Tutorials:
Manually Creating PCB Designs

1. Designs can be manually created using the various tools available in real-PCB.

2. Components can be added to your design from the Components Pane. First of all select the library you want from the drop down 'Component Library' menu and then select the component you want from the 'Components' list. A preview of the PCB footprint will be shown for this component along with a view of its equivalent schematic symbol. To add the component into your design drag it directly from the 'PCB Footprint Preview' window and drop it in the design space.

3. Once you have all the components you need there are several ways to add in the tracks you require. Use the 'Add Track' tool to directly add them. Alternatively use the 'Add Connection' tool to add in straight connections (these only show that two component pins are electrically connected together, they must then be turned into tracks which are the actual physical links between pads shown on a PCB) and then auto-route these connections into tracks either individually by right clicking on the connection and choosing Auto Route or all at once by going to Tools > Auto Route > All Connections.

4. Even once a design has been placed and routed it is still possible to manipulate it. Components can be moved around and any resultant overlapping tracks can either be easily manually dragged clear of each other or individually auto routed from the right click menu.

5. Where it is not possible to use tracks you can add in wires. You can either choose from flying wires, which are flexible wires of any length, or wire links, which are fixed size zero ohm resistor links.

6. If required you can also add in copper text or silkscreen text to your design.

7. Finally, if you want to fill empty areas of your printed circuit board with unconnected copper to save etching solution you can do this using the 'Pour Copper' tool. If necessary this can be removed again using the 'Clear Copper' tool.

8. Designs converted from Crocodile Technology can also be manually edited using these tools.

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