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DesignSpark: Better Than Eagle? A New

Look At PCB Design Software
by Ryan Sailor 12.11.2013 Editorial

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The PCB design software market is admittedly a little stagnant. Newcomers often traverse old forum posts where PCB
veterans suggest the same few design applications for the same few superficial reasons. The bottom line is that until
recently, there were only a few good offerings and most engineers choose by experience or comfort with a particular
brand of PCB software.
EAGLE is one very popular PCB design software created by Germany-based Cadsoft Computer GmbH. The name
EAGLE is almost ubiquitous with amateur PCB design, probably due partly to its freeware option but certainly mostly
due to the fact that everyone keeps mentioning it whether for better or worse. Yeah, Im guilty too.
In a number of forums youll see mentions of KiCAD, EAGLE, gEDA, Fritzing, ExpressPCB, and AutoTRAX DEX. They range
from free to commercial products, but regardless of their cost they all seem to be good for different reasons and its
best to try out a bunch of them before deciding which to use for a project. Take a look at this comparison on Wikipedia
for starters.
EAGLE is an old-timer: its been around for a while and as such has become somewhat of a standard. In fact, Sparkfun
usually uploads EAGLE format files for their open-source hardware. The problem is that if you spend some time with
EAGLE and then some more time with other, newer EDA (thats Electronic Design Automation) software and you will
realize that EAGLEs UI is definitively out of date. In an industry of software where the features are similar across the
board, its the user interface and user experience that makes all of the difference.
With the number of more modern EDA products on the market that are free, many of which have fewer (to no) board
size restrictions than EAGLE Free, I think its worth taking a detailed look at several EDA options for PCB design
newcomers.

Meet DesignSpark
This article will take a look at DesignSpark PCB. Its completely free, but supposedly commercial quality software.
Developed by Allied Electronics and RS Components (both of which are the North American and European branches of
the same company) in 2010, DesignSpark is a product that tries to meet the technical needs of a wide range of
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engineers while still being accessible. In fact, DesignSpark PCB is one part of a group of DesignSpark products and
resources.

There are a few reasons DesignSpark PCB is my first reviewed program. First, its a free program without limitations like
freeware versions of commercial products, so its great for budding engineers and makers. Its supported by a major
electronics distributor which seems determined to maintain the software for the foreseeable future. Theres a serious
attempt to develop a supportive community which means better tech support, fewer bugs, and more native libraries.
Lastly, it supports EAGLE files and libraries which means the transition from EAGLE doesnt mean losing past work.
Lets dig in.

Getting To Know DesignSpark

DesignSpark starts out pretty empty: you see more functionality when editing either a schematic or a PCB layout. When
creating a new file, you can choose to create standalone schematics, PCB layouts, or a project. Projects can contain an
unlimited number of schematics and a single PCB layout, as well as some supporting files. Projects are for file
management as well as handling schematic to PCB layout synchronization. When you want to add files to a project,
you must create and save them first and then add them to the project.
Taking a look at the schematic view see image below there are three frames and two toolbars that form your editing
experience. The left side shows your basic options for the current view and the top toolbar is mainly settings. The right
frame has four possible tabs: Goto, Add Component, Component Bin in schematic view, and Layers in PCB view. The
Goto tab lets you search your file for any type of net, component, whatever. Add Component is the library access
window, shown in the screenshot below, which gives a list of components based on chosen library. If you need a more
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in depth search for components, you can open the Components window from the toolbar. Component Bin is storage
for unused components. Its good for if you want to keep your schematic uncluttered without removing component
properties that you might need later. In PCB Layout mode, the right pane has a Layers tab that allows
selection/hide/show options.

The schematic view in DreamSpark PCB showing all panels.

Schematic manipulation is easy. While Ive had experience with PCB software before, I know that using DesignSpark has
an easier learning curve than EAGLE. There are two big reasons: component creation and ModelSource. DesignSpark
has a very intuitive component creation wizard. Technically, its three wizards: symbol, PCB symbol, and component.
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Theyre very easy: you are presented with a choice of standard templates to help you get started. Then its a matter of
drawing some lines and placing pins. For the most common PCB footprints, a visual dialogue lets you define the
dimensions of the chip without needing to do any hand drawing. For example, for an SOIC package (such as the one in
the image below, right) you can specify pad count, pad shape, chip width, and pad dimensions.

Schematic Symbol Wizard

PCB Layout Wizard

One little annoyance I had in EAGLE that still exists in DreamSpark is that while there is plenty of space in the toolbars,
there is no quick select icon for basic passives, power, or ground symbols. While it was rather cumbersome to find a
capacitor in EAGLEs library system, Dreamspark alleviates the frustration by including a small DreamSpark
component library that contains all of the basics easily accessible from the frame on the right.
Probably one of DreamSparks best features is ModelSource. ModelSource is a library of component schematics and
PCB footprints made free by RS Components. According to DesignSpark, the library contains over 80,000 entries. The
files are available for download from their website. Having free components is good, but DreamSparks ModelSource
integration is even better. The bottom frame of the main program window is reserve for ModelSource. When in use, you
have to expand the frame to see everything, but its not much of a hindrance. There are three drop-down menus that
allow you to narrow down your search category. Once you find the right category, a large spreadsheet-like list will
download. From there, you can narrow your search even more using the parameter columns.
From there, you can load the part data, which is automatically added to a library named after its category. For example,
I/O Expanders or Connectors.
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Its not perfect, though. Notably, when you want to use a part that isnt there. ModelSource has most Atmel chips, but
doesnt include the 32-bit D-Series, or its also missing the I2C version of an I/O expander. Fortunately, if a similar part
exists, you can make a copy of the component into your custom components library and edit the pins.
Also, sometimes I found that I had to close and open a file before the downloaded parts from ModelSource displayed
in the components library frame.

A view of auto-routing and copper fill in the PCB layout.

The PCB layout is similarly intuitive. DesignSpark has options for auto component placement as well as auto routing.
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After a few adjustments to the technology file the grand master of all PCB design rules the auto-router was able to
route with 100% completion. Copper fill was similarly easy. In the image above, I made a ground plane by drawing a
rectangle covering the entire bottom layer. Trace avoidance was automatic, and if you look closely ground traces were
automatically connected.
When your design is complete, DesignSpark PCB outputs industry standard files to send to manufacturers. Unlike other
company-sponsored free EDA software, DesignSpark doesnt attempt to tie you to any particular manufacturer. In fact,
they have a PCB quote tool that gives an estimate from a few different manufacturers. On the other hand, the BOM
quote is straight from RS Components. Its non-committal: I promise.
A little icing is that DesignSpark includes a handy set of design calculators including heat sink dimensions, track
impedance, and via resistance. Its nothing special, but its a nice bonus.
Program stability is moderate. I had one issue when back annotating a change from the PCB layout to the schematic.
During back annotation, the program crashed, even after repeated attempts. This had to do with an issue where
similarly named nets across schematics were given qualifiers that made the PCB layout think they were different traces,
so I had to manually remove the qualifier for each one. Im hoping this is a one-time problem because otherwise this
can get problematic whenever a project requires multiple schematics.
Something I didnt like about the PCB layout view was that auto-DRC errors are displays at scarlet components on the
layout. So, when you have a row of components too near the board edge, a bunch of small letters appear underneath
which have to be manually deleted. You can disable Online DRC by un-checking the option under the Tools menu.
The online community is fairly active, but its hard to find much attention given to the program outside of DesignSpark
forums. At least the forum is fairly active with about 7000 and 1000 posts in its top two categories: General Electronics
Design Questions and Schematics Entry and PCB Layout. You should be able to find a solution to your problem there.

Summary
Pros
Simple Layout
Integrated 80,000 component online library (ModelSource)
Active community
Frequent updates
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No board size or schematic limits

Free!
Cons
Options and properties hidden in menus
No undocking of different tabs
Stability problems with PCB to Schematic back annotation
Not much mention of program outside of official community
Windows only! *thanks jayfehr for pointing this out*
Overall, DesignSpark PCB is a very accessible, comprehensive, community-driven PCB Design program. For its minor
faults, it still feels almost commercial. The UI is definitely better than EAGLE, with a more smaller learning curve. It can
be a little rough on the edges, with more properties and options hidden in menus than desired, but at least theyre
there. For a free package, DesignSpark PCB is a great deal, and definitely worth giving a shot if youre looking for new
EDA software.
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1 Comment

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Daniel Carrera Yanes

7 months ago

I went to the DesignSpark but it's only available for Windows, so it's useless to me. I use Linux and I'm not going to
dual-boot or run a windows emulator just for one program.

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