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You’ve got all the right ideas, but do you know what to do with them? Schematic design is needed to get those ideas out of your head and into action! Schematic symbols from the foundation of every electronics design, and if you’re like most engineers, then you probably started doodling your circuit on the back of a napkin or your notebook. Now that you’ve got all that circuitry on paper, it’s time to put it into practice in your PCB design tool.

1. This tutorial is the first of a two-partUsing EAGLE series, and it's devoted entirely to the schematic-designing side of EAGLE. In part 2, Using EAGLE: Board Layout, we'll use the schematic designed in this tutorial as the basis for our example board layout. Suggested Reading.
2. Table of Contents Activate Command and Select Object.81 Command Line.81.

Step-by-steptutorial.pdf by Boricuatech123. Step by Step Tutorial for EAGLE. Simple example of how to get started with a EAGLE design. Design a Single-layer PCB Using Eagle ECE480 Senior Design Team 5 Cheng Zhang Abstraction: This application note is a tutorial of designing a single-layer PCB using Eagle program. The tutorial will guild the reader through building schematic, designing PCB layout and generating CAM files in the Eagle program.

A Few Disclaimers

There are a few things we’d like to cover before we journey further, specifically:

Know Your Symbols

It’s good to have a general understanding of all the parts that you can place on a schematic and their appearance. We’d recommend saving this handy reference list, or even printing out the chart below and hanging it above your desk.

Why? First, this will be a huge help if you ever need to review any schematic. And second, there’s a ton of symbols, many of which look different depending on if you’re looking at a US or international schematic. It’s near impossible to remember all of those, so keep this chart handy.

Some of the most common symbols you’ll find used in electronic schematics.

Creating a Schematic Is a Multi-Step Process

Next, let’s talk about the process that it takes to complete a schematic for a PCB. Selecting and placing your symbols is just one piece to the puzzle. To give you an idea of what it takes to consider a schematic fully complete, here are all the steps:

1. First, you need to find, place and orient all of your symbols on a blank schematic sheet. That’s what this blog post is all about.
2. Next, you need to provide some electrical connectivity between each part with nets and assign values and names to your parts. This will be covered in Part 2.
3. And lastly, you need to make sure everything is connected as it should be by running an ERC, or Electrical Rule Check. This will be covered in Part 3.

Let’s start working with schematic symbols!

Step 1 – Creating Your First Project and Schematic

We’re going to assume that this is your first time working with Autodesk EAGLE. Download EAGLE for free if you do not have it already. Every project is organized into a project folder, with schematics, PCB layouts, and other files all nestled together in one location. This makes it easy to keep things organized. Let’s create your first project and add a brand new schematic with these steps:

1. First, open Autodesk EAGLE, and you’ll be greeted with the Control Panel. This is your home away from home and will contain all of your libraries, projects, scripts, and more.
2. From the Control Panel, select File » New » Project and give your new project folder a name.
3. Next, right-click on your project folder and select New » Schematic to add a new schematic sheet to your project.
4. This will open a blank schematic document. Before you do anything else, save your schematic by selecting File » Save As and give it a name.

Now we have our project folder set up with our first schematic. If you go back to your Control Panelyou’ll be able to see all of your project files organized together as shown below:

Our first project folder and schematic highlighted in orange. There’s also a ton of example projects that are included in Autodesk EAGLE for free.

Step 2 – Activating Your Libraries

Next, you’ll need to activate all of the libraries that come with EAGLE, and there’s a ton of them! This is one of the remarkable benefits of using EAGLE, as most of the parts you need for your design have already been created by someone else, so you don’t have to spend time making them yourself.

To begin, select the Add icon on the left-hand side of your EAGLE schematic. This will open the ADD Dialog, notice that it is blank.

None of the libraries are showing up that come with Autodesk EAGLE. The solution – they need to be activated first.

By default, when you open EAGLE for the first time none of the default libraries will be activated. So let’s go back to your Control Panel and turn them all on with these steps:

1. In your Control Panel, select the arrow next to the Libraries folder. You can see we have a ton of libraries to add, but there’s an easy way to make this happen.
2. To add all of your libraries at once, right-click the Libraries folder, then select Use All.
3. If there are any libraries you want to activate or deactivate individually, simply right-click a library, and select Use.

As you can see in the image below, all of the part libraries in our Libraries folder have a green dot next to them. This means that they’re activated and ready for use in our schematic.

The green dots indicate that a library is active and ready for use.

You might have noticed that there are other sub-folders within the main Libraries folder from elektro, element14, etc. These sub-folders didn’t get activated from the steps you did above since the libraries are nested within another folder. But no worries, if you want to activate these libraries just repeat the steps above for each individual folder.

You’ve got your libraries activated now, let’s start searching for and placing your symbols.

Step 3 – Searching and Placing Your Schematic Symbols

Now that your libraries are activated let’s head back into your schematic document and select the Add icon on the left-hand side of your interface. Your ADD Dialog should now look similar to ours:

This is how your Add Dialog should look when your parts libraries are activated.

Let’s find our first part, a timer, with these steps:

1. In the Search field, type in “NE555” and press enter. This should bring up one search result from st-microelectronics – NE555 General purpose Bipolar Timer. You’ll notice that this part has its own preview that shows off its symbol, footprint, description, and attributes.

   Here’s an NE555 timer, notice how every part includes a symbol, footprint, description, and set of attributes.

2. Using this part in your schematic design is simple. To do this, select the part name, then select the OK button to enter into placement mode on your schematic.
3. Next, left-click anywhere on your schematic sheet to place your symbol. Let’s go ahead and place 3 of these timers so we can practice our deleting skills later.
4. Once you’re done placing your symbol, press the Escape key to get out of placement mode, which will open the ADD Dialog again.

You just placed your first schematic symbol. Easy enough, right? You can repeat the process above to add all of the parts you need for your schematic. There are a few more parts to add, so head back into the ADD panel and search for the following parts:

• Resistors – You’ll need 4 of these. Search for “resistor” and choose the first one in the resistor > R-US_ folder.
• LEDs – You’ll need 2 of these. Search for “LED5mm” which should be the only option that shows up in your search.
• Capacitor – You’ll need 1 of these. Search for “electrolytic capacitor” and choose the first one in the rcl > EL- folder.
• Connector – You’ll need 1 of these. Search for “M02” which should be the only Amp Quick Connector that shows up in your search.

If you were following along, then your schematic sheet should have the parts shown below (where they are placed doesn’t matter, right now):

All the schematic symbols you should have so far, we’ve got (4) resistors, (2) LEDs, (1) capacitor, (1) connector, and (3) bipolar timers.

Step 4 – Moving, Deleting and Rotating Your Parts

Alright, now that you have all of your parts placed, it’s time to learn how to delete all of those extra timers you added earlier. Then we’ll get your parts facing the right direction with some rotation options, and then we can move every symbol to its proper location!

Deleting Parts

You have three timers sitting on your schematic sheet, but you only need one. Let’s learn how to delete those extra ones with these steps:

1. Select the Delete icon on the left-hand side of your interface.
   
2. You’re now in delete mode, and all you have to do now is select the middle of each timer symbol to delete them.
3. Delete a part on accident? Just select Edit » Undo to bring it back to life. Or, press CMD + Z on Mac or Ctrl + Z on Windows.

We’re now down 2 timers, leaving us only the essential parts we need for this circuit.

Rotating Parts

Now that you have all of those unnecessary parts deleted, let’s get everything facing the right direct direction with these steps:

1. Select the Rotate icon on the left-hand side of your interface.
2. Next, left-click once on a resistor. This will rotate it 90 degrees. Left-click again to rotate it 180 degrees, and so on. Rotate all of your resistors 90 degrees, so they’re all vertical.

All of your other parts should already be in their correct rotation, but if not, make sure everything matches up with our schematic below:

Now that all of our parts are in the correct orientation we can be moved to where they need to be.

Moving Parts

Now, let’s get everything moved into place on your schematic. This part is important as your symbols need to be placed in the way they will be wired on your completed schematic. Follow these steps:

1. Select the Move icon on the left-hand side of your interface. This icon looks like a set of 4 arrows, all facing in their respective North, East, South, and West directions.
2. Next, left-click one of your symbols. This will highlight it in a bright red color, indicating that it’s now actively selected and ready to be moved.
3. You can now drag this symbol around on your schematic sheet wherever you please. When you’re ready to confirm the new placement, left-click again to place the part.

This process is pretty straightforward. Go ahead and move all of your parts around to make it match our schematic below:

Our schematic with all the symbols in their place, ready for wiring with nets.

Interface Alternatives

There’s one handy alternative that we’d like to point out about the EAGLE interface before we send you on your way. In the steps above, you relied on the set of icons on the left-hand side of your interface to perform all of your actions. However, this isn’t the only way to get things done; there’s also the right-click Context Menu, check it out:

The right-click context menu provides a ton of options when working with symbols.

You can open this context menu by hovering over a symbol with your mouse or trackpad and right-click. You’ll notice that many of the actions we used today can be found in this menu. Keep the Context Menu in mind the next time you need to adjust your symbols. The choice is yours.

First Steps Accomplished

You did it! Your schematic symbols are now placed and ready to be wired, which we’ll be covering in our next blog. This is a big first step in your EAGLE journey. Here’s a quick recap of what you learned today:

Projects – First, you learned how to create a new project and schematic sheet in Autodesk EAGLE. This all went down in the trusty Control Panel.

Parts – Next, you activated your libraries and learned how to search for parts in the ADD panel, then you placed them on your schematic.

Placement – Lastly, you learned how to get rid of all those unnecessary symbols with the delete option and then you rotated and moved your parts to their new home.

This is a great first start, but it’s just the beginning of your schematic. Here’s what you can look forward to in the rest of the Schematic Basics series for Autodesk EAGLE:

• Schematic Basics Part 2 – Schematic Wiring & Values – Learn how to wire all of your schematic symbols together with nets and how to add values and part names.
• Schematic Basics Part 3 – Checking Connectivity with ERC – Learn how to confirm that you’ve wired everything together on your schematic correctly with an ERC, or Electrical Rule Check.

Making your first schematic in the free version of Autodesk EAGLE is just the tip of the iceberg!

This page provides answers to questions frequently asked by Autodesk EAGLE users.

General

Schematic Editor

Layout Editor

Library

User Language

Does EAGLE run with Windows 7/8/8.1/10?

Yes it does. EAGLE versions 6.x and 7.x are running without problems.

Does EAGLE run on 64-bit Linux Systems?

Yes, EAGLE is only available for 64-bit Linux distributions

Where Can I Find Help and Get Information About EAGLE?

Installation code for the software

After purchasing the license an email will be sent to your inbox. Attached to this email is a PDF file named “packing list”. On page 2 of the PDF file, you will find a link that shows you where to get your license data. Copy the link into your browser. After confirming with “OK” on the first page, the second page appears. There your personal installation code consisting of 10 lower-case characters is shown. Make sure to save the code as you will need it for the activation of your software later on. Press the button further down the page to download your license key file. No start EAGLE and use license file and installation code for licensing. Please contact us if you have any question.

Tutorial

Is part of the EAGLE installation and can be found in the doc folder as a pdf file. Perfect for a newbie to get familiar with EAGLE.

Manual

Is also part of the EAGLE installation and available as pdf file in the doc folder.

Help Function

Can be used any time in EAGLE. Start it either through the Help menu, or by using the F1 key, or typing HELP in the command line of an Editor window. HELP ROUTE for example, shows the help page for the ROUTE command.

UPDATE File

The EAGLE installation comes with a file named UPDATE.txt (Windows) or UPDATE (Linux, Mac) in the eagle/doc directory. This file reports about all changes made between specific releases. Should it be the case that you experience, for example after an update, some trouble with one of your usual operations in EAGLE, the reason could be some changing in the EAGLE program that ought to be documented in this file. New features and, if so, bugfixes are documented as well.

Newsgroups

CadSoft maintains a free news server at news://news.cadsoft.de that offers English and German speaking groups. There you can share your experiences with other EAGLE users, put questions to the support team, or post suggestions for future releases. To use this service you need a Newsreader software.

Current Version on the Web

Eagle Cad Tutorial Pdf

The newest official EAGLE version can be found on the CadSoft web server’s Download area. The archives can also be downloaded from the ftp server: ftp://ftp.cadsoft.de/eagle/program.

Beta Version on the Web

If you are interested in the current beta version, you will find it at: ftp://ftp.cadsoft.de/eagle/betatest. The CadSoft news server news://news.cadsoft.de offers a specific group eagle.betatest which deals with questions, problems and information around the beta versions. This group is mainly kept in English.

The EAGLE Project Management

What is a Project?

A project in the sense of EAGLE is at first simply a folder which contains various files that belong to your current work. At all accounts the board and schematic file. Possibly one or more specific libraries, a special dru file with subtle Design Rule settings, or possibly in a subdirectory manufacturing data files, and so on.But what it makes a real project is the file eagle.epf in this folder. EAGLE uses this file to store information about currently opened editor windows and libraries that are in use. Also specific settings made in the active editor windows or, for example, special setting for the width menu, or the recently used layer for the tracks routed in the layout with the ROUTE command.

How to Work with a Project?

The Options/Directories menu in the Control Panel allows to define one or more project paths. Such a path points to a folder that contains the specific project folders.
A project is created in the Control Panel. Simply by the menu File/New/Project, or with a right hand mouse click onto the Tree View’s Projects branch and a click on New project in the context menu. Now a new project folder show up which can be named individually. Project folders are marked, in contrast to normal folders, with a red coloured icon and show a marker behind the name. This marker indicates whether the project is active (green) or not (grey). Clicking the marker with the mouse toggles its state, which means to open or to close the project.

If exiting EAGLE while a project is active, it will be restored automatically next time you start EAGLE again. If no project is active while exiting EAGLE, only the Control Panel will appear next time where you can chose the project you want to work with. Please keep in mind that EAGLE can store information about editor windows only in the case it’s open while closing a project or exiting EAGLE.

Where and How to Configure EAGLE?

There are three configuration files that contain the main settings for EAGLE:

The script file eagle.scr, the project file eagle.epf, and the user-specific eaglerc file.

How do the files eagle.scr, eagle.epf, and eaglerc play together?

eagle.scr is the place for settings that should be set initally for your layouts, schematics and libraries when beginning a new drawing.eagle.epf saves all the settings that have been made during work. For example, a special drill menu content because in this project (board) you have to use certain drill diameters. Such things are stored in eagle.epf for the currently opened (layout, schematic, library) editor window.

As soon as you will close, for example the Layout editor window, the settings for it are no longer available.eaglrc contains user-specific or global settings which don’t have something to do with the layout/schematic you are currently working with. Settings that, for example, concern the EAGLE User Interface, Window settings, Dialog settings, Color definitions and so on.

eagle.scr
This file can be found in the subfolder scr of your current EAGLE installation, for example, in version 4.16 for Windows in C:Program Fileseagle-4.16scr. This file can be used to define basic settings that shall be valid for a newly created Schematic, Board, or Library file. eagle.scr will be read each time you create a new file or open a file by the File/Open menu. It won’t be read if a file (editor window) opens automatically by an active EAGLE project file, for example, while starting EAGLE.

eagle.scr offers separate sections for the specific editor windows. After the keyword BRD: follows everything that shall be executed in the Layout editor, SCH: stands for the Schematic editor, LBR: for the Library editor in general, DEV:, SYM:, andPAC: for Device, Symbol, and Package editor. Settings for all editor windows (for example, a common background colour) can be made in the very beginning of the file, which means before BRD:.

What is defined in eagle.scr usually?

Pre-definition of the grid, contents of the drill, width, size, diameter menu (SET command), any other option of the SET command, for example, used layers, colours and so on. In principle everything that can be done also in the Options/Set menu in one of the Editor windows (see also HELP SET).

eagle.epf
This file will created as soon as you create an EAGLE project, for example, by the File/New/Project menu in the Control Panel. In the Tree View’s project branch shows up a new project folder which is tagged with a red coloured icon. This indicates that this folder contains a file named eagle.epf. The marker behind the project name shows the current status of the project. Green reveals the project as active.

What is stored in the project file eagle.epf?

Firstly the project file eagle.epf is empty. While closing the project (for example, by clicking the green marker) or while exiting EAGLE (Alt+X) this file will be saved automatically, provided the option Automatically save project file in the Control Panel’sOptions/Backup menu is set. In the project file EAGLE saves information about the currently opened editor windows, their positions on the desktop, and their displayed contents. Additionally for each editor window several specific settings, like the current content of menus (for diameter, width…), the recently used or predefined values for width, drill, diameter, via length, and so on. The whole purpose of this file is to restore exactly the current situation when you will start this project the next time.eagle.epf contains also information about libraries that are currently in use.

eaglerc.usr and .eaglerc
This is a user-specific configuration file named eaglerc.usr that can be found from Windows 7 on in the directory ...AppDataRoamingCadSoftEAGLE or, in a Linux or Mac environment, in your Home directory. Whereby it is linux-typically named .eaglerc. We are talking about this file commonly as the eaglerc file.

Which settings can be found in the eaglerc file?

eaglerc saves information about the path settings that can be done in the Control Panel’s Options/Directories menu. Furthermore the information of the latest project directory, provided a project was active, when exiting EAGLE last time. So the project will be opened again automatically at the next EAGLE start.

In addition you will find the current assignment of function keys for each editor window, settings concerning the user interface, information about the appearance of various dialog windows (ADD, Replace, Device editor…), the drill symbol definition which is done in the Options/Set/Drill Symbols menu, colour settings for background and layers (see menu Options/Set/Colours), and also the colour for the grid lines or dots. And furthermore the settings of the print dialog and the list of the recently used files.

Take a look into the file with a simple text editor and see all the options at a glance. There is no special documentation available, but most of the options are self-explanatory. Some of the eaglerc entries are explained in detail in the UPDATE/UPDATE.txt file. There you can search for the specific keyword.

Changes in the eaglerc file ought to be made only after exiting EAGLE!
If eaglerc does not exist, EAGLE creates it with the current settings.

Further Configuration Files

Design Rules File – *.dru

This is a file that can be created by the user, if he wants to store special Design Rule settings, for example, for other boards or future projects. The dru file can be saved in the Design Rules dialog, which is available by the Edit/Design Rules menu or the DRC command. Use the Save as.. button in the File tab here. It is also possible to load an already existing dru file with the Load.. button.

What contains a dru file?

All the settings that can be done in the Design Rules, for example, information about the Layer Setup, minimum distances, minimum wire width and drill diameters, permitted values for restrings of vias and pads, the shape of the pads, settings for solder stopmask and cream frame, and so on.In the dru directory, a subdirectory of the eagle directory, you will find a file named default.dru. It contains basic settings, EAGLE uses by default for new board files. In case you messed all the settings up, simply load this file to get usable default values.

Design Rules will be stored in the board file directly. It’s not necessary to pass this file to your board house.

Autorouter Control File – *.ctl

This file can be created by the user. After adjusting the cost factors and parameters for the Autorouter in the Autorouter Setup Window (AUTO command) it is possible to save these settings in a ctl file, for example, for future routing jobs. In order to save a ctl file goto the General tab and click the Save as…button. It’s also possible to load an already existing file by clicking the Load… button.

A newly created board file (by the menu File/New/Board) comes with EAGLE’s default settings for the autorouter.

What is saved a ctl file?

Everything that is autorouter-specific. The number of routing layers and their preferred directions, the routing grid, the number of Optimize passes and all the values for cost factors and routing parameters.

Details concerning routing parameter can be found in the manual.

How can I Pre-Define my own Grid for Layout, Schematic, or Library?

EAGLE uses in each Editor window a certain default value for the drawing grid. In the Schematic Editor, for example, it’s set to 100 mil, the Layout Editor uses a default grid of 50 mil.

This can be changed in the file eagle.scr. This script file can be found in the in the folder scr, a sub-directory of the EAGLE program folder. Please edit this file with a simple text editor. If you would like to change the setting for the Layout Editor, look for the section BRD: in the file.

GRID MM 1.27 DOTS ON;

sets the grid to 1.27 millimeters and displays it as dots as soon as a BRD file will be opened. The semicolon terminates the command line in the script file. If there already exists a grid command line in this section replace it with your own.

The syntax of the GRID command can be found in the help function, for example with HELP GRID.

The same can be done accordingly in other sections, whereas SCH: stands for the Schematic Editor, PAC:, SYM:, and DEV: stand for Package, Symbol, and Device Editor.

After changing the eagle.scr file, please reload the currently opened files by the File/Open menu. Special note concerning the Schematic Editor:

The default grid of 100 mil should not be changed! If you prefer to work with millimeters there is nothing to be said against it. Change it in the SCH: section in eagle.scr:

GRID DEFAULT MM;

or

GRID MM 2.54;

Board and Schematic are not consistent! What can I do?

The Back and Forward Annotation can only work as long as Schematic and Layout are loaded at the same time. Otherwise changes made in one file won’t be transferred to the other.

If ERC reports Board and Schematic are not consistent!, you probably closed one of the files (at least for a while) during your work. All the changes made in this period are missed in the non-active part. This is the reason for the differences ERC reports in the bottom part of its error file, after the warning and error messages (if any) concerning the issues of the schematic.

The differences between Schematic and Layout have to be corrected manually now. According to the error message you have to place the missing parts, name them correctly, set the corresponding value, connect the missing nets or signals and so on. Start the ERC frequently to check the error messages. Proceed until ERC reports no more differences.

As soon as the message Board and Schematic are consistent will be reported, Back and Forward Annotation works again.

And please keep in mind: Schematic and Layout have to be loaded simultaneously all the time!

Can I use my old EAGLE files in the newest version?

Files from Version 2.6 and newer
EAGLE files from version 2.6 and newer can be loaded directly into the new EAGLE release. The data format is converted automatically. Since version 6.0.0 EAGLE uses a readable XML data structure.

Files prior to version 2.6
For this purpose you can use an older DOS based program named UPDATE26.EXE (16 bit application) which can be found in the eagle/bin folder (EAGLE for Windows only). Please be sure to copy the files you want to convert and the files named UPDATE26.EXE and LAYERS.NEW which can also be found in eagle/bin into a common folder. Now open the Windows’ Comand Prompt and go to this folder. If you are working with Linux, you could use xdosemu to emulate a DOS box.

Now type in:

update26 filename.ext

The file will be updated and you are able now to load it with EAGLE 2.6 and newer. The message on the screen is: ok….If the message is Please define replacement for layer xxx in LAYERS.NEW, the layout/schematic/library contains self-defined additional layers. Due to the new layer definition which was introduced from EAGLE 2.05 to EAGLE 2.60 you have to substitute the old layer number with a new one which is higher than 100. Please edit the file LAYERS.NEW with a simple text editor and add the new layer number. If you want to change, for example, the layer number 55 to 105, please add a new line at the end of the file.
This can look like this:

55 105

That’s it.

I Can’t Connect Pin and Net. Why?

As a rule you ought to work with the 0.1 inch grid (which is the same as 100mil or 2.54mm) in the schematic. All the Symbols in the default libraries use the default grid setting. The net must end exactly on the pin’s connection point (visible in the Pins layer) in order to get a connection. The slightest difference here and there won’t be a connection.

Checklist: Where does the error come from?

• Check at first what the currently used grid is. 0.1 inch?
• Check with the INFO command the location of part and net.

If the displayed coordinates are on grid the problem might be caused in the library definition. To check the location of the objects properly it can be usefull to set GRID FINEST.

• Check the location of the pins in the Symbol Editor with the INFO command.
• Check the location of the gate in the Device Editor with the INFO command.

How to correct the position simplest?

With the MOVE command and the input of coordinates, directly in the command line of the Schematic, Symbol, or Device Editor, for example: MOVE (0.0092 1.001) (0 1);Since version 4.1 EAGLE allows to use the combination of Ctrl + MOVE. Select the MOVE command, hold the Ctrl key pressed, and click onto an object in order to bring its origin point into the currently active grid. Adjust the grid to 0.1 inch before.If there are no elements or only a few in the Schematic’s default grid, you could use an ULP: snap-on-grid-sch.ulp snaps all elements in the Schematic to a given grid. The same can be done for pins in the Symbol Editor with the help of snap-pin-in-symbol.ulp.

Please keep in mind:

Moving a net onto a pin does not result in a connection. You have to move the part (pin) onto the net to get them connected.

Copying a net with the COPY command and moving it onto a pin does not result in a connection (the same as MOVE). Attention: The net name remains unchanged with COPY!

The SHOW command highlights pin and net, if connected. Nets are drawn with the NET command!

How to Define the Pad Diameter?

Since EAGLE version 4.0 the default libraries contain only information about the drill diameter and the shape of a pad. The diameter value is set to auto, which is the same as 0, by default.

What does this mean?
The actual diameter will be calculated in the Layout Editor only. The calculation rule can be found in the Design Rules (menu Edit/Design Rules…) in the Restring tab (It's pronounced rest-ring). There you are allowed to define different calculation rules for Top, Bottom, and inner layers.

How is it Calculated?
The percentage, which is related to the drill diameter is used to calculate the width of the copper ring that is around the drilling. Default is 25%. A drill diameter of, for example, 0.032 inches results in a ring width of 0.008 inches.In the next step EAGLE checks if this value is within the given minimum and maximum boundaries. If so, the diameter of the pad results for our example in (2 * 0.008) + 0.032 = 0.048 inches. Let’s assume the minimum value is set to 0.010 inches. In this case the previously calculated value of 0.008 inches will be increased in order to accomplish this criteria to 0.010 inches. The resulting pad diameter will be 0.052 inches now. If the calculated value for the restring exceeds the value of the maximum limit it will be decreased to the maximum tolerated value. The minimum value represents in principle the Board house’s given production limits. This is the reason why it is forbidden to exceed the lower limits.

What Happens if I Define a Diameter in the Package Editor?

If you choose a value for the pad diameter in the Package Editor, EAGLE calculates again the width of the copper ring by the given percentage as soon as you add the part to the layout. The calculated value will be compared to the pre-defined one, resulting from the given diameter in the library. If the pre-defined value is smaller than the calculated value or the minimum limit is exceeded, the pad diameter will be increased.In the case of exceeding the maximum limit, EAGLE will tolerate this. The pad’s diameter won’t be reduced automatically!

Changing the Design Rules affects the board immediately! Modify the settings for Rest-ring and click the Apply button and you will see the result in the layout directly!
Rest-ring settings are valid for all the pads in the layout!

It may happen that the pad diameter shown in the Package Editor or in the preview of the Device Editor or the Control Panel is not displayed exactly the same as it is in the Layout Editor because the Design Rules can be applied in the Layout Editor only!

My Layer Setup Allows to Use Blind/Buried/Micro Vias. But EAGLE Shows all Vias in all Signal Layers! Why?

The vias are displayed in green by default. This setting, however, does not allow to distinguish vias with different lengths. Changing the color of the Vias layer to the background color causes EAGLE to display the vias in the colors of the respective signal layers. Thus we get a clearer view about the vias’ locations.

The layer color has to be changed with the DISPLAY command. Select the Vias layer in the Display menu and click onto the Change button. Now a mouse click onto the Color button. Select the background color, which is the left one in the first row of the color matrix. If necessary, initiate a window refresh to make changes visible.

Vias and Solder Stop Mask – How Does it Work?

EAGLE generates by default a solder stop mask for each Via (also for Pads and SMDs, of course). This means the Via is free of coating material. The solder stop mask is drawn automatically in the layers 29, tStop, for the top side and 30, bStop, for the bottom side. The size of the solder stop mask can be determined in the Design Rule’s Mask settings. See the values for Stop. By default the value is fixed to 4 mils. Minimum and Maximum are set to the same values therefore.

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If you want to have a diameter-dependent mask you could also define a certain percentage. The resulting value can be limited by a minimum and a maximum.

In order to have vias coated, EAGLE allows you to set the solder stop Limit in the Design Rules’ Masktab. Here you can define a value which is dependent on the drill diameter of the via. Let’s assume you would like to set the Limit to 0.012 inch. Now all vias in the layout up to a drill diameter of 0.012 inch will be covered with coating material. All those vias that have bigger drills will stay uncovered.

In case you want to have some smaller drilled vias uncovered, you have the possibility to select vias out of those that are covered in order to uncover them. This can be done with the command CHANGE STOP ON | OFF in the Layout Editor. This also works for groups.

By the way: It is allowed to draw areas that should remain free of coating material in the tStop/bStop layers directly. But it is not possible to delete certain automatically generated solder stop symbols there. You have to deal with Limit and CHANGE STOP ON | OFF instead.

Texts Don’t Look the Same on the Screen and on the Printed Board! How can This Happen?

EAGLE uses and shows in the Layout Editor (also in the Schematic) a proportional font by default. But this one can’t be used for generating manufacturing data by the CAM Processor. The CAM Processor can only work with the EAGLE internal vector font. The appearance of the vector font however, differs from the proportional font in size and length.

Thus we recommend to write all texts – at least those in copper layers – in vector font.

Besides, there is the option Always vector font in the Options/User Interface menu which displays and prints all texts in vector font, independent of the originally defined font. If this option is active, the texts on the screen will look exactly the same as they will do on the printed circuit board. A particularly suitable example to demonstrate the differences would be inverted text in a polygon (therefore the text is written in one of the Restrict layers).

If you pass on the BRD file directly to your Board House in order to let the operator there generate the manufacturing data, it’s recommended to activate the option Persistent in this drawing, too. In this case his EAGLE system will display the vector font as it is on yours. It does not matter if the option Always vector font is set or not then.

How to Create Power Planes, for Example for GND?

To fill areas on the board with copper you have to use the POLYGON command and draw the outlines of the area to be filled. The polygon’s name determins the signal that should be connected with. After closing the contour you have to name the polygon with the NAME command. Therefore click onto the polygon’s contour and type in the signal name. RATSNEST calculates the filling of the polygon and displays it on the screen. The polygon follows the settings of the Design Rules and the values given for Net classes.

The polygon area consists of single lines that are drawn with a certain width which should not be set too fine (and never be 0). The finer it is, the more the polygon will branch out on the board, but keep in mind that it will cause larger and larger amounts of manufacturing data when processing the drawing with the CAM Processor.

Typically you should keep the polygon width in the same range as your other wires. So choose a reasonable value for your copper area.

Another important parameter is Orphans: As a polygon automatically keeps a certain distance to other signals it can happen that the polygon is separated into a number of smaller polygons. If such a polygon has no electrical connection to any other (non-polygon) object of its signal, the user might want it to disappear. With the parameter Orphans = Off (default) these isolated zones will disappear. With Orphans = On they will remain.

RATSNEST Does Not Process my Polygon. Why?

After drawing a polygon in a copper layer EAGLE show the polygon contour only. In order to display the whole copper plane, you have to use the RATSNEST command. In some cases the contour view of the polygon remains unchanged, the copper plane won’t be processed.

This can have several reasons:

1. The option Ratsnest processes polygons is switched off. In this case EAGLE prompts in the status bar of the Layout Editor window: Polygons have not been processed. Please switch this option on in the Options/Set/Misc menu. You can do this in the command line as well:

SET POLYGON_RATSNEST ON; or in short SET POLY ON;

2. You have named the polygon with an already existing signal name, for example: GND. However, the polygon is not processed. A possible reason can be that there are no objects (pad, smd, via, wire bends) with the same name inside the polygon’s contour. Check it with the SHOW command, for example: SHOW GND.
   
3. Inside the polygon’s contour are elements belonging to the polygons signal, but they can’t be reached. This may happen, if the wire width of the polygon or the given clearance values in the Design Rules or for net classes are to large. Try to avoid such bottlenecks in your design and verify/adjust these values in order to connect all the objects inside the polygon. 4. EAGLE (version 5) prompts Signal ‘xxx’ contains an invalid polygon and Error while processing polygons. In this case the polygon contour overlaps itself at least at one position. After cancelling the RATSNEST command EAGLE displays the location of the overlap on the screen. Modify the polygon contour in a way to make it processable.

Hint about the polygon parameter Orphans
In case that there are no elements that can be connected to within the polygon, the area won’t be filled if orphans is set off. If you would change it to on, the polygon would be filled, but nevertheless won’t be connected to a pad, via, smd.

Supply Layers, Power Planes, Polygons in Inner Layers – What is what?

If you would like to use copper planes in inner layers you should be aware of several things and know how this works:

EAGLE uses so-called Supply layers, that will be generated automatically and lead one single signal. And there are the quite “normal” inner layers that use polygons for copper planes.

EAGLE considers its Supply layers as a special kind of inner layer.

Supply Layer: (will be discontinued in EAGLE version 6)

This one can be activated with the Supply option in the DISPLAY menu, Change button. The layer name determins the signal that will be lead in this layer:

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If you use, for example, the name GND, and activate the Supply option, the resulting layer name is $GND. The $ character is the identifying mark for a Supply layer. This can be done also with the help of the LAYER command, for example:LAYER 3 $GND

Specials of a Supply layer

a) The layer is displayed inverted, i. e. everything drawn in this layer is non-copper on the real board. b) This layer does not work with Pads and Vias. Connected elements will automatically get Thermal symbols if required, isolated elements will get isolating rings, so-called Annulus symbols. The dimensions of these symbols can be adjusted in the Design Rules’ Supply tab. c) To keep the board edges free of copper draw an isolating WIRE near the border. This avoids possible short circuits between adjacent (Supply) layers. d) It is not possible to draw traces in a Supply layer (inverted display!). e) For manufacturing data generation (for example Gerber) with the CAM Processor you have to activate the Supply layer only, nothing else! No Vias, no Pads! f) And again: The layers Pads and Vias have nothing to do with the Supply layer. To see what’s the matter in this layer you have to display only this Supply layer. And remember the inverted display.

Inner Layer with copper planes – the “normal” power layer:

In this case the inner layer will be treated the same as the Top or Bottom layer. Pads and Vias are necessary for connecting the polygons. The width of the polygon also determins the width of the traces that connect Pads or possibly Vias in Thermal symbols. Polygons follow the given Clearance values of the Design Rules.

What do we have to keep in mind?

1. Pads and Vias in inner layers are basically of round shape and are usually smaller in diameter than they are in Top or Bottom layer (see Restring settings in the Design Rules). With the default setting in EAGLE (layer color for Pads and Vias is green) the differences in shape and diameter are not visible in the Layout Editor. If the inner layer is displayed with Pads and Vias, it might happen that the distances seems to be too close. But this is not the case!
   Here is makes sense to change the layer color for Pads and Vias to the background color (DISPLAY, Change, Color). Now Pads and Vias are shown with the respective color of the currently active signal layer(s). It is possible to distinguish different shapes and diameters of each signal layer.
   
2. Do you want to place several signal planes in a common layer? Then you may use several polygons with different names. Here it makes sense to use them with different Ranks.
   
3. You are allowed to draw additional traces. The polygons keep their respective clearances. Keep an eye on the copper areas. It might happen that they will be devided into pieces and that there will appear airwires that represent not connected elements. RATSNEST should report Nothing to do! when the design is finished.

Finding Libraries and Components

In the Control Panel’s tree view Libraries branch are listed all the libraries stored in the given library path(s) which is set by the menu Options/Directories. Most libraries provide a short description of its content which is shown on the right half of the Control Panel as soon you click on one of the library entries in the tree view. Click the + character in front of the library name to unfold it, in order to see the Devices and Packages in the library. Click on one of these entries and you will get a preview on the right.

In addition there is a direct search function in the ADD dialog where you select the components in order to place it in your schematic or layout. In the Schematic Editor it is possible to search for Devices.

If you are looking for Packages, you have to do this in the Layout Editor.
Please note: The search function recognises only libraries that are in use (USE command). Whether a library file is in use or not can be checked quickly in the Tree View’s Libraries branch. If the marker behind the library name is green, it is in use. Is it grey, it’s not in use and not taken into consideration by the search function.

The ADD dialog has a Search line at the bottom. Enter the search pattern there. It makes sense to work with placeholders here. The asterisk * stands for any number of any character, while the question mark ? is used for exactly one single character. The options Smd and Description in the ADD dialog allow to extend the search for parts with smds and include the Device/Package descriptions.

If you don’t find an adequate part in one of the EAGLE default libraries take a look at CadSoft’s web server. In the Download area’s Libraries directory are lots of user-contributed files available for free download. Otherwise it’s easily possible to define your own part in EAGLE.

User Language Program (ULP) – What is This and How to Use it?

EAGLE can execute programs that are written in a C-like program language, the so-called EAGLE User Language. These programs are always availabel as readable text files. ULPs are highly flexible tools in order to modify internal EAGLE data or to produce data for other purposes. The EAGLE installation comes with various ULPs, that can be found in the Control Panel’s tree view User Language Programbranch. Click onto one of the entries there and the description for the selected ULP will be shown on the right.

Don’t care! You don’t need programming skills to work with ULPs. You simply have to use the RUN command which is available in the Action Toolbar or by the File/Run… menu. Depending on the program you will be asked for further details or it will silently process its job. How it works can be found in the ULP’s description.
Somebody who has some skills in programming can use a simple text editor to check an ULP or even modify it according to his own preferences. Or write a totally new program.

A detailed description of the User language can be found in the help function (keyword: User Language) of EAGLE.
The Download area of CadSoft’s web server offers lots of User Language Programs for free.

Various useful ULP-based functions (Selection, April 2016):

Aid to panelize boards — panelize.ulp
Changing library elements — change*.ulp
Defining parts from BSDL files — make-symbol-device-package-bsdl.ulp
Calculate the length of tracks — length-ri.ulp
Change wire widths — cmd-change-wire-width.ulp
Change and swap layers — cmd-change-swap-layer.ulp
Move parts into a certain grid — snap*.ulp
Simple placement aid for layouts — autoplace_v3.ulp
Generating a drill legend — drillegend-stack.ulp
Reduce drill diameter for manual drilling — drill-aid.ulp
Extract project libraries — exp-lbrs.ulp
Renumber components in the layout — cmd-renumber.ulp
Access to Farnell's components data base — designlink.ulp
And much more….

Data Export (Selection):

IDF 3D data exort (and STEP via external partner) — eagleidfexporter.ulp
3D data for a MCAD system (Ideas, SolidWorks…) — generate_3d_data.ulp
Partlist with database connection, in various formats — bom*.ulp, part*.ulp
Board statistics (number of drills, parts, signals…) — statistic-brd.ulp
Milling outlines, prototypes — outline.ulp, mill-outlines.ulp
CNC data for drilling and board outline — b_cnc.ulp
Gcode data for mechanical etching / trace engraving — gcode.zip , pcb-gcode.zip
DIF4.0 format from Digitaltest for testing equipment — dif40.ulp
UNIDAT format for testing and mounting — unidat.ulp
Data for Polar GRS500 Flying Probe test system — eagletogrs.zip
IPC-D-356 for testing — ipc-d-356.ulp
Fabmaster format for testing — fabmaster.ulp
ASCII data for mounting parts — mount.ulp, mountsmd.ulp
4qd format for mounting SMT — 4quad.ulp
GenCAD format for testing — gencad.ulp
Data for Optical Inspection system VISCOM — viscomnew.ulp
Data for a glue mask — glue*.ulp
Excellon2 format — excellon_2.ulp
Drill data for LPKF drilling machines — lpkf_drl.ulp
Drill data in PRO-PAL format for ISEL machines — paldrill.ulp
Schematics in in Windows Meta File (WMF) format — sch2wmf.ulp
DXF — dxf.ulp
EPS format — epsdraw*.ulp
EAGLE Schematic to Postscript — eagle2ps*.ulp
PIC format for docu in Troff or LaTeX — pic.ulp

Data Import (Selection):

DXF — import-dxf.ulp
BMP — import-bmp.ulp
Gerber data — import-gerber.ulp
ACCEL-ASCII-Format — import-accel.ulp
PADS-POWERPCB-V5-BASIC ASCII file — import-pads-powerpcb-v5.ulp
DDF from Ultiboard PCB, version 4.80 and 5.50 — import-ultiboard-DDF.ulp
Netlist in “Protel default” format — netlist_protel.ulp
Protel Netlist in EAGLE-Script for layouts — protel2eagle.zip
Orcad netlist — orcad_netlist.ulp
Tango netlist — import-tango.ulp
Orcad schematics — importbom_and_netlist.zip
Electronic Workbench data in EAGLE Script for layouts — ewb2egl.zip

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Interfaces to other programs (3rd party, not by CadSoft):

PCBSim — Simulation software from Felicitas Customized Engineering
LTSpice — Analog simulation from Linear Technology
B2Spice – Simulation software
ELECTRA – Autorouter