best free schematic and pcb software?

[peterg]

Can anyone recomend a good free schematic and pcb software program?

[Digital Larry]

Try DipTrace.

[pappasmurfsharem]

Fritzing from http://fritzing.org/

Isn't bad, also automatically routes a PCB as your draw the scheme albeit not necessarily as you would want but it was fun to play around with.

[electrosonic]

The free version of Eagle is OK. It has limitations, but I find that is not a problem for stomp box pcbs.

from the developers website...

Limitations
The following limitations apply to the EAGLE Light Edition in general:
The useable board area is limited to 100 x 80 mm (4 x 3.2 inches).
Only two signal layers can be used (Top and Bottom).
The schematic editor can only create one sheet.
Apart from these three limitations the EAGLE Light Edition can do anything the Professional Edition can do. You can even load, view and print drawings that exceed these limits!

There are some good tutorials and videos to be find and enough of a community to find answers to questions.

There are a lot of 3rd party libraries too, though I find I usually need to edit them to suit my purposes.

Andrew.

Lastly, OHS Park (great place for getting boards fabbed) accepts the native Eagle .brd files, so you don't have to convert to gerbers if you don't want to.

[gritz]

Fritzing from http://fritzing.org/

Isn't bad, also automatically routes a PCB as your draw the scheme albeit not necessarily as you would want but it was fun to play around with.

Fritzing probably isn't a bad option for the first - timer as it doesn't assume you're a nuclear scientist with the patience of a saint. There's also the option of getting your pcbs made for not-too-crippling amounts of money (not sure what the shipping charges will be for users outside Europe though). The schematic option is more geared toward arduino / digital stuff than audio, but there are workarounds and it's probably the most gentle learning curve out of all of the stuff I've tried and it's fairly logical too, so even if you end up not liking it I think that it won't be a waste of time.

Is there any software out there that can be used to knock out a schematic as quickly as pen+paper+scanner?

[pappasmurfsharem]

Fritzing from http://fritzing.org/

Isn't bad, also automatically routes a PCB as your draw the scheme albeit not necessarily as you would want but it was fun to play around with.

Fritzing probably isn't a bad option for the first - timer as it doesn't assume you're a nuclear scientist with the patience of a saint. There's also the option of getting your pcbs made for not-too-crippling amounts of money (not sure what the shipping charges will be for users outside Europe though). The schematic option is more geared toward arduino / digital stuff than audio, but there are workarounds and it's probably the most gentle learning curve out of all of the stuff I've tried and it's fairly logical too, so even if you end up not liking it I think that it won't be a waste of time.

Is there any software out there that can be used to knock out a schematic as quickly as pen+paper+scanner?

If your looking for cheap pcbs I've seen pretty good reviews for ITeadstudios

for instance
2Layer Green PCB 5cm x 5cm Max
This service provides you 10pcs 2Layer Green PCBs with 100% e-test
$9.90

10 -  5x5cm for less than $10? oooooh yeaaaah

[dthurstan]

I use Express PCB or Express SCH which comes with it. It's free and easy to use

http://www.expresspcb.com/ExpressPCBHtm/Download.htm

You can make up your own components or edit the existing items.
I favorite all the symbols and components I use and then there easy to get to.
Once you have placed an object you can click and hold the text boxes (values and component numbering) and move them around so it's not all bunched up or in the way when you connect objects.
It exports as a bmp which I convert to jpeg or print as pdf.
It can be a bit tricky getting straight lines to connect objects you have to turn on and of the snap to grid.

[Greg_88]

I would go with the free version of Eagle, too.
They are also offering good tutorials to learn basic and advanced PCBing here

[defaced]

KiCAD too.  Open source at that. 

I'm currently very proficient with Eagle, but am now learning KiCAD (no board size limitation). I will say that learning a new CAD package is really annoying.  I kinda wish I would have just started with KiCAD. 

[duck_arse]

I always spend ages getting my theme colours right, ie dark window colours and light text/foreground. easy on the eyes, my choice and all that. only a program like eagle has icons w/ dark foregrounds I can't change, and when they are not invisible on the window frame, what I can see is totally baffling. a minor pick, my colour preferences always seems to find a problem program.

and some of the ways eagle does things, even after using it all these years, is frustrating to say the least.

[peterg]

Thanks All

I gave Express a try and found it to be relatively straight forward. I used AutoCAD, which Express seems to be based on,  years ago so that probably got me off to a good start with it.

Now I need to learn how to etch!

DThurstan - thanks for the tip on repositioning the component text. It really cleans the board up.

[J0K3RX]

Is there any software out there that can be used to knock out a schematic as quickly as pen+paper+scanner?

http://www.digikey.com/schemeit

or

http://dhost.info/jschem/