- a free version with limited features, and a fully functional paid version with advanced features. Eagle can be used on Linux, Windows and Mac platforms. Eagle recently won the "Product of the year 2010" award from Elektronik magazine under the Engineering Software category.
Cadence OrCAD
Cadence OrCAD is known for its easy scalability, which makes it perfect for small and mid-size companies poised for rapid growth. It offers excellent front- and back-end integration tools, which make the software very flexible and robust. Cadence has partnerships with several channel partners worldwide, enabling them to offer global customer support.
