GNU/Linux下如何设计PCB印刷电路板
This website contains links to Electronic Design Automation(EDA) tools that are released under the GPL(either v2 or v3).
Here is a list of active projects (as of Feb 20 2012):
Fritzing description (from their webpage):
Fritzing is essentially an Electronic Design Automation software with alow entry barrier, suited for the needs of designers and artists. Ituses the metaphor of the breadboard, so that it is easy to transferyour hardware sketch to the software. From there it is possible tocreate PCB layouts for turning it into a robust PCB yourself or by helpof a manufacturer.
Website: frizing.org
Forums: frizing.org/forums
Download: Fritzing 7.0b source tarball
gEDA Project description (from their webpage):
The gEDA project has produced and continues working on a full GPL'd suite andtoolkit of Electronic Design Automationtools.These tools are used for electrical circuit design, schematic capture,simulation, prototyping, and production. Currently, the gEDA projectoffers a mature suite of free softwareapplications for electronics design, including schematic capture,attribute management, bill of materials (BOM) generation, netlistinginto over 20 netlist formats, analog and digital simulation, and printedcircuit board (PCB) layout.
The gEDA project was started because of the lack of freeEDA tools forPOSIXsystems with the primary purpose of advancing the state of freehardware or opensource hardware. The suite is mainly being developed on the GNU/Linuxplatform with some development effort going into making sure the tools run onother platforms as well.
gEDA was started by Ales Hvezda (back in 1997) and its homepageused to be hosted here for some time. The gEDA Project is now hosted ona new server:
Website: www.geda-project.orgWebsite: wiki.geda-project.org
Website: git.geda-project.org
Website: pcb.geda-project.org
Website: gerbv.geda-project.org
Website: gedasymbols.org
Website: iverilog.icarus.com
Website: gtkwave.sourceforge.net
Mailing List: geda-help
Mailing List: geda-user
Download: gaf stable 1.6.2-20110115 source tarball
Download: gaf unstable 1.7.2-20111231 source tarball
Download: PCB 20110918 source tarball
Download: gerbv 2.6.0 source tarball
Download: xgsch2pcb 0.1.3 source tarball
Download: Icarus Verilog 0.9.5 source tarball
Download: gtkwave 3.3.32 source tarball
KiCad
KiCad description (from their webpage):
The KiCad EDA Suite project aims at creating a portable,cross-platform, Free/Libre/Open-Source EDA Suite. That is capable ofschematic and printed circuit board design. The code is licensed underthe terms of the GNU GPL.
Design Goals
Tools. The suite consist of a project manager, schematic editor, netlist converter, pcb designer and a gerber viewer.
Cross-platform. Works on Linux, Windows and experimental on Mac OS X.
File formats. It exports to many common formats likePostscript, Scalable Vector Graphics, Gerber RS274D/X, HPGL, DXF,Excellon.
Website: http://kicad.sourceforge.net
Mailing List: kicad-users
Mailing List: kicad-developers
Download: KiCad 2011-12-28-BZR3254 source tarball
Qucs description (from their webpage):
Qucs is an integrated circuit simulator which means you are able tosetup a circuit with a graphical user interface (GUI) and simulate thelarge-signal, small-signal and noise behaviour of the circuit. Afterthat simulation has finished you can view the simulation results on apresentation page or window.
Website: http://qucs.sourceforge.net/
Mailing List: qucs-help
Mailing List: qucs-devel
Download: Qucs 0.0.16 source tarball
XCircuit description (from their webpage):
XCircuit is a UNIX/X11 (and Windows, if you have an X-Serverrunning, or Windows API, if not) program for drawingpublishable-quality electrical circuit schematic diagrams and relatedfigures, and produce circuit netlists through schematic capture.XCircuit regards circuits as inherently hierarchical, and writes bothhierarchical PostScript output and hierarchical SPICE netlists. Circuitcomponents are saved in and retrieved from libraries which are fullyeditable. XCircuit does not separate artistic expression from circuitdrawing; it maintains flexiblity in style without compromising thepower of schematic capture.
Website: http://opencircuitdesign.com/xcircuit/
Mailing List: xcircuit-dev
Download: XCircuit 3.8.7 source tarball
gEDA Project 是一个比较理想的模式，国内很多的pcb工厂和设计人员都过渡依赖protel 99se, altium designer ,cadencne ,mentor graphics 的一些windows 系统下的大型EDA软件，一般是ddb格式的比较多， 而想gEDA这样的软件很少人去学习，使用，和生产配套， 看到GERBER格式的在国内有支持的，很是兴奋和欣慰。
PCB 设计，是时候和windows说再见了！
Website: gerbv.geda-project.org
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Gerbv is a viewer for Gerber RS-274X files, Excellon drill files, and CSV pick-and-place files.
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Gerbv is a native Linux application, and it runs on many common unixplatforms. A Windows version is also available.
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Gerbv is free/open-sourcesoftware.
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You may download the source codefrom thispage.
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The core functionality of gerbv is located in a separate library(libgerbv), allowing developers to include Gerberparsing/editing/exporting/rendering into other programs. Documentationfor libgerbv is here.
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Gerbv is one of the utilities affiliated with the gEDAproject,an umbrella organization dedicated to producing free software tools forelectronic design.
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The latest official gerbv release is version 2.6.0, released on 2011-12-25. (available here).
About Gerber files
Gerber filesare typically output by a PCB CADtool(such as the gEDA Project's PCB),and are sent to a PCB manufacturer who uses the filesfor manufacturing Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs).
There are two standards defining Gerber files: An old one calledRS-274D, and a newer one called RS-274X. Gerber files generated inthe old format (RS-274D) lack aperture information, which must besupplied separately. The new standard (RS-274X) embeds apertureinformation into the file.Note: Gerbv displays RS-274X files! Gerbv will not display RS-274D files!When you create Gerber files usingyour PCB tool make sure you export RS-274X files if you want to viewthe files with gerbv.
In the Gerber format, the different layers of a PCB (e.g. top silk,top metal, interior layers, etc.) are held in separate files. Information about thePCB's stackup (i.e. layer order, thickness, etc) is notcaptured by Gerber files; it is up to the user to supply this information to gerbv, and to his PCBmanufacturer.
为何要将PCB文件转换为GERBER文件和钻孔数据后交PCB厂制板为何要将PCB文件转换为GERBER文件和钻孔数据后交PCB厂制板
大多数工程师都习惯于将PCB文件设计好后直接送PCB厂加工，而国际上比较流行的做法是将PCB文件转换为GERBER文件和钻孔数据后交PCB厂，为何要“多此一举”呢？
因为电子工程师和PCB工程师对PCB的理解不一样，由PCB工厂转换出来的GERBER文件可能不是您所要的，如您在设计时将元件的参数都定义在PCB文件中，您又不想让这些参数显示在
PCB成品上，您未作说明，PCB厂依葫芦画瓢将这些参数都留在了PCB成品上。这只是一个例子。若您自己将PCB文件转换成GERBER文件就可避免此类事件发生。
GERBER文件是一种国际标准的光绘格式文件，它包含RS-274-D和RS-274-X两种格式，其中RS-274-D称为基本GERBER格式，并要同时附带D码文件才能完整描述一张图形；RS-274-X称为扩展GERBER格式，它本身包含有D码信息。常用的CAD软件都能生成此二种格式文件。
如何检查生成的GERBER正确性？您只需在免费软件Viewmate
V6.3中导入这些GERBER文件和D码文件即可在屏幕上看到或通过打印机打出。
钻孔数据也能由各种CAD软件产生，一般格式为Excellon，在Viewmate中也能显示出来。没有钻孔数据当然做不出PCB了