PCB (software) explained

PCB

Developer:	Thomas Nau
Released:	1990
Operating System:	Unix-like (BSDs, Linux, Solaris, and Microsoft Windows
Genre:	Electronic design automation (EDA)
License:	GPLv2

PCB is a free and open-source software suite for electronic design automation (EDA) - for printed circuit boards (PCB) layout. It uses GTK+ for its GUI widgets.

History

PCB was first written by Thomas Nau for an Atari ST in 1990 and ported to UNIX and X11 in 1994. Initially PCB was not intended to be a professional layout system but as a tool for individuals to do small-scale development of hardware.The second release 1.2 introduced user menus. This made PCB easier to use and increased its popularity.Harry Eaton took over PCB development beginning with Release 1.5, although he contributed some code from Release 1.4.3.

PCB includes a topological autorouter named Toporouter, developed by Anthony Blake in a Google-funded open source project mentored by DJ Delorie in 2008. It is mostly based on an implementation of the algorithms described in Tal Dayan's 1997 PhD thesis, "Rubberband based topological router". This router has meanwhile been adapted for use with the open-source KiCad project as well.

In 2013, pcb-rnd was forked from PCB.

Features

Scalable fonts
Layer groups to keep signals together
Add on device drivers
Gerber RS-274X and NC Drill output support
Centroid (X-Y) data output
PostScript and Encapsulated PostScript output
Rats-nest generation from simple net lists
Automatic clearance around pins that pierce a polygon
Flags for pins and vias
Groups of action commands can be undone by a single undo
Simple design rule checker (DRC) - checks for minimum spacing and overlap rules
Drawing directly on the silk layer
Viewable solder-mask layers and editing
Netlist window
Netlist entry by drawing rats
Auto router
Snap to pins and pads
Element files and libraries that can contain whole sub-layouts, metric grids
Up to 16 copper layer designs by default
Trace optimizer
Rats nest
Connectivity verification
Can interoperate with free schematic capture tools such as gEDA and XCircuit
GNU autoconf/automake based build system
PCB is Free Software

File formats

Import

PCB accepts textual file in the form of a network lists and associated pins. Such file may be produced from a GEDA or XCircuit program or some other

Export

bom: Bill of materials.
gcode: G-code.
gerber: Gerber.
.ps: PostScript.
.eps: Eps.
.png: Image.
.nelma: Nelma.
.gsvit
.ipc-d-356