"Pretty" schematic software?

[pupil]

Hey,

I use kicad for all my circuit drawing needs, but the schematic sketches are very "techy" looking and hard to share with others.

Does anyone use a more elegant looking schematic drafting software? (that's free)

Thanks

[Hatredman]

What do you mean by "techy"? Do you have an example of what are you trying to achieve?

[R.G.]

I guess I'm confused too. There aren't many things that are *more* "techie* than electronic schematics.

Back at college we could always tell when something had been drawn up by someone enrolled in the School of Arts and Flowers - it was all done in colors like "pomegranite" and "puce" and "amaretto"; the tech info inside is the same, and admiring a schematic for its clever color coordination can IMHO get in the way of understanding where the electrons go, which is what a schematic is for.

Right?   

[davent]

I use ExpressPCB schematic which is ugly as sin to draw schematics, one ugly font, black and white are the colour choices. In the past to make it pretty as the components look good, i print the schematic to PDF open the pdf in Inkscape and relabel with the fonts available on the computer and add some colour to make it easy to read.

The best "looking" schematics i've seen from people around the web have been identified as Visio drawings, expensive software.

ExpressPCB and Inkscape might be able to do the same with drawings.




dave

[Ben Lyman]

I use http://www.schematics.com
I haven't figured out all of it's potential but I have learned the basics and it's pretty simple... and free!

[GibsonGM]

That's a good one, Ben, thanks!   I'd like to know what drew the old "GGG" schematics we've all been looking at for years...

[potul]

Hi
The best looking schematics I've seen were in another forum, and when I asked the guy what software he used... he told me he used CorelDraw. 
Damn...

[R.G.]

I use corel draw, always have, but I don't think anyone would accuse my schemos of being attractive.

... or even correct, necessarily.   

[amptramp]

I have seen schematics done in AutoCAD which is one of the more difficult CAD programs to learn but it is effective.  There are free programs like LTspice and TinyCAD that can generate schematics that look a little better than some others.

[garcho]

If you use EagleCAD to draw your schematics, you get the added bonus of getting the board and gerber files, which makes sharing with others even more functional. It's counter intuitive but can look decent if you're patient.

[Dito]

The olden-times ones were almost certainly drawn with CAD software, like AutoCAD or Microstation. Both now have electronic-specific versions or modules, but you can draw a masterpiece in AutoCAD if you've got the time and the skills. (I'm a recovering mechanical designer.)

Or in the even older days, they would have been drawn like blueprints: by very patient and careful people with rulers and erasers. I've drawn architectural details that way. It's tedious and eye-killing work, but oddly rewarding.

[PRR]

> The olden-times ones were almost certainly drawn with CAD software

"Cad" used to have another meaning. (So did "computer".)

IMHO, CAD drawing is not an improvement. It encourages making drawings that humans can not read.

> elegant looking schematic drafting

What's wrong with work like this?






(However _I_ would draw the B+ rail across the top.)

Done this way?

[amptramp]

I go along with PRR here to the extent that if I had to use CAD programs on a daily basis I would go into another line of work.  They may give you a pretty picture but if all parallel lines in a schematic look the same and you have a number of them bunched together, it becomes impossible to read whereas a slightly different amount of force on the pencil can make lines very distinct.  And it takes more time and a lot more patience to do a CAD schematic that is less legible than the hand-drawn one.

BTW nice regenerative radio receivers, Paul, I have a couple of those myself.

[garcho]

that shirt is amazing


the only issue i have with drawing things out by hand is when you work yourself into a corner and run out of room. otherwise i prefer pencil and paper (not that I'm an EE or doing anything complicated). on a computer, you just move things around until it works, without having to start over or erase half the page.

all parallel lines in a schematic look the same

i'm a big fan of using symbols instead of drawing every connection as a line. R A Penfold's or Ray Wilson's schematics are awesome and i'm thankful for them, but they're super annoying to read because they draw in the rails, for instance. same with CMOS schematics showing every connection as an unbroken line, or Tim Escobedo drawing in the bypass switching. why? i know it's a wiring diagram, but does every detail need to be there?

[canman]

I like DipTrace...a few different export options, like Gerber, DXF, etc.  And easy to use, which is a bonus.

[mojokorn]

Eagle PCB and Layout software is super cool.  Creates great looking schematics and then you can export the design to create pcbs.  The pcb autorouting is truly awesome!  Once your up the learning curve, it's faster for most ckts to do the pcb and pay $30 to get it made, than it is to hand-wire it.  Also, kills two birds with one stone - schemo and pcb.  The freeware version of Eagle is plenty powerful enough to create most stompbox designs.

I suggest taking time to watch the YouTube tutorials first.

[alanp]

I've started to label nets, and to not bother doing long connections these days (instead, having two labels in the two separate areas to make it clear that they're the same net.) Cleans it up a bit.

[Hatredman]

The OP never replied back and I still don't know what he meant by "techy".