KiCad is an open source software suite for electronic design automation (EDA). It facilitates the design of schematics for electronic circuits and their conversion to PCBs (printed circuit board) design. KiCad was orginally developed by Jean-Pierre Charras, and features an integrated environment for schematic capture and PCB layout design. This is a general Getting Started Guide. There are other books in this series for tools like cvpcb, pcbnew, gerbview and more.

Intended for those people who want to control existing or self-built hardware from their computer. This book shows you advanced things like: using tools like Debug to find hardware addresses, setting up remote communication using TCP/IP and UDP sockets and even writing your own internet servers.

This book provides instruction on how to use the OrCAD design suite to design and manufacture printed circuit boards. The primary goal is to show the reader how to design a PCB using OrCAD Capture and OrCAD Editor. Capture is used to build the schematic diagram of the circuit, and Editor is used to design the circuit board so that it can be manufactured. The book is written for both students and practicing engineers who need in-depth instruction on how to use the software, and who need background knowledge of the PCB design process. Beginning to end coverage of the printed circuit board design process. Information is presented in the exact order a circuit and PCB are designed Over 400 full color illustrations, including extensive use of screen shots from the software, allow readers to learn features of the product in the most realistic manner possible Straightforward, realistic examples present the how and why the designs work, providing a comprehensive toolset for understanding the OrCAD software Introduces and follows IEEE, IPC, and JEDEC industry standards for PCB design. Unique chapter on Design for Manufacture covers padstack and footprint design, and component placement, for the design of manufacturable PCB's FREE CD containing the OrCAD demo version and design files