Homebrew PCBs

Several months ago I was looking for a PCB design and layout software 
package.  I wanted to draw the schematic and lay out the PCB.  A 
friend at work told me about CadSoft Eagle.  I found that they had a 
freeware version so I got it.

I went through the tutorial several times and started to create my 
schematic.  Right off the bat I found that most of the components I 
was using were not in the supplied libraries.  At least, I could not 
find them.  I went to work creating the devices in a new library.  
The supplied tutorial did not give enough information to create the 
devices.  A search of the internet found a small tutorial 
specifically on creating devices.  I then was able to create the 
devices in my new library.

I was able to muddle through the process and finally got my schematic 
and PCB completed.  It seemed to be an uphill battle all the way.  It 
seemed that few of the processes in Eagle are intuitive at all but 
rather some obscure method that is difficult to discover and equally 
difficult to remember.

I then went on to my second project which needed a larger circuit 
board.  It wouldn't fit within the constraints of Eagle freeware 
version, so I started looking for another software package and found 
DipTrace.

As with Eagle, DipTrace comes with a tutorial and libraries.  I went 
through the tutorial and while reading, realized that the processes 
and techniques in DipTrace seemed very intuitive in nature.  Quite 
different from Eagle.  I then started on my project.  I was amazed at 
the size of the supplied libraries.  I found all but a couple of my 
components in the supplied libraries.  For the few components I could 
not find, it was easy to create them in DipTrace.

Comparing DipTrace to Eagle is like comparing night and day.  Going 
from point A to point B can be done in both, but the trip is so-o-o 
much easier in DipTrace.

Help with DipTrace is also very readilly available.  They've got a 
yahoo group called 'diptr'.  The DipTrace staff is very involved with 
all of the discussions on the group and you get quick answers to all 
of your questions.

My bottom line is:
If you're looking for PCB software, give DipTrace a try.
If you use Eagle, give DipTrace a try.
If you're fed up with Eagle, give DipTrace a try.

Have a Great day.

Jim