Advancements in technology have greatly revolutionized the PCB industry. Electronics engineers have a wide range of PCB CAD software to choose from for use in PCB design. These tools vary in their features and prices too. Some of them are free of charge, while others are not. A PCB engineer must settle for good PCB design software. In this article, you are provided with a comparison of two PCB design software, “Eagle VS Altium.”
1. Altium Designer
Altium Designer is one of the powerful and commonly used PCB design software. Among other high-end design software, Altium Designer is gaining popularity at a high rate. The program is available with a price tag, but a free package is available for trials. Students who need the package for learning may also get it free of charge. For beginners, this is the package to have as it is easy to learn and use.
Eagle VS Altium comprises different tools used for performing different PCB design tasks. Its functions range from circuit simulation, analysis of signal integrity, HDL, and schematic design capture. The package can also be customized and used in various applications to meet users’ needs. Professionals commonly use the package due to its high-end features; hobbyists don’t prefer it because of its cost. As much as it is also powerful, it lacks the FPGA design feature found in high-end programs. The FPA feature is found in the most powerful PCB design programs. Its most outstanding feature is the PCB editor.
2. Features of Altium Designer
Features of Altium designer include:
1.A high-quality 3D visualization that allows for routing using 3D.
2.The automatic appearance of net names on the pads of the printed circuit board editor.
3.Outstandingly advanced filtering simplifies the selection and modification of what a user wants.
4.A simplified design constraints creation procedure that has an inbuilt helper.
5. Manufacturing and Generation of the output file are superior, and its settings are easy to configure.
6.A good number of hotkeys and shortcuts that allow efficiency in PCB design.
7. Its design system operates offline and can still function without a license.
8. The add-on for export and import used in other programs and formats is quite decent.
9. Its project tree is simple and allows users drag-n-drop files to desired locations.
3. Eagle VS Altium—Eagle PCB CAD Software
Eagle CAD has commonly used PCB design software. The abbreviations EAGLE stand for Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor. Anyone looking for easy-to-use software at a reasonable price is the right package for them. It is suitable for use by both professionals and hobbyists because its price is fair. A free package is available for students who need it for educational purposes for individuals and those who use it for non-industrial purposes.
PCB design software. Premium and standard packages are also available, but their subscriptions are paid for every month. To purchase a single license, you may be required to pay up to $1640, but this will cater to all the features that come with the package. Fewer amounts may be paid if the user does not require all the features. For example, a kit comprising 999 sheets, 4M by 4M routing area, and 16 layers suitable for advanced Printed Circuit Boards are sold at $820. You can purchase a package comprising 99 sheets, 160mm by100mm, and six layers for less advanced projects, which retail at $410.
1. PCB123
2. Eagle CAD is available in different versions: Eagle Business, Eagle Make, Eagle Learn, and Freeware.
4. Eagle VS Altium—Features of EAGLE CAD(Eagle VS Altium)
It has a wide range of tools for use in PCB layout and schematic design editing. The package also contains community-driven features and library content.
Eagle CAD has an electrical rule check and a netlist generation that enable transfers to Printed Circuit Boards.
Manufacturing of PCBs, there are high chances of layout failures, which can go a long way into negatively affecting the final product’s functionality. Several PCB layout editors have several distinct features that include:
1.An auto-router
2.Copper pouring
3. Different types of outputs are used to manufacture data.
4. Functions and techniques that allow for routing at advanced levels.
5.Differential pair routing technique.
Other features of EAGLE CAD include;
1.Backward and forward annotations between printed circuit boards and schematic.
2. Users have the option of defining certain things such as the clearance, nets, and width of wires, among others.
Conclusion
Several differences exist between Eagle VS Altium. When it comes to the cost of purchasing the software, Eagle is much cheaper than Altium. Anyone with a tight budget can opt for Eagle rather than Altium. It is also important to note that both programs are not easy to use; you may require a few to learn how to use them. When the two are compared, Altium is easier to use.
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