Learning PCB Design with OrCAD

Course details

Designing printed circuit boards (PCBs)—which help to power nearly all electronic devices—requires both sound reasoning and creative thinking. In this course, Kirsch Mackey steps through this process, demonstrating how to design and output a PCB using OrCAD (also known as Allegro), the industry-leading software used by many of the world's top electronic and consumer device manufacturers. Kirsch steps through how to work with both OrCAD Capture and PCB Editor to bring your project to the finish line, helping you become familiar with the electronic board development workflow along the way. Learn how to create electronic schematics, lay out your circuits on printed circuit boards, and generate manufacturing files and PCB documentation.

Learning objectives
Differences between OrCAD Capture and PCB Editor
Starting a new project in Capture
Organizing schematic parts
PCB design in PCB Editor
Manufacturing and design constraints
Troubleshooting design errors
Generating PCB documentation

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Become comfortable and proficient in OrCAD

1. Getting Started

02 - OrCAD Capture and PCB Editor differences
03 - Setting up OrCAD for project success
04 - Setting up backwards compatibility
05 - Navigating and using OrCAD Capture

2. Schematic Design in Capture

06 - Starting a new project in Capture
07 - Add part libraries to a Capture project
08 - Search and place parts in a schematic
09 - Organize schematic parts
10 - Connect the parts in the schematic
11 - Schematic Design Rules Check (DRC)
12 - Rename the parts (Annotate)
13 - Check parts and finalize schematics
14 - Generate a bill of materials (BOM)
15 - Generate a smart PDF
16 - Transfer a schematic to a PCB

3. PCB Design in PCB Editor

17 - Navigation in PCB Editor
18 - Setting up the PCB environment
19 - Place the PCB outline and mounting holes
20 - Placing components on the PCB
21 - Manufacturing and design constraints
22 - Routing the PCB, part 1
23 - Routing the PCB, part 2
24 - How to fix PCB footprint errors
25 - Design Rules Check (DRC) and 3D collisions

4. Final Outputs

26 - Drafting PCB information
27 - Generate manufacturing files
28 - Generate PCB documentation

Conclusion

29 - End of design and next steps

DEPRECATED

30 - Setting up OrCAD for project success
31 - Transfer a schematic to a PCB
32 - Schematic Design Rules Check (DRC)

Learning PCB Design with OrCAD

Authors

Kirsch Mackey