EDA Software

Does anyone have recommendations for EDA software?

Right now I am using Fusion 360 (Eagle basically), but it is hard to do panelization and the UI is difficult to use since it has new stuff layered on top of the Eagle base.

@profezzorn you use KiCad, right? Is it worth learning?

Depends on your criteria I think. Kicad is the only program I’m aware of that fits mine: Free, open-source, relatively complete EDA. If kicad didn’t exist, or really sucked, I would consider paid software as well. I do NOT consider software which is free today but which may or may not be free tomorrow a reasonable choice. I would rather pay full price for some software and know I will be able to use it forever than use something free that may change at any time.

I don’t really know how kicad stacks up to other options, because it’s been a while since I actually tried any other options. (The last other option I tried was Eagle 7) Kicad has gotten a lot better since I started using it, but my impression is that there is still some catching up to do compared to commercial EDA software. That said, I put up with the quirks, missing features and having to input most footprints and symbols myself because it’s open-source.

Panelizing in kicad isn’t particularly easy, but it’s not particularly hard either. Basically you just cut-n-paste the board as many times as you need, then you re-draw the outline and add drills or v-cuts as needed.

Okay, that’s good info. Thanks.

I pay for Fusion…since I do a lot of modeling work for my projects. I may just have to get used to the awkward workflow of their PCB design.