PCB

Developer(s)| Thomas Nau
Initial release| 1990 [1]
Operating system| Unix-like (BSDs, Linux, Solaris, OS X (experimental) and Microsoft Windows
Type| Electronic design automation (EDA)
License| GPLv2
Website| pcb.geda-project.org

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.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Features
* 3 File formats
* 3.1 Import
* 3.2 Export
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## 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.[1][2] The second release 1.2 introduced user menus. This made PCB easier to use and increased its popularity.[1] 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.[3] It is mostly based on an implementation of the algorithms described in Tal Dayan's 1997 PhD thesis, "Rubberband based topological router".[3][4] 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

## See also

* Comparison of EDA software
* List of free electronics circuit simulators

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "PCB document manual". http://project-pcb.com/wiki.html. 100826 pcb.gpleda.org
2. ↑ "Linux Fund partners to boost usability of gEDA open source electronic engineering software package". http://www.linuxfund.org/press/pcb/. 100826 linuxfund.org
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Topological Autorouter - Introduction". 2009-07-07. http://anthonix.resnet.scms.waikato.ac.nz:80/toporouter/.
4. ↑ "Rubberband based topological router". Santa Cruz, CA. USA: University of California. June 1997. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/91ce/7726d0b103db47ab5db433ed75b538e6e7f8.pdf.

## External links

* pcb.geda-project.org/pcb-cvs/pcb.html
* history of gEDA/PCB

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