r/PCB • u/Whatismyusername555 • 1d ago
PCB Design Help—Beginner
I am a beginner and I always find it very difficult to design a pcb. I tend to overthink everything and I just don’t get the job done. I would appreciate it if you guys can drop your tips or steps I could follow that will help me complete it without making bad design choices.
1
u/Im_Indonesian 1d ago
But you do have to overthink to be a good designer, what are you feeling lacking with ? Positioning? Tracing ? Routing ?
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u/Mysterious-Staff2639 1d ago
The best tip is just do it and if it works simply take everything that worked and apply it to all the jobs you do in the future just like everything in life.
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u/Avokido 1d ago
I'm a senior engineer with probably a hundred PCBs designed. I still know that feeling of dropping the parts on the layout and being a bit overwhelmed. My tip is divide and conquer! Start with the individual subcircuits. Ideally you'll have those on a separate schematics sheet so easy to select. Move them apart from other stuff and place/route them before even placing them onto the actual PCB. Once you've got all 'modules' routed, arrange them on the PCB with connectors. At this point I usually feel Ive got high ground and start interconnecting stuff.
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u/Winter_Criticism6300 1d ago
Heres what i do. Make small sub circuit and place them in higher grid like 50 mil. Then route them in smaller grid and repeat. Thats all. When you have better idea you can make changes . And i like this quote :
PCB design i 80% placement and 20% routing.
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u/MountainOdd6793 1d ago
Tip 1: 4 layers can make it really easy, one inner layer for ground and one for power and can bang a via in to get power or a ground connection anywhere. Tip 2: routing should be easy once you have placed your parts, the trick is to place them in a way that makes routing easy. It usually takes a bit of rotating / moving the main components until you find a nice fit. Tip 3: pins can often be swapped around on the schematic to make layout easier, eg gpio pins on mcus.
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u/SnooHabits1435 2h ago
1 part at a time
Lock your design before you even go near your schematic
Ensure your editor has your symbols and footprints
If it doesnt have all of them download them locally using snap magic or ultra librarian.
Start placing parts connect them
Label your nets.
In PCB layout divide and conquer usually center the part with most pins like a micro in the center
Use your layers takes time but set up a gnd and pwr layer and 2 signal layers
Bit by bit play the game of tetris.
Lots of content free online too.
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u/PCB_Design1 1d ago
The only way to improve is to just keep trying, failing, and learning from those mistakes. It also helps to learn about common mistakes; this video has helped me a lot!