Designing Circuit Boards with EAGLE: Make High-Quality PCBs at Low Cost

Chapter 1. Introducing EAGLE

Circuit design applications can be divided into two categories: those intended for large design firms and those intended for everyone else. Applications in the first category provide high reliability, a wide range of features, and responsive technical support. But these advantages come with a hefty price tag. A perpetual license for Altium Designer costs more than $7,000 and Cadence’s OrCad suite costs nearly $10,000.

Applications in the second category are less expensive, and this makes them accessible to students, individuals, and small-to-medium businesses. Unfortunately, they tend to be unreliable and plagued with bugs. Without technical support, there may be no way to work around these difficulties. What’s worse, ...