Modern PCB Design Practices: Part 2 — Tips and Techniques

The first article from audio expert Ethan Winer about Modern PCB Design Practices, gave a general overview of board design using surface-mounted devices (SMDs). The article examines current practices and methods for designing four-layer printed circuit boards using surface mounted components (SMDs), and this second part explains specific strategies and related issues to deal with the design and production of great quality PCBs. This article was originally published in audioXpress, March 2023.

In this two-part series, Ethan Winer examines current practices and methods for designing four-layer printed circuit boards using surface-mounted components (SMDs). A great article for our DIY readers and many developers who often are faced with the need to build and test their projects on a properly designed, prototype printed circuit board. Part 1 presents an overview of the process, while Part 2 he will explain specific strategies. Many related issues will be described along the way.

SnapEDA, the electronics design search engine, released SnapEDA for Fusion 360 in collaboration with Autodesk. Electronics designers can now search and place free cloud-based symbols, footprints and 3D models from SnapEDA directly within Fusion 360. And the SnapEDA search engine for electronics design is now also integrated through plug-ins available for popular software tools such as ExpressPCB, DipTrace and Proteus PCB, among others.