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I'm tempted to give it a try. I've been using ExpressPCB at work, and something called FreePCB at home. The boards that I make at home tend to be simple 2-layer

I'm tempted to give it a try. I've been using ExpressPCB at work, and something called FreePCB at home. The boards that I make at home tend to be simple 2-layer analog circuits. I tried KiCad, and it seems like just getting to the starting point of beginning to route a PCB requires an enormous amount of sheer physical labor that left me with an eyestrain headache. I'm glad we've got engineers to do this work, but I also kind of pity them, and have gained a better understanding of why projects take so long. I get it that at the end of the day, they need to be able to push a button and have a finished PCB stuffed with parts drop out of an automated machine in China. But I don't, and I think that for folks like hobbyists and hackers, going directly from a hand drawn schematic to manual layout in a simple PCB editor may still be the winning ticket.

JKCalhoun 5y ago
Yeah, KiCad is a fucking hurdle. ExpressPCB was so much easier. With KiCad you really have to do things in s specific order (beginning with the schematic). Trying to "wing it" in KiCad is a doomed path. I forced myself though to use/learn KiCad for a keyboard project. Worked. I've done another 3 or 4 new PCBs since and each one gets easier (no surprise).
- SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
  Express is quite easy to grow out of. Well, the old one, I think the new one is based on something they bought. The old one made it quite difficult to use anyone but their mfg service (obviously their business model).
  - analog31 5y ago
    The new one (ExpressPCB Plus) is much nicer. At my workplace, being tied to their service is not a problem for me. I'm doing R&D, and need to spin up simple boards quickly, sometimes for no reason other than wanting to "break out" an IC with good enough layout so I can test its performance in a tame environment. Anything I make that threatens to go into a product gets handed over to the real engineers, who have full blown commercial tools. And it's like the difference between programming and software development -- the latter involves a lot more moving parts and needs more sophisticated tools to manage all of them. At home, I like to order simple boards from lower cost suppliers, so I've been using FreePCB, and that's what I'm mainly interested in upgrading.

JKCalhoun 5y ago

Yeah, KiCad is a fucking hurdle. ExpressPCB was so much easier. With KiCad you really have to do things in s specific order (beginning with the schematic). Trying to "wing it" in KiCad is a doomed path. I forced myself though to use/learn KiCad for a keyboard project. Worked. I've done another 3 or 4 new PCBs since and each one gets easier (no surprise).

SV_BubbleTime 5y ago
Express is quite easy to grow out of. Well, the old one, I think the new one is based on something they bought. The old one made it quite difficult to use anyone but their mfg service (obviously their business model).
- analog31 5y ago
  The new one (ExpressPCB Plus) is much nicer. At my workplace, being tied to their service is not a problem for me. I'm doing R&D, and need to spin up simple boards quickly, sometimes for no reason other than wanting to "break out" an IC with good enough layout so I can test its performance in a tame environment. Anything I make that threatens to go into a product gets handed over to the real engineers, who have full blown commercial tools. And it's like the difference between programming and software development -- the latter involves a lot more moving parts and needs more sophisticated tools to manage all of them. At home, I like to order simple boards from lower cost suppliers, so I've been using FreePCB, and that's what I'm mainly interested in upgrading.