DesignSpark PCB8.0 / 8.1 Beta

DesignSpark PCB is a comprehensive piece of software developed to help you put together PCB projects by resorting to handy tools, such as multi-page schematic designs and pin counts.The setup procedure may take a while until it finishes putting everything in place. Once it is over, it pops up a large window with a professional look that resembles AutoCAD, and a sample project is loaded by default.

Drawing and editing tools

DesignSpark PCB puts are your disposal a wide range of PCB design tools. You can add components, pads, unrouted connections, tracks, text, boards, open and closed shapes, and so on. It is possible to type coordinates and offsets to navigate the PCB design, track layers, highlight the net, change segments, as well as flip shapes. Layers and connections can be easily swapped.

3D mode and reports

The project can be previewed in 3D mode and you can customize the colors for the board, copper, components, pin, non-electrical layers and background, as well as pick the board and layer drawing thickness, gap for exploded view, and measurement unit.When it comes to evaluating statistics, you can generate reports for the bill of materials, component height, dangling tracks, design rule check, net completion, and so on. Plus, the project can be converted to a DXF drawing. Other tools of the app let you measure distances, automatically place components on the design, and more.

Evaluation and conclusion

The program has a fair response time and uses a significant amount of CPU and RAM, which is normal when considering the complexity of DesignSpark PCB. It did not hang, crash or pop up error messages in our tests. All in all, DesignSpark PCB comes packed with advanced features and configuration settings made for developing, customizing and exporting PCB projects, and it is clearly oriented towards professionals.