SoloPCB Designer Users Guide
SoloPCB Designer Users Guide
SoloPCB Designer Users Guide
Page | 1
2012-2013 DownStream Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America 2012-2013 DownStream Technologies, LLC. All rights reserved DownStream Technologies, LLC., 225 Cedar Hill Street, Marlborough, MA 01752. Trademarks: Trademarks and service marks of DownStream Technologies, LLC., (DownStream) contained in this document are attributed to DownStream with the appropriate symbol. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. Restricted Print Permission: This publication is protected by copyright and any unauthorized use of this publication may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws. Except as specified in this permission statement, this publication may not be copied, reproduced, modified, published, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, without prior written permission from DownStream. This statement grants you permission to print one (1) hard copy of this publication subject to the following conditions: 1. The publication may be used solely for personal, informational, and noncommercial purposes 2. The publication may not be modified in any way; 3. Any copy of the publication or portion thereof must include all original copyright, trademark, and other proprietary notices and this permission statement; and 4. DownStream reserves the right to revoke this authorization at any time, and any such use shall be discontinued immediately upon written notice from DownStream. Disclaimer: Information in this publication is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of DownStream. The information contained herein is the proprietary and confidential information of DownStream or its licensors, and is supplied subject to, and may be used only by DownStreams customer. DownStream does not make, and expressly disclaims, any representations or warranties as to the completeness, accuracy or usefulness of the information contained in this document. DownStream does not warrant that use of such information will not infringe any third party rights, nor does DownStream assume any liability for damages or costs of any kind that may result from use of such information
Page | 2
Contents
Chapter 1 Before you begin ................................................................................................................................. 4 Welcome ............................................................................................................................................................. 4 How to Use this Guide ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Related documentation....................................................................................................................................... 5 The SoloPCB Design User Interface ..................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 Using SoloPCB Design .......................................................................................................................... 7
Starting SoloCapture and SoloPCB ...................................................................................................................... 8 Opening an existing design file or the most recently used design file ................................................................ 8 Creating a PCB design file using the PCB Wizard ................................................................................................ 9 Contact us with Defects and Enhancements ..................................................................................................... 10 Visit the SoloPCB Design Support Forums ......................................................................................................... 11 Navigating the Manufacturers or SoloPCB Design websites ............................................................................. 11 Checking for Updates ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Page | 3
Chapter 1
Welcome
FabStream is an integrated printed circuit board (PCB) design and manufacturing solution developed by DownStream Technologies. It is designed for small businesses, inventors, students; hobbyist and other Do-it-Yourself (DIY) electronic engineers needing a PCB designed for their project but cant justify the cost of commercial design software. At the heart of FabStream is our SoloPCB Design Software, consisting of schematic capture, PCB layout, and integrated routing. Solo PCB Design delivers unrestricted full featured capability, and supports small single sided to large 30 layer PCBs with advanced technologies. We partner with industry leading PCB manufacturers around the world to give you the largest selection of manufacturing options for your PCB project. We integrate each manufacturing partners design rules right into the software and automate the transfer of your manufacturing data to help ensure your PCBs are built without delay or defect.
Page | 4
Related documentation
In addition to this guide, you can find technical product information in FABStreams technical web site, as well as other books. The table below describes the types of technical documentation provided with SoloPCB Design.
This documentation part This Guide SoloPCB Designers Users Guide SoloCapture Users Guide SoloPCB Users Guide
Provides this A comprehensive guide for understanding and using the features available in SoloPCB Designer. A comprehensive guide for understanding and using the features available in SoloCapture A comprehensive guide for understanding and using the features available in SoloPCB A series of self-paced interactive lessons. You can practice what youve learned by going through the tutorials specially designed exercises that interact directly with SoloCapture and SoloPCB.
FABStream Tutorials
Page | 5
Page | 6
Chapter 2 Design
Using SoloPCB
The SoloPCB Design application is your starting point for the design and fabrication of printed circuit boards. You can start a new design by invoking SoloCapture and SoloPCB from SoloPCB Design. You can also find and open existing designs. SoloPCB Design allows you to open and browse the SoloPCB Design website and the manufacturers website from within its main content window. This chapter describes how to: Starting SoloCapture and SoloPCB Browse to open a Design file or the most recent Design file. The PCB Wizard Navigating the Home Manufacturers or SoloPCB Design websites Check for Updates
Page | 7
To start SoloCapture
1. From the SoloPCB Design menu, select the SoloCapture button on the SoloApps ribbon. The SoloCapture application will appear. See the SoloCapture Users Guide for information on how to create a schematic design.
To start SoloPCB 1. From the SoloPCB Design menu, select the SoloPCB button on the
SoloApps ribbon. The SoloPCB application will appear. See the SoloPCB Users Guide for information on how to create a printed circuit board design.
Opening an existing design file or the most recently used design file
If you have already created a design you can browse to find and open that file from SoloPCB Design. You can also quickly open the most recently saved design file.
To open an existing design file 1. From the SoloPCB Design menu, select the Open button on the Files
ribbon. The File Open dialog will appear.
Page | 8
2. Browse to find and select the design file you would like to open. Select the
Open button on the dialog. SoloPCB Design will automatically open the appropriate application (SoloCapture or SoloPCB) and load the design file.
To open the most recently saved design file 1. From the SoloPCB Design menu, select the Recently Used button on the
Files ribbon. SoloPCB Design will automatically open the appropriate application (SoloCapture or SoloPCB) and load the most recently saved design file.
Page | 9
3. On the Step 1 page, specify the PCB size and units using the Form Factor Wizard, or by importing a DXF form factor, or choosing to manually create a form factor in SoloPCB. You can also enable or disable tooling holes and specify their location and size. Select Next to continue. 4. On the Step 2 page, choose a PCB technology. You can choose a Standard 2, 4, or 6 layer technology file. These Standard technology files have fixed parameters that meet the manufacturers requirements and cannot be changed. For advanced technologies, such as blind and buried or micro vias, laser drilling, controlled or matched impedence and dielectrics, gold fingers, exotic finishes, and wider choises for silkscreen and solder mask colors, use the Full Feature technologies option. Select Finish to continue. 5. Specify a file name and location. Select the Save button. SoloPCB Design will invoke SoloPCB and load the design file.
Page | 10
Page | 11
Page | 12