Sprint layout 6 detailed guide. We draw boards in Sprint-Layout correctly from the first steps. Windows in a common bus

LikBez > Programs for radio amateurs

Everyone probably has long known a program for making printed circuit boards called Sprint-Layout

The program itself is very simple and does not require much time to master, but it allows you to make boards of a fairly high quality.
As I said, the program itself is quite simple, but it has a lot of buttons and menus to help us in our work. Therefore, we will divide our lesson in drawing a board into how many parts.
In the first part, we will get acquainted with the program and find out where and what is hidden in it. In the second part, we will draw a simple board that will contain, for example, a couple of microcircuits in DIP packages (and we will make these microcircuits from scratch), several resistors and capacitors, we will also see such an interesting feature of the program as the Macro Creator and make a microcircuit package with it , such as TQFP-32.
I will also show you how to draw a board from a picture or photo.
Part 1: What and where we hide and how it helps us in drawing a printed circuit board.
After we found it, unpacked it from the archive and launched it, we see such a window.

This is directly the window of our program, where we will later draw a scarf.
Let's start with the top bar
First, let's see what we have hidden behind the inscription File.
Click on this inscription, and immediately we have a drop-down menu.

New, Open, Save, Save As, Printer Settings…, Print…, Exit Everything is clear with this fraternity. Tea is not the first day we sit in Windows.
Save as macro... This option allows us to save the selected fragment of the circuit or other details as a macro, which has the .lmk extension, so that in the future we do not repeat the steps to create them again.
Autosave.. In this option, you can configure the autosave of our files with the .bak extension and set the required interval in minutes.
Export In this option, we will be able to export to one of the formats, i.e. save our scarf as a picture, as a gerbera file for further transfer to production, save as an Excellon drill file and also save as outline files for subsequent creation of scarves using a CNC machine. Usually useful in preparation for factory production.
Directories… In this option, we can set the parameters for working with the program, such as keyboard shortcuts for file locations, macros, layer colors, etc., etc.

Go to the next item Editor

Undo, Restore, Copy, Cut, Paste, Delete, Select all Everything is also familiar and standard.
Double Quickly make a duplicate of the selected part. Although, IMHO, ctrl+C ctrl+V is more familiar.
Copies…

Selecting this item will open the following window:

In which we can specify how many copies of the selected part we need to make horizontally and vertically and how to arrange them either with tiles or just in a row. It is convenient when you need to make a matrix of something. For example patches or some resistors.

The next menu item we have Project:

Add a board ... Here we can add another board to our file, for example, it’s very convenient when you draw the main board and a block with buttons, so you can make the main board on one tab, then click Add board ... and draw the block with buttons on a new tab. And additional boards are one of the few ways to drag a piece of montage from board to board.
Board Properties... In this option, we can set the properties of our board, such as height and width, as well as give it a name, such as "My handkerchief". This, by the way, is easier to do from the info menu on the main panel.

Copy board In this option, we can copy our board in order to make small changes on the copy, for example, put a slightly different connector somewhere.
Remove the board - and so everything is clear :)
Set Last, Set First, Move Right, Move Board Left This shuffles the order of the boards in the drawing. An almost useless feature.
Import from… But in my opinion, the most useful option is that it allows you to insert another scarf from the previously created ones into the scarf, for example, it helps a lot when you draw a complex body and forgot how to save the macro.

The next item we have Action

Rotate, Mirror horizontally, Mirror vertically I don't think any explanation is needed. Is that the rotation is done at a fixed angle that is set in the options, but the details are mirrored on the same layer. Like a picture. However, it’s better to poke yourself once than to read this dregs :)
Group, Ungroup You can link parts into blocks. Thus, for example, you can make a macro. And when copying objects are grouped. Sometimes it's annoying, and sometimes it's fun. Depends on the situation.
Move to opposite layer - moves the part to the corresponding layer on the other side. Copper on copper, silk on silk.
Move to layer - Similar to the top menu, but with a slight difference, it allows you to directly select the layer where we will move our part.

Snap to grid In my opinion, a very convenient feature (which, by the way, is missing in more serious programs, such as Eagle) in the program when you draw a scarf with different details, each has its own lead step and when you lay conductors between them. Moreover, you can set any grid in two clicks.
Remove Connections Sprint-Layout has such a feature as air connections. Usually they denote jumpers, for example, between two holes, first they put two patches, made a connection between them, it will be a thin green line, and then on another layer they drew a track between these two patches, and selected this option, then the program will analyze normally connected patches and will remove all unnecessary air connections.
Delete elements outside the board The entire working screen with a grid in the program is considered as a board, so if some element falls on its border, then this item simply deletes everything that goes beyond these borders.
Restoring the mask ... When choosing this option, we see such a window

The mask is used on factory boards. This is the same "brilliant green" that covers the boards at the factory, leaving only solder contacts open. If you drop the mask and give it to the factory, then you will get hellish hemorrhoids with scratching this varnish over all contact pads. To tear off his task is not easy and very tedious. On the first version of Pinboard, one of the pads was mistakenly covered with a mask. The installers freaked out.

Next on the list we have Options.

Settings…
When choosing this option, a window for setting the main parameters of our program will open, so let's dwell on it in more detail.

So, the first point, we have to configure the basic parameters. We can specify the units of length in our case, mm, specify the color of the hole in the pad, in our case it matches the background color and will be black, if later our background is red, then the color of the hole in the pad will also be red. You can also just set the color of the hole to white, and it will be white no matter what background we have.
The second item we have is Virtual nodes and traces, this item, if it is checked, gives a very interesting property in the program, it puts on the conductor that we draw several virtual nodes.

Here they are thin blue circles, which later, if you drag them with the mouse cursor, can be turned into a full-fledged node, and thus change the laid path.

And the program will automatically add a few more virtual nodes in the sections between the real nodes and we have the opportunity to further edit our track. This can be very convenient when you have to drag, for example, a third track, between two already laid ones.
Mirrored macros and text on the back
If this item is activated, then when inserting text or a macro on a layer, the program will itself look to mirror it or not so that later the parts or inscriptions have the correct display on our finished board.
The next item we have is the Board Map, this item has one interesting trick, if it is activated, then a small window appears on the left side of our program.

It's like a smaller copy of our headscarf, whether to include it or not, it's up to everyone to decide for me personally. Fans of the RTS genre will appreciate it too :)
Pop-ups are basically all sorts of hints in the program - obviously.
Limit font height (min 0.15mm)
This is the checkbox that many beginners and not only users of this program are looking for, if it is worth it, then when we make inscriptions on the board or on the elements, then we cannot make the letter size less than 1.5 mm. So if you need to put text somewhere smaller than 1.5 mm, then I recommend removing it. But when sending to production, this must be taken into account. Not everywhere can print silk-screen printing of such low resolution.
We go further and see another interesting thing, namely Ctrl + mouse to remember the parameters of the selected objects, if this item is activated, then one interesting thing appears. For example, we drew two contact pads and laid a track between them, say, 0.6 mm wide, then we did something else and in the end we just forgot what the width of this track was, of course, you can just click on it and in the track width setting we will display its width

here, instead of 0.55, our width will become 0.60, but then twisting the slider, to the right of the number, in order to adjust the width by 0.6 is lazy, but if we click on the same track with the Ctrl button pressed, then our value is 0, 6 immediately be remembered in this window and a new track, we will draw already with a thickness of 0.6mm.
Using a step of 0.3937 instead of 0.4.
Of course, the translator is very clumsy in the original, this paragraph is written as HPGL-Skalierung mit Faktor 0.3937 statt 0.4 in general, this paragraph is responsible for creating an HPGL file for subsequent transfer to the coordinate machine, and indicates whether to use one decimal place or, depending on the machine, use four characters after the comma.
We have finished with the first point and now we will move on to the second point of our window, it is called Colors and we will see what is hiding there.

Here everything is very simple for us and we set the colors for our program for the background, grid, lines, layers, or choose from several proposed options, here, as they say, there are no comrades for taste and color, and everyone sets them for themselves.
Go ahead and point Directories

There is nothing special here either, we just indicate the paths where and what we have, this setting takes place if we install the program from the distribution kit downloaded from the official site, but since the program works great for us without any installation, then nothing can be changed and go further.
And then we will go to the item Library

Also, in principle, we don’t see anything particularly interesting, we just indicate where we will store the library of our macros, because our program is smart, then it itself determines the location of our library with macros.
Go to Return

Here, too, everything is quite simple and we simply indicate the number by how much the program will be able to roll back the changes to us, if where something was screwed up when drawing our board, I set the maximum number to 50.
Let's move on to the next item, and we call it Imax

We set the estimated copper thickness on our workpiece and the estimated temperature, so that the built-in simple calculator shows us the current and voltage that can pass through the conductor.
And the last item in our setup is the Keys item.

In it we see keyboard shortcuts for certain operations and if something we can change them, although I didn’t really worry about it and left everything as it is by default.
With the Settings item, we are done and let's see the rest of the options in the Options drop-down menu.
Properties
If we select this item, then on the right in the program we will open a window

Properties where we can set the size of our scarf in width and height, as well as its name.
DRC control
When this item is selected, another window will open on the right.

Which will allow us to control our drawn handkerchief, set limit gaps, etc. Archiconvenient and archinuzhnaya thing. Especially when sending boards for production, and in artisanal conditions it comes in handy. The point is. We set, for example, a minimum gap of 0.3mm and a minimum track of not less than 0.2mm, and during the DRC check, the program will find all the places where these standards are not met. And if they are not fulfilled, then there may be jambs in the manufacture of the board. For example, the tracks stick together or some other problem. There is also a check of hole diameters and other geometric parameters.
Library
When you select this item, we will see another window on the right side of the program.

Namely, a window with macros, i.e. a window where we can select our finished parts and cases for their subsequent insertion into our scarf.
Sample…
If you select this item, you will see such a window

A very interesting point, it allows you to put a picture as a background on our table in a program where we draw a scarf. While I will not describe it in detail, but I will return to it.
Metallization
When this option is selected, the program fills the entire free area with copper, but at the same time leaves gaps around the drawn conductors.

These gaps can sometimes be very useful to us, and the board with this approach turns out to be prettier and more aesthetic, where to adjust the gap width I will also dwell in more detail when we draw the scarf.
Whole fee
We select this option, the scale will decrease on the screen, and we will see our entire handkerchief.
All components
Similar to the top point, but with the only difference that it will scale down depending on how many components we have scattered over the scarf.
All selected
This item will adjust the screen size up or down depending on which components we currently have selected.
previous scale
Return to the previous scale, everything is simple here.

Refresh Image
The easy option just updates the image on our screen. Useful if there are any visual artifacts on the screen. Sometimes there is a glitch. Especially when copy-pasting large pieces of the circuit.
About the project…
If you select this option, you can write something about the project itself, and then remember, especially after yesterday, that I drew there, it looks like this.

Hole chart...
Quite an interesting menu item that displays how many holes are on our board and what drills are needed to drill them, although I use it mainly in order to bring all the points on the contact pads to a single indicator for subsequent drilling and set their size to usually 0.6 mm .
Here's what it looks like on a real drawn board.

Here we see that we need to drill 56 holes and we need to fit five of them so that the inner point on the contact pad is 0.6 mm.
Macro Creator...
A very, very, very, useful item in the program that allows us to draw a complex body, such as SSOP, MLF, TQFP, or some other one in a minute or two. When you click on this item, a window like this will open.

Here we can choose and customize the drawing of our case, looking at the data from the datasheet for a particular microcircuit. Select the type of sites, the distance between them. Type of location and oops! There is a ready-made set of pads on the board. It remains only to arrange them on the silkscreen layer (for example, circle it in a frame) and save it as a macro. All!
The following items, such as Registration and a question mark, i.e. I will not describe help, because there is absolutely nothing in them that will help us in the further drawing of our headscarves, although help will be useful to those who are friends with the German language.
Phew described the fads in the drop-down menus, but all these items have their icons in the form of pictures on the panel a little lower, that is, all the options necessary for work are placed there, this panel.

I won’t dwell on it in too much detail, because it duplicates menu items, but when drawing further, I will simply refer to these icons so as not to obstruct perception with phrases like, Select the menu item File, New.
As I said, I will describe these icons, I will move from left to right and simply list them. If there is some kind of setting in the icon, then I will dwell in more detail.
Let's go from left to right New, Open file, Save file, Print file, Undo action, Redo action, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete, Duplicate, Rotate and here we will make the first stop, and look at this item in more detail, if you choose which one then the component on our scarf and click on the small triangle next to the rotation icon, we will see the following.

This is where we will be able to choose at what angle we should rotate our part, as I said above, it was 90 degrees by default, and here it was 45 and 15 and 5, and we can even set our own, for example, as I set 0.5, i.e. half a degree.
And now let's have fun! We throw kits on the board, turn it around at random, at arbitrary angles. We breed all this with curved lines ala Topor and brag to our friends with stoned circuit boards with psychedelic wiring :)
Move on.
Flip Vertically, Flip Horizontally, Align…
I will also dwell on this point in more detail. The point is actually very good, it helps to give a beautiful and aesthetic look to the scarf so that in the future you can show off to your friends how everything is neat and beautiful with you, for example, we put SMD parts on our board, and they are all at random because of for snapping to the grid, and then select a few details and choose left alignment and everything looks neat with us.

Here is a picture of the process before and after alignment.
Move on.
Snap to Grid, Remove Connections, Group, Ungroup, Scale…

Update, Template, Properties, Control, Library, About, and Transparency
Transparency is also quite an interesting item, which allows you to see the layers, especially useful when making a double-sided board and a lot of conductors on each layer, if you press this button, it will look something like this.

It turns out that all layers become as if transparent, and you can see one layer through another.
Now let's turn our attention to the panel, which we have on the left.

Let's go step by step from top to bottom.
Cursor This item, when clicked, is simply a cursor that allows us to select an element on the board and drag it across the board while holding the left mouse button
Scale When you click on this icon, the pointer will change to a lens with a plus sign and a minus sign at the edges and, accordingly, if you press the left mouse button, the image will increase; if the right one, it will decrease. In principle, when drawing scarves, this item can not be selected, but scrolling the mouse wheel forward or backward, respectively, the scale will increase forward and decrease backward.
Explorer When this icon is selected, the pointer changes to a dot with a crosshair and allows us to draw a path from one pad to another. The track is drawn on the active layer, which is selected at the bottom.

Contact This icon allows us to select the shape of the pad.

If you select the line “with metallization”, then the contact pad will change color to bluish, with a thin red circle inside, this will imply that metallization is taking place in this hole and that this hole is transitional from one side of the board to the other. It is also very convenient to put such contact pads on double-sided boards, because during subsequent printing, these contact pads will be printed on both sides of our future board.
SMD contact When this icon is selected, it becomes possible to place small smd contacts on our shawl.
Arc This icon allows us to draw a circle or an arc.

In order to turn the circle into an arc, it is enough to select a point on the circle and just drag it a little, as a result, from the circle we get an arc as in the image on the right.
Polygon This icon allows us to draw a closed polygon on our headscarf to give it a nicer look. Also, if you slightly change its properties, you can get a polygon from the grid.

This is especially true for those who make their handkerchiefs using LUT technology and who, when printing on a laser printer, the printer does not make large filled areas perfectly black. In the settings, you can also choose the thickness of the border to control the roundness of the corners of our polygon.
Figure
If you select this icon, then a window opens from which you can draw either a figure or a thread, or you can depict a fancy spiral.

Text When you select this icon, a window opens where you can enter text and then paste it into any place on the board, sign elements, microcircuits, for example, or insert your own unique name on the scarf. By default, the text size is 5 mm, but it is adjusted to a parameter of 1.5 mm; if you need to put a text smaller than 1.5 mm, then I wrote above what should be removed in the settings and then it will be possible to write text at least 0.1 mm.

Compound
When you select this icon, the pointer becomes small and the “air” connection mode is turned on, just click on one contact pad and then on the other, and such a wonderful green thread will appear between them, which many people use to show jumpers on the board, which will then be needed solder. That's just jumpers, I would not advise her to do. The fact is that they do not give communication during electrical verification. It is best to make jumpers with tracks on the second layer, connecting them through metalized through holes. In this case, an electrical test will show a contact. So, IMHO, the connection is a useless thing.

highway
Incredibly simple likeness of a car breeder. It works simply. First we connect the pins through the “connection”, and then we poke them with the autotracer tool. oops..

Another useless thing :) However, maybe sometimes it will help to find a path in a tricky place. Yes, she walks on the grid, so if you want it to work better, make the grid smaller.
Control
Electrical control. Allows you to find all closed circuits. An archipelago thing when distributing. Especially when you have already done a lot of all sorts of chains and the eye refuses to perceive this mess. And so I poked a tester - everything lit up. The beauty! Especially useful ground and power to calculate. In order not to forget to ask anything. The main thing is to make jumpers not through the “connection”, but along the second layer.

Meter
It allows you to measure the distance from point to point, it is very convenient when you figure out the approximate size of the board, and you can also see if there is an angle or not.

Photoview
In general, it’s a cool thing to see how the scarf will look like if it is made in production, or you need to put a prettier drawing somewhere on a forum or website. And it’s also good to look at the solder mask on it, where it is, and where it is not. Well, you can admire the silkscreen. In general, a useful feature. It also allows you to catch bugs with a mirror image of letters / components, or if something is mistakenly stuck on the wrong layer.

Mask
If you click on this icon, you can see what the mask for soldering will look like if you later have to order a scarf in production.

In this mode, you can delete or vice versa close the parts with a mask. Just poking through the wires. There is white - it means open.
Now let's get to the little tweaks.
The first item we have is setting the grid step, the first seven points of the grid step are clogged by the manufacturer of the program and you can’t change them in any way, you can only choose, but you can also add your sizes in the grid settings, just click “Add grid step ...” and enter your parameters that I and made by adding a grid step of 1mm, 0.5mm, 0.25mm, 0.10mm 0.05mm and 0.01mm

The currently active grid spacing is displayed with a checkmark and is now 1 mm
You can also delete the marked grid step or turn off grid snapping altogether by clicking on the corresponding line. And if you move with the Ctrl key pressed, then the grid step is ignored. It is convenient when you need to move something not on the grid.
The following three configurable items:
Setting the wire width is where we adjust the width of our wire.
Setting the size of the pad, here we adjust the outer and inner diameter.
And the last setting is to adjust the dimensions of the SMD pad horizontally and vertically.
You can also create your own line / pad sizes and save them so that you can later select from the list.
Now only the bottom panel remains:

Everything is simple here, on the left we have the cursor position and 5 working layers, the active working layer is currently marked with a dot.
Next we have a button, Metal plating of free areas of the board, this button covers the entire free area of the board with copper and makes gaps near the conductors, and in this window the size of the required gap is adjusted. It should only be noted that the gap is set for each line separately! Those. it is useless to click this counter. It is necessary to select the entire board (or a specific posting) and only then adjust.
Below it is another icon, a shaded rectangle. It has one interesting property, if you click on it, then we can free the area that we select from the fill on the board.
There is really one subtlety here. The fact is that if we try to connect our fill with wires, then nothing will come of it. Because the fill will scatter in a panic to the sides. It is solved simply - we throw from the earth point to the fill and make the gap equal to zero for this conductor. All!
Here you can also make a negative inscription on the fill. It is also easy to do - put an inscription on the fill (the fill scatters from the inscription in different directions), and then in the properties check the box “No gap”. Everything, the inscription has become in the form of slots in the fill.
Yes, I forgot about such a small hint that appears when you click on a small question.

Let's draw a simple handkerchief, create a TQFP-32 case and learn how to outline a handkerchief found on the Internet.
In the last part, we got acquainted with the program, found out what, where, hides, what is configured and what is not, learned the small chips that are in the program.
Now let's try, after reading in the first part, to draw a simple board.
As a sample, let's take a simple diagram, I dug it up in one of the old magazines, I won’t say which one, maybe one of the site visitors will remember this magazine.

We see that the old circuit has gone through a lot of things, both pencil corrections and filling with alcohol-rosin flux, but for our purposes it is ideal because of its simplicity.
Before we draw our scarf, let's analyze the diagram for what we need from the details.

Two chips in DIP packages with 14 pins for each chip.
six resistors.
One polar capacitor and two conventional capacitors.
One diode.
One transistor.
Three LEDs.

Let's start drawing our details, and first we will decide what our microcircuits look like and what they are.

This is what these microcircuits look like in DIP packages, and they have dimensions between the legs that are 2.54 mm and between the rows of legs these dimensions are 7.62 mm.
Now let's draw these microcircuits and save them as a macro, so that we don't draw again in the future and we will have a ready-made macro for subsequent projects.
We start our program and set the active layer K2, the size of the contact area is equal to 1.3 mm, its shape is selected as “Rounded vertically”, the width of the conductor is equal to 0.5 mm, and the grid pitch is set to 2.54 mm.
Now, according to the dimensions that I gave above, let's draw our microcircuit.

Now let's check its dimensions. However, if you do it on a grid, this is not required. Where will she go from the submarine?

Everything worked out as planned.
Then let's save our future fee. Click on the floppy disk icon and enter the file name in the field.
We have drawn the location of the legs of the microcircuit, but our microcircuit has some kind of unfinished look and looks lonely, we need to give it a neater look. It is necessary to make a silkscreen outline.
To do this, switch the grid step to 0.3175, set the conductor thickness to 0.1 mm, and make layer B1 active.

Now click on the explorer icon and draw a small outline, left click when you need to put a point and right when you need to complete the line, then click on the polygon icon and make a small triangle on the left side of this outline.

With this triangle we will designate where we will have the first output of the microcircuit.
Why did I draw this way?
Everything is very simple in our program by default, five layers are layers K1, B1, K2, B2, U.
Layer K2 is the soldering (lower) side of the components, layer B1 is the marking of the components, i.e. where to put something or a silkscreen layer that can then be applied to the front side of the board.
Layer K1 is the top side of the board if we make the board double-sided, respectively, layer B2 is the marking or silkscreen layer for the top side and, accordingly, layer U is the outline of the board.
Now our microcircuit looks more neat and tidy.
Why do I do it this way? Yes, simply because the boards made somehow depress me, and in a hurry it happens that you download some thread to a scarf from the network, and there are only contact pads and nothing more. You have to check each connection according to the scheme, what came from where, what should go where ...
But I digress. We made our microcircuit in the DIP-14 package, now we need to save it as a macro in order not to draw something like this later, but simply take it from the library and transfer it to the board. By the way, you are unlikely to find SL5 without macros just do. Some minimal set of standard cases is already in the macros folder. And whole sets of macroassemblies go through the network.
Now hold down the left mouse button and select everything we just drew.

Then click on the lock icon - group them. It's better to remember hotkeys and use them.

And all our three objects will be grouped into one
After that, select File, Save as macro ...

And give it the name DIP-14. It also doesn't hurt to create a folder tree in the macros directory. And do not dump all the assemblies in one trash can, but sort them into sections.
Now click on the macros button:

Here it is the letter M on the chip.
And let's see in the macro window our newly created macro

Here is our newly created macro highlighted in the window on the bottom right.
Now you can simply drag it from there to the grid with the mouse.

Excellent, but it would not hurt to decide what size our board will be, I figured out how to scatter them approximately by the dimensions of the parts and calculated as a result I got the size 51mm by 26mm.
Switch to layer U - milling layer or board border. At the factory, this contour will be milled during manufacture.

We set the thickness of the conductor to 0.1 mm

We select the grid spacing equal to 1 mm

And we draw the outline of our future board.

An observant person will say yes, the starting point of the contour does not lie directly at zero and will be absolutely right. For example, when I draw my boards, I always retreat from above and to the left by 1 mm. This is due to the fact that in the future the payment will be made either
using the LUT method or using a photoresist, and in the latter it is necessary that the template has negative tracks, i.e. white tracks on a dark background, and with this approach in board design, it is then easier to cut the finished template, make several copies on one sheet. Yes, and the board itself with this approach looks much more beautiful. Many probably downloaded boards from the network, and the most fun happens when you open such a board and there, a blueprint in the middle of a huge sheet and some kind of pancake crosses around the edges.
Now change the grid step to 0.635 mm.

And approximately put our microcircuits

Now we need to draw a capacitor.
Choose Contact, Circle

Let's leave the grid step the same equal to 0.635 mm.
Let's put the outer circle of our platform equal to 2mm and the inner 0.6 mm

And put two contact pads at a distance of 2.54 mm

In the circuit we have a capacitor of small capacity and such a distance between the terminals will be quite enough.
Now switch to layer B1.

And on it we will draw the approximate radius of our capacitor, for this we need the arc tool

Select it and we will have a crosshair on the screen, and the cursor will change its appearance. So we will put it just in the middle of our two contacts.
Now, while holding the left mouse button, let's drag a little, drawing a circle under our capacitor diameter, and also with the help of a conductor, draw a plus sign and a conditional image of the capacitor. We draw, of course, on the silkscreen layer.

So we got our capacitor, we look at the circuit and see that it is connected to pins 4.5 and 1 of the microcircuit, so we’ll plug it in approximately there.
Now we set the track width to 0.8 mm and start connecting the legs of the microcircuit, we connect it very simply, first we clicked on one leg of the microcircuit with the left button of the microcircuit, then on the other, and after we brought the conductor (track) to where we wanted, we click with the right, after right-clicked the track will no longer continue.

Now, according to a similar principle, we build parts, putting them on our board, draw conductors between them, scratch in the back of the head when we can’t lay the conductor somewhere, we think, laying the conductors again and in some places do not forget to change the width of the conductor, thus gradually building the board, also when laying the conductors, press the spacebar on the keyboard, this button changes the bending angles of the conductor, I recommend trying a cool thing. Separately, I want to dwell on the grouping of objects. Several objects can be collected into one by clicking on them with the left button of the bear with the shift key pressed, and then pressing the grouping. So, draw, draw, As a result, we get this:

Among other things in layers, there is one interesting feature, such as turning off the visibility of a layer, just click on the name of an INACTIVE layer to make it invisible. It is convenient when you check the board so that all sorts of extra lines do not annoy the eye and do not distract.

As a result, the board looks like this:

Here our scarf is ready, all that remains is to add a few mounting holes, in general it is better to design the holes at the very first stage of creating the board.
We will make the holes with the same pads, after etching we will have small dots, and we will accurately drill holes for fastening.

Now a few explanations about printing a mirror / non-mirror image. Usually a problem occurs with LUT, when, due to inexperience, you print an image in the wrong display. The problem is solved really simply.
In all board layout programs, it is assumed that the textolite is “transparent”, so we draw the tracks looking through the board, as it were. It's easier, in the sense that the pin numbering of microcircuits turns out to be natural, and not mirrored, and you don't get confused. So. The bottom layer is already a mirror. We print it as is.
But the top one needs to be mirrored. So when you make a double-sided board (although I don’t advise it, most of the boards can be separated on one side), then its upper side will need to be mirrored when printing.
Here we have drawn a simple scarf, there are only a few small touches left.
Reduce the overall size of the working area and print. However, you can simply print as is.

If you are printing for a LUT or a photomask for a resist, then you need the color to be as dark and opaque as possible. And the tracks are green by default and will be gray when printed. This is easily solved by choosing black for printing. You also need to turn off all other layers. Such as silk screen printing and the reverse side of the board. Otherwise there will be porridge.

Let's set a few copies, you never know if we suddenly screw up:

So we drew a simple handkerchief, arranged several copies on a sheet, printed it, made it and enjoy the finished one.

All this, of course, is good, but it wouldn’t hurt to finish the scarf itself, bring it to mind, and put it in the archive, all of a sudden when it comes in handy, or it will have to be sent to someone later, but we don’t even have signed elements of what and where it is, in principle it’s possible and so we remember everything, but another person to whom we will give this will swear for a long time, checking according to the scheme. Let's make the last touch, put the designations of the elements and their denomination.
Let's switch to layer B1 first.

Now select the text icon, put down the font size of 1.0 mm in it (I already wrote how to make it possible to write in a font of less than 1.5 mm, so we look carefully) turn on the English language on the keyboard and start placing the designations of the elements depending on the element before setting the inscription, we will press the buttons with the font rotation angles of 0,90,180, or 270 degrees.

After we have placed all the designations of the elements, we can align them so that it looks more neat, after all these actions, our scarf looks like this:

Now the most interesting thing remains, this is to put down the denominations of the parts, select with the left button any part and click on it with the right mouse button, in the drop-down menu, select the item, Designate.

And in the field we write our value of the resistor R1 according to the scheme, we have it 1.5K
We wrote, click OK and then if we bring the pointer to the resistor R1, then we will see its value.

Thus, we put down the denominations of all the details and if there is nothing else, then we send the scarf to the archive. The only thing we do not forget is that the program does not like Russian letters, so we do all the inscriptions exclusively in English. However, this does not apply to denominations in tooltips.
So we made a simple board.
Building the TQFP-32 Enclosure
Going further, now we will draw a slightly complex case, namely the TQFP-32, for this we will make a second tab on our scarf. It is very easy to do, click here

Right on the inscription, right-click and select New Board from the drop-down menu. After we answer in the affirmative to the question, we will open the properties of the new scarf and call it TQFP-32.
Now we open the datasheet for the microcircuit that we are going to draw, for example, looking at the datasheet from ATmega-8.

Here is what they write to us in the datasheet itself. Dofiga parameters, but nothing. First, let's reduce the grid size to 0.15785 mm, just in case, and then open such a program chip as the Macro Creator.
Options -> Macro Creator.
After we opened it, we see such a window in front of us.

We look at the datasheet at the microcircuit and see a square with a pancake on each side of the leg, well, it doesn’t matter, just select a different location in the top drop-down menu, namely Four-sided and click on the SMD contact. That's all now, looking into the datasheet, and in this window we look where to enter which parameter, as a result, we fill in all the fields, and we get the following result:

Now click on the OK button. Our body turns red and is attached to the mouse and then we click anywhere on the screen.

Now we have a very small touch left to zoom in on the image by turning the mouse wheel away from us, switch to layer B2, and draw the outline of the microcircuit and indicate where we will have the first leg.

That's all, our case for the TQFP-32 chip has been created, now if you can print something, attach the chip to a piece of paper and if it's not there a little, then slightly adjust the parameters, and then save it as a macro so that in the future you don't draw such a case.
Drawing a picture
And the last step of our lesson, I will tell you how to make a scarf from an image of a board found in a magazine or on the Internet.
To do this, create the following tab and call it Internet.
In order not to search for a long time, let's go to the Internet and type in the search engine "Printed circuit board", the search engine will throw out a bunch of links and pictures, we will choose something from them just like that.

Here we see such a picture from the left side, we only need dimensions and we have all of them 37.5 by 30 mm.
Here we are with such dimensions and draw a contour on the U layer.

After we have drawn, we take our image and, using a graphic editor, remove everything that we have on the left side, we basically don’t need it, and save the right side to a file with the extension .BMP. If we scan a scarf from some magazine, then it is better to scan with a resolution of 600 dip and save it to a file. After we have saved it in the program, go to the K2 layer, click on the TEMPLATE icon.

Here it is a square divided into two parts green and yellow and paths are drawn on it.
After clicking, we will open such a window.

Click the Upload... button and select our file. After that, the screen will look like this

It will be big, right? That's what I'm talking about. Now we look at what we can build on this board, that is, the dimensions of which we know exactly, and we have two of them, these are the dimensions of the board itself and the microcircuit in a DIP package, it’s great for these dimensions that we will change the parameters in the Size, ShiftX boxes , ShiftY to fit our image to an acceptable criterion.
I got it with these settings.

That's all now just outline the details of this picture. There are quite possible cases when the details may not fall from 100% to what is drawn in the picture, this is not scary. The main thing is that there is a picture on the background layer and a set of macros with a fixed size, and this is the most important thing. The Sprint-Layout program has an excellent set of macros, and gradually, when new details are drawn, it will also be replenished with its own.

When the template is applied to the background and we make its outline, you can additionally play with these two buttons

Once upon a time, the creation of a printed circuit board (PCB) for an electronic device was just an addition, an auxiliary technology to improve quality and repeatability in mass production of electronics. But that was at the dawn of the development of electronics. Now the creation of PP is a whole separate branch of technical art.

As Wikipedia says, PP is:

A dielectric plate, on the surface and / or in the volume of which electrically conductive circuits of an electronic circuit are formed. The printed circuit board is designed for electrical and mechanical connection of various electronic components. Electronic components on a printed circuit board are connected with their leads to the elements of the conductive pattern, usually by soldering.

Today, factory production is available to radio amateurs to order their printed circuit boards. It is enough to prepare the necessary files with a printed circuit board drawing and additional information about holes, etc., send it to production, pay and receive ready-made factory-quality printed circuit boards with silk-screen printing, solder mask, precisely drilled holes, etc. And you can make PP in the old fashioned way at home using LUT and a cheap etching solution.

But before you make a PP, you need to somehow draw it. Currently, there are dozens of programs for these purposes. They can design both single-layer and multi-layer printed circuit boards. In Runet, the Sprint Layout program has received the greatest distribution among radio amateurs. You can draw PP in it as in a graphic editor. Only a set of tools for drawing its own, specialized. This program is simple, convenient and a good place to start your acquaintance with PCB design in CAD.

It is not my intention to create a complete guide. There are a lot of SL tutorials on the web, so I'll try to keep the description concise so you can quickly get down to business - drawing a PCB, so I'll try to talk about some useful SL features that are really needed when creating a PCB.

General view and working field

The program itself looks like a normal windows application: on top there is a strip with the program menu (file, actions, board, functions, service, options, help). On the left is a panel with tools that are used when drawing a printed circuit board. On the right is a window in which properties are displayed: the working field, a specific track, a specific group of tracks, etc. Those. If you select an object on the PCB, then its properties will be displayed in the window on the right. A little more to the right of the "Properties" window is the "Macros" window. Macros are a handy tool for grouping and reusing previously drawn parts or board parts. I will dwell on them in more detail, since they save time unspeakably and reduce the number of errors on the board.

Working field

The black field in the grid is the working field. It is there that you will place contact pads, holes for radio components and draw tracks between them. The field also has some properties. The obvious ones are length and width. The field size determines the maximum size of the PP. The width and length are given in millimeters. This is an important clarification, since the size of the grid cell is set by default not in millimeters, but in mil (i.e. not metric, but inch units of measurement):

This strange measure of length came to us from England and is equal to 1/1000 of an inch:
1 mil = 1 ⁄ 1000 inches = 0.0254 mm = 25.4 microns

Mil is very actively used in electronics, but in Sprint Layout you can set the display of the grid in mm. Install the way you feel most comfortable. Mil is a smaller measure and therefore allows you to more accurately position the elements of the printed circuit board on the working field.

Sprint Layout Toolbar

Cursor (Esc) - a common tool that serves to select an element on the PCB: a hole or part of a track.

Scale (Z) -- is used to increase / decrease the size of the printed circuit board drawing. It is convenient when there are many thin tracks and you need to highlight one of them among them.

Track(L)-- is used to draw a conductive track. This tool has several modes of operation. About them a little later.

Contact(P)-- the tool is designed for drawing vias. You can choose the shape of the hole, as well as set the radius of the hole itself and the radius of the foil around it.

SMD contact (S) -- for PCB design using SMD components. Draws contact pads of the required size.

Circle / Arc (R) -- to draw the conductor in the form of a circle or arc. It comes in handy in some cases.

Square (Q), Polygon (F) , special forms (N) - tools for creating sites and areas of a certain type.

Text(T)-- for writing text. You can set how the text will be displayed on the board: normal or mirrored. This helps to display correctly on the board, for example, when using LUT.

Mask (O) -- to work with solder mask. By default, when this tool is enabled, the entire board, except for the pads, is "covered" with a solder mask. You can arbitrarily open / close any contact or track with a solder mask by clicking on them with the left mouse button.

Jumpers (C) is a virtual connection that is preserved during any manipulations with the contact tracks between which it is installed. Jumpers are not displayed in any way when printed, but they are used for autorouting.

highway (A) is the simplest autorouter. Allows to lay contact paths between contacts on the placed connections. In order to distinguish automatically laid tracks from those made manually, SL draws a gray line in the middle along such a track.

Test (X) is the simplest control tool. With it, you can highlight one specific track in a layer. Convenient for checking the correct wiring of tracks.

Meter (M) is a handy tool for measuring distances on a board drawing. The meter shows: cursor coordinates, change of cursor coordinates in X and Y, distance between the start and end points and angle of inclination of the diagonal of the rectangle built on the start and end points of the meter.

photo view (V) - shows how your board should look like after being manufactured in an industrial way.

SL allows you to draw multilayer printed circuit boards. For home use, you're unlikely to go beyond a 2-layer board. But if you order in production, then Sprint Layout has the necessary capabilities to draw a board with several layers. There are seven of them: two outer copper layers (top and bottom), two silkscreen layers for the outer layers, two inner layers, and one non-printed layer for drawing the outline of the board.

Working with layers is similar to working with layers in Photoshop or GIMP (If you haven’t used gimp, I recommend it. It’s like Photoshop, only free): you can place tracks in different layers, turn layers on and off, etc. Switching the working layer and controlling visibility is done in the lower part of the working field using the following control:

Each layer in SL has its own purpose:

M1- upper layer
K1- marking of the elements of the upper layer
IN 1- the inner layer
IN 2- another inner layer
M2- bottom layer
K2- marking of elements of the lower layer
O- layer for drawing board outlines

When creating your board, you should remember that the text and elements in the M2 layer must be reflected. Normally SL will automatically make the text reflected, but you should still check from time to time.

When working in SL, only one layer is always active. It is on this layer that all contact pads and tracks will be placed. While working with this layer, all other layers are considered inactive - tracks and contacts on them cannot be changed.

Macros and Element Libraries

Each electronic component has its own dimensions, its own number of pins, etc. You won’t draw them by eye every time, especially since there are macros and entire libraries of macros with already verified and prepared components for this.

Macros are such a small piece of PCB that you can reuse. In Sprint Layout, anything can be turned into a macro and then reused many times in other projects. Very useful and convenient.

Macros can be combined into libraries. At the same time, the library is just an ordinary folder, in which a bunch of macros are piled up, which are interconnected by some kind of logic. For example, these are smd resistors or Soviet operational amplifiers, etc. Macros and libraries are located most often in the root folder of the SprintLayout / MAKROS /

The process of creating a macro is very simple:

We arrange contacts
In the marking layer, we draw a graphic designation of the component
Save the macro

Little tricks when working with Sprint Layout

#1 hotkeys

Although clicking on the icons is quite convenient, SL has the ability to control almost everything from the keyboard, which increases the speed of work.

Arrows Up, Down, Left, Right	Allows you to move components across the working field by 1 grid step per 1 click. If you also hold down Ctrl, then the step will be 1/100 mm
ctrl	Unbinds the snap to the grid. This allows, for example, to reduce the travel step
F1-F4	Layer selection. Each key activates the corresponding layer
F5-F8	Make layer visible/invisible
Delete	Anything to delete on the workspace
Space	Allows you to switch the bend of the conductor. In total, SL has 5 types of bending of the conductive track.
Ctrl+C	Copy selection
ctrl+y	Redo undone action
ctrl+z	Undo action
Ctrl+X	Cut selection. Will be buffered
ctrl+v	Paste from clipboard
Ctrl+D	Duplicate Selection
Ctrl+A	Select all components on the field
ctrl+r	Rotate Selection
ctrl+h	Flip selection horizontally
ctrl+t	Flip selection vertically
ctrl+g	Combining selected components into a group
Ctrl+U	Breaking a group into its constituent components
ctrl+w	Move selection to the back of the board

No. 2 Quick grid step switching

I wrote above that the grid step can be selected, but I did not say that you can quickly change the grid step with keys 1 to 9. They are easily configured through "hot keys" in the grid settings menu.

No. 3 Cascade installation of elements

In the "Actions" menu there is an interesting function "Cascade / Cascade in a circle". It allows you to arrange contacts or components in a cascade: along a given radius or in the form of a matrix. It is very convenient when you need to create many identical elements or pads arranged in a circle or in a grid.

No. 4 Filling empty space with copper

For various reasons, sometimes it is required to close the empty space on the board with copper so that it does not short-circuit with the tracks of the board. In Sprint Layout, for these purposes, the button at the bottom of the working field:

No. 5 Several boards on one sheet

There are several ways to get several identical boards on one sheet. First, you can simply select the entire board and copy it as many times as needed. Secondly, you can turn such a board into a macro and simply use the macro to copy the board. It is very convenient if you want to make a panel out of boards. True, this is not necessary to transfer to production - they themselves will be able to make such panels. The only exception is the case when it is required to place several different boards in one file.

#6 Setting fiducial marks

If you suddenly plan not only to order PCBs in production, but also to automatically mount SMD components, then you should familiarize yourself with the fiducial points and how to install them.

In general, fiducials are special marks on the PCB that allow assembly robots to correctly recognize the position and pattern of the PCB during the assembly process.

Common fiducials look like this:

With the help of fiducial marks, it is possible to help the mounting equipment to determine the position of the board itself on the panel (if several identical boards are located on the same panel), specific elements on the board. Conventionally, all fiducial marks can be divided into 4 groups:

Common PCB fiducial marks
Local fiducial marks of individual elements
PCB panel fiducials

Sprint Layout 6 has the ability to create fiducial marks. To do this, draw a fiducial mark on the copper layer, then switch to the mask editing mode ("O" key) and remove the mask over the drawn circle. Next, when exporting Gerber files, you should set the gap for the solder mask to the required size (This will not affect the gap between the mask and the contacts, since such a gap is configured separately, but it will affect the gaps between other PCB elements forcibly opened from the mask).

#7 How to change the appearance of the bend in the track

In order to change the bend of the track in SL, you just need to press the space bar (by selecting the track drawing tool - L). The following types of bends are available for drawing:

I will end here, because Sprint Layout is very simple (but very convenient and useful) and you will get a lot more fun experimenting on your own. Take action!

/blog/sprint-layout-dlya-nachinayuschih/ Learn to draw professional PCBs yourself with Sprint Layout. It is the most popular PCB creation software among radio amateurs of all ages and skills. 2016-12-20 2017-02-04 sprint layout, layout 6.0, sprint layout rus, sprint layout 7.0

Great radio amateur and program designer

Sprint-Layout 7.0

4.1 (81.76%) 34 votes

Sprint layout- editor of printed circuit boards, with which you can design your own electronic device. The application is aimed at radio amateurs and does not require professional training from the user.

You can download Sprint-Layout 7.0 for free from our website via a direct link to the official resource.

Version: 7.0
Developers: Abacom
System: Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP
Russian language: No

The Sprint-Layout editor allows you to design your own printed circuit boards for electronic devices and prepare them for manufacturing in a factory or at home.

Application characterized by low system requirements and a simple interface. The editor is aimed at radio amateurs, which allows it to be used for the rapid development of simple electronic devices. Even novice fans of radio electronics can easily master the work in Sprint-Layout. These qualities distinguish the application from other PCB layout CAD systems that require a powerful computer and highly skilled user. However, Sprint-Layout can also be used in professional activities.

Features of Sprint-Layout:

tools for creating pins, tracks, labels and other elements;
layer support;
tools for checking the board for wiring errors;
library of ready-made radio components;
export files to other formats;
a special printing tool for making a board at home;
settings for setting tolerances and limits for factory production.

Screenshots:

Changelog:

Version 6.0:

New opportunities:

image smoothing;
higher image fidelity and higher resolution;
menu "components";
simultaneous editing of several components;
hotkeys for grid control;
support for new file types;
new tools and options.

Sprint Layout 6 EN

Sprint-Layout is an easy-to-use software for creating designs on single-sided, double-sided and multilayer printed circuit boards. The program includes all the functions necessary to create a project. Even professional features are included, such as Gerber file export and Milling Options
There are no restrictions and obstacles to create a project. As you wish, you can place pads, draw tracks, change layers, etc. You have full control over the project you create.
For every work operation, like placing pins, drawing tracks or zones, adding text, etc., there are additional settings. Select the appropriate mode and set up.
Important parameters such as track width, pad size or current grid setting are immediately visible and can be changed at any time. The integrated grid table can be disabled. By pressing and holding the CTRL key, you can change the grid spacing and add to the table, if necessary.
You can modify and edit existing project elements. For example, select - track and change width. All changes are immediately visible on the screen, so you can always evaluate the changes you make.
There are functions such as copy, move, cut or paste, as well as functions of rotation, reflection and alignment.
Sprint-Layout has managed layers, "K1" and "K2" are copper layers, "B1" and "B2" are component layers, for each side of the board (top and bottom). There is an additional layer "U" - contour, for the board plan, for cutouts in the board and external outlines of the board. If necessary, there are two additional inner copper layers, I1 and I2, for a multilayer board. You can show or hide each layer. You can change the colors of the layers.
The existing macro library already contains many of the standard components that can be placed in your project using the drag and drop method. If the desired component is missing, there is no problem to create this component and store it in the macro library.
You can use the built-in auto-router to connect individual links. But, Sprint-Layout doesn't do full layout of the design automatically.
The photo-view function allows you to see, as it were, the created project. This function allows you to find typical errors, such as incorrect reflection of text or components.
Extensive and convenient printing functions, allow you to print on paper or film, a board drawing or a layout of components on it.
You can export the project to BMP, GIF or JPG format. These images can be used in other programs such as Word or for publishing on web pages.
Sprint-Layout can create Gerber and Excellon files for professional production design.
Milling is also supported. Sprint-Layout is able to generate the necessary data and export it to a HPGL file (plt). This file can be used with CNC milling software.
The Gerber Import feature allows you to load existing Gerber files and convert them into a finished project for Sprint-Layout.

What's New in Sprint-Layout 6.0

The graphics of Sprint-Layout have been significantly improved by using anti-aliasing technology.
The resolution and accuracy of Sprint-Layout 6.0 have been increased tenfold. This also applies to grid parameters and maximum magnification. So there is no problem to develop a very high quality project.
Sprint-Layout allows you to manage components and display their data, including name and denomination. The components list is now available.
Sprint-Layout can now generate and export component data to a text file or a pick+place file. These files are required for automated board assembly with SMD components.
The Gerber Import feature allows you to load existing Gerber files and convert them into a finished Sprint-Layout project.
Multiselect - Edit multiple items at the same time
With the help of the properties panel, it is now possible to edit many elements at the same time.
The new selector is a powerful tool. With this tool you can find and select specific elements of your project and edit them all at the same time using the new multiselect feature. For example, you can select and modify all pads with a specific shape or hole.
This new auto-grab mode makes it easy to connect pad and track. When you draw a track and the cursor is exactly in the center of the pad, the pin will be captured. At this point, the cursor will be highlighted with a red crosshair, allowing you to connect accurately. This is useful if some pads are not on the grid.
When moving elements connected by paths, they retain their links, which stretch like elastic.
The new Rectangle mode makes it easy to draw rectangles (outline or filled polygon).
Keys 1..9 on the keyboard are now hotkeys for quickly setting the grid step. You can immediately change the grid spacing with just one keystroke.
A new crosshair is constantly involved in every action. It displays additional 45 degree lines and numeric coordinates directly on the crosshairs.
Arranging the elements exactly in a circle is difficult. Now Sprint-Layout has a special helper for this. You only need to define the required parameters, and you can see the result before completing the action.
If you are using vias as a thermal barrier, you can now define a thermal barrier separately for each layer.
Milling, completely revised. All individual work steps, such as track milling, drilling and cutting, will now be recorded in a single plot file. File compatibility errors are now eliminated.
...and other improvements

Working field properties

Starting with a new project, the first step is to determine the dimensions of the working area. Select from the main menu, the command File | New...

If you want to create your project without any template, then select the first option Empty workspace without board outline..

The other two options allow you to choose between a rectangular or round board outline. The board outline will be generated automatically, according to your parameters, by outline -layer (U).

The working field cannot be larger than 500x500 mm. You can change these settings as you wish.

Select the command New | Properties... or right-click, call the command from the Board tab (at the bottom of the workspace).

The properties panel will appear on the right.

Now you can change the size of the working field or the name of the project.

The Multilayer feature offers 2 additional inner layers, I1 and I2, to create multilayer printed circuit boards.

Setting grid options

One of the most important features of Sprint-Layout is the grid option. The grid allows you to quickly and accurately place all the elements. The grid is always active and displayed on the screen. If the selected scale is too small to display the grid on the screen, the grid is not displayed, but even then, snap to grid is still active.

You can change the grid size. Resizing the grid will not affect the generated project. If you cannot reach the desired position of the element on the board, then you need to reduce the size of the grid.

Hint: You can turn off grid snapping at any time. Just press and hold the CTRL key while moving or drawing elements.

You can set any grid size value. But in most cases, it makes sense to set the default grid size to 2.54 mm (1/10 inch). To set the grid size, click on the corresponding button in the left sidebar:

A menu will appear to set the grid size.

The top red entries are the defaults in inches. Open the metric grid and select a new grid size in metric format. Open the Custom Grid and set your own grid size, which you can add to the list, or select a grid size from the list.

Hotkeys...

1..9 keys on the keyboard are hotkeys for special grid sizes. You can change the size of the grid with a single click on one of these keys. Here you can define the grid size for these keys:

Secondary functions

By default, every 5th grid line is displayed thicker than the others. This is often useful for orientation. This submenu allows you to set or disable this feature.

Show grid

With this function, you can show or hide the grid.

Note: even if you hide the grid, snap to grid is active.

Layer assignment

Sprint-Layout 6 supports up to 7 different layers. You can imagine the layer as a transparent film. You can overlay several layers, one on top of the other, and view all layers at the same time.

Each layer has its own purpose:

K1= copper layer top.

IN 1= layer with top components (installed on the side of the copper layer K1).

K2= lower copper layer.

IN 2= layer with bottom components (installed on the side of the K2 copper layer).

U= contour layer, for the contour of the printed circuit board and, all kinds of cutouts.

I1= copper - inner layer 1 (only for multilayer boards).

I2= copper - inner layer 2 (only for multilayer boards).

2 layers for the top and bottom side of the board. One copper-layer for drawing the project (pins, traces, polygons, etc.), and one additional component-layer for creating a component layout.

You can use the U outline layer to mark the edges (borders) of the board, various cutouts in the board, etc. It can be a simple rectangle or a complex shape with several cutouts. Just draw thin line outlines or circle segments on the U layer. Contour U-layer can be used for professional project production.

Please pay attention to the following points when you start drawing the board:

Side 1 is the top of the board.

Side 2 is the BOTTOM of the board.

Always design from the TOP side, and look through all the layers as if the board is transparent.

Important - every text or component on the BOTTOM side must be mirrored. (Sprint-Layout does this automatically).

All new drawing elements will be inserted into the current active layer.

At the bottom of the working field, in the Sprint-Layout window (status bar), you can view or change the active layer:

Buttons for selecting the active layer.

You can hide the layer - buttons K1, B1, K2, B2 and U, above the round buttons toggle the visibility of the layer. Note that the active layer is always visible. By pressing the F9 key, you can switch the activation, only layers K1 and K2.

With button ? you can see the information about the layers:

This window explains the purpose of the layers and their colors.

Rulers and coordinates

Sprint-Layout 6 has two important features to help you better navigate your workspace:

Rulers

The rulers are located on the top and on the left borders of the working area. The current position of the cursor is marked on them with red lines for better orientation.

You can change the units of the rulers from millimeters to mils (1 mil = 1/1000 inch). To switch units of measure, click on the small button at the top/left of the rulers. The current units are always displayed on this button.

Coordinates

The coordinates are displayed on the left side of the status bar, at the bottom:

The units of coordinates correspond to the units of the rulers.

Origin

As a rule, the origin of coordinates is located at the bottom/left side of the working field. Sometimes, it is necessary to change this position. Important - if you have selected a board outline template, then the origin will be set to the lower left side of the working field:

The cursor is displayed as a crosshair. Press the mouse button and move the cursor to a new position.

Clue:
When moving, the cursor will be displayed on the grid of the working field, and is anchored to it. You can press and hold the CTRL key to disable the snap to grid and move the cursor to a position off the grid.

Working with multiple workspaces

A Sprint-Layout file can contain multiple design sections. This is useful when you need to save a project with several boards into one file. In this case, you have access to all sections of the project saved in one file.

Each section has its own tab at the bottom of the workspace:

Just click on the tab, select the project section. You can change the order of these boards, or add new boards from other Sprint-Layout files. By clicking the right mouse button on a tab, you can call up a pop-up menu with the following functions:

(You can call these functions from the main menu of the Project)

New board (new project)... This function adds a new, empty workspace for creating a project.

Working area (board) properties. This function shows the working area properties panel on the right side. Here you can edit the workspace size, project name, etc.

Copy board. This function copies the currently selected section and adds this copy to your project.

Delete Board (Workspace)... This function removes the board from your project.

Tab sorting. There are 4 functions to change the order of project sections:

Set Right - Moves the tab to the right edge

Set Left - Moves the tab to the left edge

Move right - the tab moves one step to the right

Move Left - Moves the tab one step to the left

Importing Boards from File... You can import designs (boards) from other Sprint-Layout files. These designs (boards) will be added as new to your project. To import boards from another Sprint-Layout file, from the main menu click on Project | Import from file... . If you don't want to add all the boards from another file, just remove the unwanted tabs after importing them.

Main Functions of PCB Drawing

For each of these functions, there is a drawing mode. You can select the drawing mode in the left sidebar.

Switch to edit mode if you want to select, edit, or move items.

To switch to edit mode, you need to select an element, and in the main menu, click Actions. To exit the mode, you can right-click on the workspace, or press the ESC key.

Advice:
You can quickly switch to edit mode, you need to place the cursor on the selected element, right-click. The window that opens gives you quick and easy access to frequently used functions.

Selection and selection

Once the elements have been created, they can be edited. You can move, delete, copy, and edit these items. To change an element, select it. Simply hover over the element you want to edit and click the mouse button. The element will change its color to pink. This color always identifies the selection of elements. To deselect and highlight the selected elements, simply move the cursor over an empty space and click the mouse button. The selection of elements will be immediately deselected.

If you want to select several elements at the same time, you can select a group of elements with a rectangular frame. Imagine a selectable area of a group of elements, move the cursor over an empty space in any corner of the imaginary area, press the mouse button and, holding the button, move the cursor, highlighting the selected group of elements, release the mouse button. All or part of the elements that are inside the dotted box will be selected.

If you want to select multiple individual items, you can use the SHIFT key. Press and hold the SHIFT key, you can now select one element after another without deselecting previously selected elements.

Advice:
If you want to select one element from a grouped component or macro, press and hold the ALT key, and hover over the desired element, click the mouse button.

You can combine all of these features to create more complex selections.

moving

Select the items you want to move. Then move the cursor over one of the selected elements and hold down the left mouse button. Move the elements to the desired position and release the mouse button to fix them. You can also use the ARROW keys on your keyboard to move the selected items.

Advice:
If you need to set an element outside the grid, i.e. without snapping to the grid, press and hold the CTRL key on your keyboard to turn off snapping to the grid. Move the selected elements as described above.

Tracks and lines

To draw copper tracks, select the appropriate mode from the left sidebar:

When you move the cursor to the workspace, and click the mouse button, you will see additional data for moving the track. This item defines the starting point of the new track. Click the mouse button to confirm the starting point. Having determined the starting point, regardless of whether you draw a straight line or a broken line, each click of the mouse button fixes the end point of the drawn segment and determines the beginning of a new segment, while the data indicator is reset to "0".

If you want to finish drawing, just click the RIGHT mouse button. Now you can start drawing a new track. If you want to exit the Explorer mode, just click again with the RIGHT mouse button, or press the key .

bend
While drawing a track, you can change the drawing mode. When bending, you can draw a track with a straight line, at any angle, but you can only at a right angle. This mode is changed by pressing the key<ПРОБЕЛ>. In general, there are 5 modes, and switching these modes is done by pressing the key<ПРОБЕЛ>.

Advice:
on the keyboard to turn off snap to grid if you want to draw a path off the grid.

The current track width is displayed in the left panel next to the width selection button:

Here you can change the current track width. Width "0" is always displayed as the thinnest line and is supported by devices (screen or printer). There is a list available for commonly used track widths. Click on the symbol in the left pane:

A pop-up list will appear in which you can select the desired width with one click of the mouse button:

+ Delete .

To change an existing width, select a track:

Track nodes are displayed as round blue dots. You can click on a node and drag it to a new position. The virtual nodes are located in the middle of each track segment, and are represented by a blue circular outline. Drag them to a new position to create new nodes. This simplifies track editing.

If you RIGHT-click on a node, a pop-up menu will appear that allows you to delete the node, adjust the node(s) to the grid, or split the track into 2 separate tracks.

Whenever you select a track, the track width is displayed in the track width box, in the panel on the left:

You can adjust the width for the selected track (and for all tracks that are selected). Whenever a track is selected, the width will be displayed in red. This shows the current width of the selected track, and means that any changes to the width of the selected track are now available.

Contact pads, adapter contacts, holes

Select the appropriate mode on the left sidebar:

Sprint Layout offers several pad shapes. The selected form will be displayed on the button. To select a different form, click on the arrow to the right of the button.

If the METALLIZED option is selected, pads will appear on both sides of the board automatically (on multilayer boards, they also appear on the inner layers I1 and I2). These pads (with metallization) are marked with a different color. You can quickly apply / cancel the "Metalized" option by pressing the F12 key.

Move the cursor over the working field. Each mouse click adds a pad to the project.

The "Contact" mode can be interrupted by pressing the right mouse button (or by pressing the ). Contact pads can be of three types:

Note:
Pads with simple holes are not reflected on other layers. You can connect them, but the hole will be without plating.

Advice:
Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard to turn off snap-to-grid if you want to set it to an off-grid position.

The current pad size and holes are displayed in the left panel next to the mode button:

Here you can change the current values. For commonly used pad sizes, there is a list available. Click on the symbol in the left pane:

A menu will appear in which you can select the desired size of the site, with one click of the mouse button:

If the required value is not in the list, you can add it to the list with the option " + ". If the current value is already in the list, then it will be marked and there will be no entry. You can delete unnecessary entries with the option Delete .

The current size of the selected pin is displayed in the left sidebar. The form will also be displayed on the mode button:

You can choose a different shape or size for the pad and hole in it. If multiple pads are selected, changes will be made to all selected pads.

When a pad is selected, the size will be displayed in red. This indicates the current size of the pad and the hole in it, and that changes are available.

By right-clicking on the selected contact, you can bring up a menu and select "Properties". The Properties panel will appear and you can edit it:

Clean hole.

Clean hole, without any copper ring. These holes are usually used to attach component cases to the board, or to attach the board itself. Set the inner diameter and outer diameter of the pad to the same values, for a hole without copper. Such holes are designated as a cross.

Transition contact (with plating)

A jumper contact (also called plated) appears on both sides of the board automatically. A jumper pin is used to connect a track on both sides of the board. The transitional contact is indicated by a special color.

To place a contact with plating, select the plating option from the pop-up menu of the Contact button by clicking on the arrow next to the button. Drawing and editing transitional contacts, as with conventional pads.

You can select existing pads and modify them by going into the menu and selecting Metallized, or by right-clicking on the selected pin, selecting "Properties" from the pop-up menu, and modifying the pin's values in the properties panel.

Advice:
You can change a simple contact to a plating contact, and vice versa. Select contact(s) and press the key .

Thermal contact (thermal barrier)

This Thermal contact option is available if the function of auto-filling free areas of the board with the GND layer is enabled. Thermal contact looks like this:

Thermal contact is more sensitive to heat because it is not completely surrounded by copper. Additional properties, on thermo-contact:

You can change the width and position of the small traces that connect the thermal contact to the ground layer. If thermal contact with plating, it is possible to change the position of small tracks for each layer separately. To do this, select the layer. The settings are only valid for the currently active layer. Thus, by changing layers, we set the parameters of thermal contact for each layer.

SMD contacts

On the left panel, select the SMD-Pin mode:

Move the mouse cursor to the working area. Each mouse click adds an SMD pin to the project.

3 different SMD pins

Advice:
Hold down a key on the keyboard to turn off grid snapping if you want to place the contact in an off-grid position.

The current SMD pin size is displayed at the bottom of the left panel, next to the mode button:

Click on the small arrow on the edit button, a pop-up list will appear with sizes for both values of the SMD pad. For commonly used SMD pad sizes, there is a list of available sizes. Click on the symbol in the left pane:

A menu will appear in which you can select the desired size with one click:

To modify an existing SMD pin, select the SMD pin. When an SMD pin is selected, its size is displayed in the box next to the edit button at the bottom of the left pane.

You can adjust the size of the SMD pad. Changes will be made to all selected SMD pins if more than one pin is selected. When an SMD pad is selected, its field size will be displayed in red. This shows the current value of the site, and means that any changes to these values are available.

Circle / Arc

To draw a circle, select the appropriate mode in the left sidebar:

Click the mouse button on the working field to determine the center of the circle and draw a circle of the desired size while holding the mouse button. The line width of the circle corresponds to the current track width setting.

The mode can be interrupted by pressing the right mouse button (or the ).

Advice:
Hold down a key to turn off grid snapping if there is a need to set the center of the circle to an off-grid position.

The current line width of the circle is displayed in the left panel next to the line mode button:

You can change the current line width of the circle.

Width "0" is always displayed as the thinnest line supported by devices (screen or printer). The line width of the selected circle is displayed in the box next to the line edit button in the left sidebar:

You can adjust the line width for the selected circle (and for all other selected circles). The line width of the selected circle will be displayed in red. This shows the current line width of the circle, and means changes are available.

From the circle, you can leave an arc (segment). To do this, there are two points on the circle that define the beginning and end of the arc (segment). Both points are aligned and are at the 3 o'clock position (meaning 0 degrees). You can move these dots (displayed as blue dots) to the desired position. You can change the diameter of the selected circle. Press and hold a key , place the cursor on the blue dot "3 o'clock", and without releasing the button, move the cursor to the desired size of the diameter of the circle.

Setting a circle or arc in fixed numbers can be done in the Properties panel. Choose a circle. Select it with the right mouse button. In the pop-up menu, select "Properties", and in the window that opens, edit the properties of the circle:

Rectangles

To draw a rectangle, select the appropriate mode in the left sidebar:

Click the mouse button on the workspace to determine the starting point of the rectangle, and while holding the button, draw a rectangle of the desired size. The line width of the rectangle corresponds to the set line width.

The mode can be interrupted by pressing the right mouse button (or the ).

Advice:
Hold down a key to turn off grid snapping if there is a need to set the starting point to an off-grid position.

The current line width of the rectangle is displayed in the left pane next to the line edit button:

You can change the current line width of the rectangle. Width "0" indicates the thinnest line supported by devices (screen or printer).

Filled Rectangles

Click the arrow on the right side of the mode button, in the left sidebar, and select Filled.

The rectangle can be created as an outline or filled (as a polygon).

Zones / polygons

The filled areas are called polygons. The polygons on the copper layer associated with certain signals are called power polygons (Zone / power polygon, GND / ground polygon, etc.). The contour of the zone is drawn in the same way as the paths, when the contour is closed, the polygons are filled automatically.

To draw a polygon, select the appropriate mode in the left sidebar:

Place the cursor on the working field, you will see an additional dot in the size corresponding to the set track width. This point defines the start of drawing the zone. Click the mouse button to confirm the starting point. Move the cursor and draw a zone. Each mouse click leaves an additional node on the zone outline, which makes it easier to edit the polygon. Close the loop.

To finish drawing, click the RIGHT mouse button. Now you can start drawing a new outline. To exit the mode, click again with the RIGHT mouse button, or press the key .

The closed contour is filled in automatically. Please note that you will need at least three points per zone. Otherwise, the zone will not be created.

Bend mode
While drawing the contour of the zone, you can change the bend of the line by pressing the key<ПРОБЕЛ>. There are 5 modes, they can be switched with a key<ПРОБЕЛ>.

Advice:
Hold down a key to turn off snapping to the grid if you want to select the start point and outline of an off-grid zone.

The current line width of the zone outline is displayed in the left panel, next to the line edit button:

You can change the current line width of the zone outline. To modify an existing polygon, select it:

Zone nodes will appear as round blue dots. You can click on a node and drag it to a new position..

Virtual Nodes

These nodes are located in the middle of each line segment. Drag them to a new position to create new nodes.

Place the cursor on the node and right click the mouse, a pop-up menu will appear that allows you to perform various actions with the node.

The track width of the selected zone is displayed in the line width box next to the edit button in the left sidebar:

You can adjust the line width for the selected zone (and for all other zones that are selected). The outline line width of the selected zone will be displayed in red. This shows the current line width, and means changes are available.

If the Properties Panel is enabled, you can make some additional settings:

Polygons can be solid or meshed. Choose an option with mesh and set the grid size.

Special shapes

You can create various geometric shapes:

Polygons

layout form

Polygons can be useful when creating a project. For example, if you need a component with 12 pins arranged in a circle, you can create a 12-sided polygon, place a pad in each corner, then delete the outline of the polygon. Spirals are mainly in demand on RF boards. To create a special form, select the appropriate mode in the left sidebar:

Create polygon

Confirm with OK, the polygon will be placed on the workspace. Move the cursor to select a position to place the polygon. Click the left mouse button to confirm and fix the polygon on the workspace. When you have confirmed the choice by clicking OK, and the figure has appeared on the working field, then by clicking the right mouse button, you can cancel this action. You can exit the mode by closing the mode window, or by pressing the key .

Create a spiral

You need to set the required parameters. The set parameters are always visible in the preview window.

Confirm with OK, the spiral will be placed on the workspace. Move the cursor to select a position to place the spiral. Click the left mouse button to confirm and fix the spiral on the working field. When you have confirmed your choice by clicking OK, and the shape has appeared on the workspace, you can cancel this action by clicking the right mouse button. You can exit the mode by closing the mode window, or by pressing the key .

Create layout form

You need to set the required parameters. The set parameters are always visible in the preview window.

Confirm with OK, the form will be placed on the workspace. Move the cursor to select a position to place the form. Click the left mouse button to confirm and fix the form on the workspace. When you have confirmed your choice by clicking OK, and the form has appeared on the workspace, you can cancel this action by clicking the right mouse button. You can exit the mode by closing the mode window, or by pressing the key .

Advice:
Hold down a key to turn off grid snapping if you want to select an off-grid position.

Select the appropriate mode in the left sidebar:

The following dialog box will appear:

You can enter text and set additional options such as height, style, orientation, and so on. Russian letters when entering text are NOT supported!!!

After confirming the selected options, move the cursor and place the text, click the left mouse button to fix the text in the selected position. Text mode can be interrupted by pressing the RIGHT mouse button (or the ).

Advice:
Hold down a key to turn off grid snapping if you want to place text outside of the grid.

2 text top and bottom. Text on lower layers (K2 or B2) should always be mirrored. When you look at the photo-view of the board, you will see a mirror image of the text. Sprint-Layout does the mirroring automatically.

Automatically

With the Automatic function, you can create text labels with sequential numbers (like R1, R2, R3, ...). The number will be added to the text automatically. After placing the first text, you can immediately, quickly place the next text with the next number. You can interrupt the automatic mode by pressing the RIGHT mouse button (or the ).

To change an existing text, double-click on the selected text with the left mouse button, and in the window that opens, you can change its parameters. If the properties panel is visible, you can edit the text directly in it:

Using the clipboard

The clipboard is a very useful tool in almost any windows application. The clipboard is a kind of container that can be used to copy project elements. The clipboard uses the following functions:

Cut out

Copy

Insert

Duplicate

These commands are in the top menu. Each command has a button on the toolbar. These commands are also available in pop-up windows.

Copies the selected elements of your project to the clipboard. The selected items will then be removed from the project.

Copies the selected items from the project to the clipboard.

Copies the contents of the clipboard to the project.

The elements of the clipboard will be, as it were, "glued" to the mouse cursor. You can put them in one click with the mouse button.

Performs COPY and PASTE in one step.

The zoom feature is a very important feature of Sprint-Layout. Only this function makes it possible to view the full project, as well as the selected space in a large format. Mouse wheel zoom is the easiest and most convenient way to zoom in and out.

If the mouse cursor is on the working area, you can zoom in or out using the mouse wheel. You can freely move the cursor around the working field. When zoomed in, the cursor position is the center of the zoomed project. You can increase or decrease a little.

All other possibilities for increasing are obsolete and not rational, but, nevertheless, they are possible:

zoom mode

To set the scale, click on the corresponding button in the left sidebar:

The mouse cursor will change to a magnifying glass. Left clicking zooms in and right clicking zooms out. You can highlight the selected area with a dotted frame to enlarge it.

There are additional zoom functions that can be used in the toolbar:

Returns to the previous scale.

Adjusts the scale so that the board is displayed in full screen.

Adjusts the scale so that all objects fit on the workspace.

Adjusts the scale so that all selected objects fit on the workspace.

Additional scale function

In addition to the normal zoom function, you can use the "Show zoom" function. You can enable or disable this feature in the general settings menu. Sprint layout. If the feature is enabled, it will be displayed in the sidebar on the left:

The dark green color of the panel symbolizes the full working area (screen), and the light green color of the panel symbolizes the area being viewed. Place the cursor on the light green bar, press and hold the left mouse button, and move the cursor. On the working field, you will see how the viewport moves. So you can "travel" and view the entire project.

By placing the cursor on the light green panel, by clicking the left or right mouse button, you can change the scale:

Click the left mouse button to enlarge the project image on the workspace, while the light green panel will become smaller

Click the right mouse button to reduce the project image on the workspace, while the light green panel will become larger

It is not necessary to select this feature. You can use any zoom mode separately in each case.

Rotate, flip, blend

You can rotate, mirror, and align any element in your project.

Used functions:

Rotate (rotate)

Mirrored horizontally

Mirrored vertically

Combine

Snap to grid

You can find these commands in the Actions menu. Each function has a button on the toolbar. You can see these commands in pop-up windows.

Rotate (rotate). This function rotates all selected elements clockwise by the given angle. Click on the small arrow to determine the desired rotation angle. You can rotate both individual elements and a group of selected elements.

Advice:
If you press the SHIFT key, the selected item(s) will rotate counterclockwise.

These functions mirror the selected elements, both vertically and horizontally.

This function adjusts all selected items. You can align top or bottom. Align left or right, center horizontally, or center vertically.

This function snaps to the grid the positions of all selected elements. Warning: This may change the spacing of elements that are not grouped. The position of elements that are grouped together will not be affected. Grouped elements are displaced by the whole group.

Group and ungroup

Project elements can be combined into groups. Combining elements into a group is easy, with a single operation. Grouped elements are protected from unwanted changes. You cannot delete a single element that belongs to a group. At least two elements are needed to create a group. Groups can contain any project elements, even other subgroups.

To delete or change individual members of a group, you must first split the group. When a group is split, all elements and other subgroups are independent. The subgroups remain ungrouped, but you can repeat the operation and split the subgroups.

Advice:
You can select one element from a group, press the ALT key and click on the element to select it.

You can ungroup or group from the Actions menu, or using the corresponding buttons on the toolbar. These functions are also available from pop-up menus (right mouse button).

Sprint Layout 6 groups items automatically if they are pasted from the clipboard or macro library. This allows you to place elements as one. You can separate these groups as well as any other subgroups..

Links (connections)

You can connect project pins or SMD pins. This can be useful to remember to draw a path.

Links are very important for working with integrated Autorouting. The highway uses these links to draw tracks.

Links are displayed as thin, settling lines, which is also useful when choosing the appropriate position for a component. You can use them to avoid trace crossings when placing components on the board.

Select the "Communications" mode using the corresponding button in the left sidebar:

One connection can only be made between 2 pads or SMD pins. Move the cursor over the first pad you want to connect and click the mouse button. After that, move the cursor to the second site to which you want to connect and click the mouse button. While moving the cursor, the link is displayed as a yellow dotted line, and when completed, as a thin line of the specified color. The pad is highlighted on hover to make connection easier.

Right click to abort the process.

Example: 3 connections

Delete existing connections

To delete an existing connection, you must activate the connection. Move the mouse cursor to an existing connection, the contact pad will be highlighted in pink, left-click on the selected contact and move the cursor to another communication contact, it will also be highlighted, click on it. The link will be removed.

Sprint Layout has another function to remove links. That makes it possible to delete connections automatically, or by one hovering over the communication line, without switching from one contact to another. You can call the Delete virtual connections function from the Advanced menu, or using the corresponding button in the toolbar.

This function checks every established connection and deletes it. Sprint Layout also checks and removes connections between different layers of a double-sided board. The function will inform you when the deletion process is completed.

Auto-tracing

The autorouting feature is integrated into Sprint-Layout. Autorouting can connect two pins in a project. These two contacts are defined by links. Autorouting is not intended to create an entire project at once. Usually this is not possible. To create a proper project, you must first create it manually by establishing links, then enable the autorouting feature.

The project is created by the simplest autorouter. Complex parameters and connections cannot be set.

To use autorouting, select the appropriate button in the left sidebar:

This little panel appears at the top of your project:

You can set the width of the track to be used for autorouting and define the minimum distance to other project elements that will be taken into account when laying the track.

Orientation on the current grid:

This additional autorouting option uses grid snapping when drawing paths. The current autorouting mesh will be displayed below this option.

Autorouting links

Select the desired connection with the mouse. When the cursor is placed on a link, it will be highlighted. With a mouse click, you can auto-route this connection.

Example: 2 highways

Autorouting will be done on the active layer. Make sure the desired layer is activated.

The autorouter looks for the shortest path to draw the track. It respects the given minimum distance between elements along the path:

Elements on active layer

holes

If the autorouter finds a path, the path will be drawn. Otherwise, get a message in the tracer panel.

Highways are marked with an internal lane. You can distinguish between highways and simple paths.

Cancellation of the highway

You can revert the routed track back to the link. Just click on the highway and get the original connection.

Edit Highway

You can edit a routed track like a normal track. You can adjust the width, change the curvature, etc.

Tips for Using the Autorouter

If there are many connections along the route, start autorouting with the shortest and simplest connection. If one autoroute is found to be "blocking" some other routes for other connections, cancel that autoroute and try the other connections first. Change the sequence of connections to get the best results.

The autorouter may be able to find the route faster if the track width is not too large and the distance is not too large. Try changing these values if the autorouter does not find the connection route. In any case, you can change the autoroute, if necessary, manually.

Function - Test

This is a very useful feature for checking electrical connections in a project. Sprint-Layout can find the connection of pads with traces, with other elements of the project. Hover the test cursor over the element under test and click the mouse button, all elements associated with the element under test will be highlighted.

Enable the test mode using the corresponding button in the left sidebar:

The mouse cursor will look like a pointer with a cross and the inscription "test". Place the test cursor and click on any element and Sprint-Layout will find all tracks, pads, and other elements that are connected to that element. You can test connections on both sides of the board without changing the active layer. You can click the button on another element, or cancel the test mode with the RIGHT mouse button, or by pressing the key .

Note:
The test will also look at connections that are made using plated holes (adapter pins) on the opposite side of the board.

Flashing test mode

Connected elements can be displayed in flashing mode. This will help determine if the elements are connected. You can enable or disable the flashing mode in the general settings of Sprint-Layout.

View all connections in test mode

You can define an option so that all connections are considered in the test mode, including connections (virtual connections). In this case, all elements that are connected by links will also be recognized as "connected". You can set this option in the general settings of Sprint-Layout.

Mode - Measurement

With this function, you can measure distances and angles in the project being created. To select a measurement mode, click on the corresponding button in the left sidebar:

Move the cursor over the working field, click the mouse button and draw a frame:

See the following values:

X: X-coordinate

Y: Y-coordinate

dX: Distance in X direction (horizontal distance)

dY: Distance in Y direction (vertical distance)

Dist: Absolute distance (diagonal distance)

Angle: Deviation angle from the horizontal

With these values, you can accurately measure distance and angle in your project. Measurements will be more accurate when zoomed in.

You can exit the measurement mode by clicking the RIGHT mouse button (or by pressing the ).

Advice:
Hold down a key on the keyboard to turn off the snap to grid, if necessary, measure a position located outside the grid.

Autoset "GND - ground"

This function automatically fills in unused areas of the copper layer on the board. This speeds up the board etching process and saves etching solution. You can use this function to create a screen for the RF board. Keep in mind that the function creates a space that is NOT associated with any project signal. So, you will have to connect these areas to GND (ground) yourself if necessary.

"Auto ground" is available for each copper layer of the board. To enable or disable this feature, click on the corresponding button at the bottom of the editor panel:

A window will open:

"Auto Ground" is enabled for the active layer and will be displayed on your working field. You can turn this box on/off whenever you want without any loss of information.

You can adjust the distance between the "ground" and existing tracks, playgrounds and other elements. The distance is adjusted for each project element in the input window to the right of the auto-ground button (only if the ground plane is activated). To change the spacing of an existing element, select the element and then change the gap value between it and the ground layer. The result is immediately visible on the project.

Advice:
If you set the gap to "0", the element will be in contact with the "ground" layer. So it's possible to set pads or the edge of a track to the ground layer, which are connected to the ground.

Cut out areas

You can create cutout areas. These areas will NOT be populated by the auto-land function.

To create a cutout area, move the cursor over one of the shaded areas shown next to the "auto ground" button. The shaded areas are shown just below the numeric gap setting box. The left shape is to cut a rectangular area, the right shape is to cut a polygonal area. Click the left mouse button to select the shape of the area to be cut. Move the cursor to the activated "ground" layer, click the left mouse button, and start drawing the area to be cut out. You can create one or more cutouts on the ground layer. You can edit cutout areas like regular rectangles or zones.

Attention:

Depending on the spacing between traces and pins, auto ground generation can lead to thinning of the copper in some places. In this case, these sections of copper may come off the board and cause the connection to break. Or narrow areas will not be able to "survive" the etching process, there will be so-called "undercuts", which will also lead to a loss of connection.

Figure: Narrow copper areas between tracks

Check the project for such areas when using this feature. To avoid narrow copper areas, move the traces to a different location, change the distance to the "ground", or use clipping areas.

You can upload a bitmap as the background of your project. This bitmap may be a scanned copy of another project. You can use this bitmap as an original to make a board.

Raster image, must be in the form of a graphic file (BMP or JPG). The resolution should be between 300-600 dpi. Recommended, but not required, color B/W.

Upload bitmap for background

Select the Load picture... command from the Advanced menu, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar:

Board Side 1 (Up) / Board Side 2 (Bottom)

You can select the desired side for the bitmap.

Load drawing...

Opens a file selection dialog, select an image file. The image file must be in BMP or JPG format.

Delete picture - You can delete the downloaded background picture.

Original - This option shows or hides the downloaded wallpaper.

Resolution - Sprint-Layout attempts to recognize the resolution of a bitmap file automatically. But, unfortunately, in some cases this value is not suitable for recognition by the program, and the program cannot recognize and load the picture correctly. If the bitmap is not displayed at true scale, then you need to change the resolution values until the picture is displayed at true scale.

X/Y Coordinates - Coordinates can be defined to position the image on the board. Adjust these values to get the correct position in relation to your current grid.

You can invoke this dialog box at any time to change these settings.

Project from the original

If you want to create a Sprint-Layout file from a scanned copy of an image, load the image file in the background and then draw the image manually. Make sure the image is displayed at the correct scale. To adjust the X- and Y-coordinates, it is recommended that the grid step is not large, with a small number of divisions in the main cell (by default, 2 or 4 divisions are set), and a large increase. Try to move the image to a position that fits best on the grid. Try different grid spacing and magnification to draw details of the picture that are outside the grid. For objects that are completely off the grid, you can use the CTRL key to temporarily turn off grid snapping.

When the background image is loaded and visible on the workspace, 2 additional buttons will appear at the bottom of the editor. Attention! Do not forget to activate the layer on which you uploaded the picture (in the status bar, at the bottom).

With the Exclusive button, you can improve the image. The Hide button can be used to temporarily hide the image (for as long as the Hide button is pressed). This option helps maintain clarity in some cases.

Cascade / Cascade in a circle

With this function, you can copy elements and place them in a cascade, both horizontally and vertically, as well as in a circle.

Select the desired element, then select "Actions" from the menu, or right-click on the selected element, and select the command Cascade / Cascade in a circle.

Enter the desired number of horizontal and vertical copies, as well as the distance between them.

The entered parameters are always visible in the preview window.

Click on OK, the action will be executed and you will see the result in your project.

Cascade in a circle

Quantity

The total number of copies.

Angle between individual copies..

The radius of an imaginary circle, for the location of copies.

Rotate elements

This option determines whether the copied elements should rotate themselves, relative to the center of the circle, placing their axis along the radius line.

Arc start point

Starting point of the imaginary arc centered on the element being copied (0/0). You can change this point to another position. You can set the start point to the center of the site, i.e. return to original position. You can select the desired copy of the element, anchored to the center, using the 2 arrow buttons.

After entering the given parameters (number, angle, radius, arc start point or center), confirm by clicking on OK. The created copies will appear on the workspace and will still be selected. You can change them, edit them. To edit, call the "Cascade in a circle" command again, this window will appear again, where you can change the parameters, select any of the existing copies and make it central (snap to the center), change the position of the center relative to the selected copy.

Click on OK, the action will be executed and you will get the result in your project.

The photo view allows you to look at the project as if it had already been done, with holes, components, and so on.

This will help you find common mistakes, like wrong mirroring of components or text.

To turn on the photo view, click on the corresponding button in the left sidebar:

This small panel appears at the top of the workspace:

Top K1/B1

This option is displayed at the top of the project. Layers K1 and B1 are visible on the top of the project.

Bottom K2 / B2 (mirror)

This option is displayed on the bottom of the design, as if the board were transparent. Layers K2 and B2 are visible on the underside of the project.

With components

With this option you can show or hide the components in the project.

Translucent

With this option, the board becomes a bit transparent so that the other side shows through.

Here you can select predefined colors for the board.

solder mask

Here you can select predefined colors for the mask.

macro library

You can show or hide the Sprint-Layout Macro Library.

Click on the corresponding button in the toolbar, top right:

The macro library will appear on the right side of the workspace:

Macro selection

At the top of the window there is a structured tree view of all macros. You can expand or collapse each group by clicking the [+] or [-] button.

In the expanded group, you can see all contained macros or subgroups. If you select a macro, you can see it in the preview window at the bottom of the macro library window.

To use this macro in a project, click on the macro image in the preview window, and holding down the mouse button, move the macro to the desired position on the workspace.

Additional functions

Above the preview window, there are buttons with important functions.

Macro Placement Side

With this button, you can select the side of the board to place the macro. The macro can be placed on the top-TOP or on the bottom-BOT side of the board.

Metallization

If this button is pressed, all macro pads will be automatically changed to metalized pads.

Use this button to rotate the macro 90 degrees clockwise.

With this button you can delete the selected macro.

as a component

If this option is enabled, all selected elements will be saved as a component.

Advice:
You can change the width of the macro library window. Move the mouse cursor to the boundary line between the library and the workspace. The mouse cursor will change to a double arrow. This means that you can move the border as long as you keep the left mouse button pressed.

Create macro

There is no difference between a macro drawing and any other grouped layout drawing. Use copper layers (K1,K2) for pads and tracks, and component layers (B1,B2) for component outlines.

Create a macro for a simple 14-pin DIP-IC.

(This is just an example. Of course, the 14-pin DIP-IC is already included in the macro library).

1. Draw a macro

We place 14 contacts on the K2 layer (copper-bottom) on the grid with a given step. You can change the pad shape for pin1 to define that pad as "Pin 1". To create pads, it is better to use the "Footprint Creator" function from the "Advanced" menu.

Change the active layer to layer B1 (components layer) and draw the outline of the component near the pins. Use Rectangle mode or another shape mode to draw the outline of the component's body. You can label a drawn component.

The macro is ready. Now it must be selected in order to save and add to the macro library.

2. Select elements for the macro

Select all the elements of the created drawing by highlighting them with a frame.

All drawing elements will be selected.

You can also click on the corresponding button in the macro library.

A dialog box will appear. In this window, select the directory path in the library corresponding to the selected component category. If you want to save the macro in another folder, you need to change the path directory to this folder (directory).

Enter a valid filename for the new macro. The ".lmk" suffix (this is the default suffix for all macros) will be added automatically.

Create component

Components, almost the same as a macro. They contain a set of elements, but in addition they contain a set of special data that allows Sprint-Layout to manage components. Sprint-Layout can create lists of components, and even create a Pick+Place file (for automated placement of SMD components).

Each selected macro can be assigned component data.

To assign data to a macro as a component, click on the macro with the RIGHT mouse button and select the command Component...

Each component has 2 separate text labels Type (aka ID identifier), we add a serial number to the component type, and Nominal. You can edit these text labels in this editor. Care must be taken to write down the data as it is used to create the component sheet.

The text will appear on the component layer for the selected macro, but you can also change the layer here.

You can define the visibility of these text labels. Even if the text is not visible, the data is still available, for example for a list of components.

The Auto Text Alignment button automatically aligns the 2 text labels, Type (ID) and Denomination, by default, to the top/left of the component.

Confirm with OK and the component will be created:

The macro has become a component

If a component has Pick+Place data entered, this will be marked with a small cross in the center of the component.

You can move the text labels Type and Denomination to other positions. Click on one of the text labels and move, while the other text label and the component will remain in position. To select and move another component label, click on it and drag it.

You can call the component editor and edit its data. To call the component editor window, double-click on the component, or right-click on the component and select the Component... command in the menu window that opens.

Decompose a Component

You can decompose a component into elements. The component becomes a normal group of elements, but all component data is lost.

To decompose a component, call the component editor and click the Edit button.

Modify / Decompose Component

Edit an existing component

You can call the "Editor" window to edit the component. Move the mouse cursor over the selected component and double-click on the component with the left mouse button, or right-click on the component and select the Component... command from the pop-up menu.

Advice:
You can select multiple components and change their data. In this case, each change in the dialog box will be marked in blue. You can assign these selected changes to all other selected components, after confirming in the dialog box. So you can, for example, change the text size for all components at once.

Decompose a Component

You can decompose a component at any time. The component becomes a normal group of elements, and all component data is lost.

To unfold a component, open the Editor window and click the Edit button.

Components in the Macro Library

When a macro is selected in the library, you can specify how the macro will be inserted into the project. As a regular macro, or as a component.

If you want to add the selected macros as a component, activate in the macro library window, this option As a component, the macro will be added to the project as a component.

Each macro that is selected will be created as a component. After you have placed the macro on the workspace, the "Editor" dialog box appears automatically, and you can change the data, already as a component:

Define data for a macro, as for a component, directly in the Macro Library

You can edit component data for a macro directly in the library. Double click the macro in the preview window, the editor dialog box will appear. Now you can edit the data for the selected macro, as for a component, right in the library. Every time you use this macro, it will be presented with this data already as a component. If you do not use a macro as a component (the option is disabled), its data component will be ignored. The difference between a simple macro and a component is that a macro has no data and cannot be saved to a component list, unlike a component. But it can be named by calling the pop-up menu, clicking the RIGHT mouse button on the selected macro on the workspace, and selecting the "Name" command. This name will be displayed when you hover over a macro installed in the project.

Component List

Sprint-Layout can create and manage a list of components that are used in a project. This list is called the Component List.

You can show or hide the component sheet. Click on the corresponding button in the toolbar:

The component list will be displayed to the right of the workspace:

The list of components contains all the used components of the project that were previously listed.

Select a component from this list and the component will be automatically positioned on the workspace. Conversely, if you select a component in the project, the corresponding entry in the component list will be marked.

You can double-click on an entry in the component sheet to call up the component editor, and edit the component data.

At the bottom of the component sheet, there are options to show or hide in the list some component data.

When the options are checked, click on the horizontal arrow, the width of the component sheet will be adjusted automatically, depending on the number of options selected.

Advice:
You can change the width of the component sheet. Move the mouse cursor to the boundary line between the component sheet and the workspace. The mouse cursor will change to a double arrow. This means that you can move the border as long as you keep the left mouse button pressed.

Pick+Place data

The component may contain additional data that is necessary for automated placement of SMD components. This data is called Pick+Place data.

Additional data window:

Rotate Component

Component housing

Component Center

You can edit this data in an additional window. If you click on the Pick+Place Data Open button, an additional window opens:

Apply data

This option specifies whether the component should have Pick+Place data. Typically, Pick+Place data is only required for SMD components.

If the component is using Pick+Place data, you will see a small cross in the center of the component. This indicates the use of Pick+Place data for this component.

Turn

You can set the orientation of the component on the workspace.

Rotation determines the angle that the setting machine uses when placing the component on the board.

Rotation-0 (zero), the component is vertically aligned and its "pin1" and "+" are on top.

If the component is in a different position, the rotation depends on which side of the board the component is mounted on. Components on the top side will rotate counterclockwise and components on the bottom side will rotate clockwise.

In either case, if the component's rotation is set correctly, Sprint-Layout will manage the component's rotation data automatically to rotate the component.

You can edit the body of the component. For example "SO-8" or "0805_MET". This data is generally not necessary.

The center defines the position that the inserter uses when it places the component on the board.

Typically, the center is exactly in the middle of the component,

You can set the following options to define the center:

By copper contacts

Sprint-Layout defines the center as the center of an imaginary rectangle around all the SMD pads of the component.

By body

Sprint-Layout defines the center as the center of an imaginary rectangle around all the outline elements of the component's body.

By component

Sprint-Layout defines the center as the center of an imaginary rectangle around all SMD pads and all outline elements of the component body.

X/Y coordinates

If the component is asymmetrical, it may be necessary to define an offset to determine the correct center. The 0/0 button resets this offset to zero.

Data export

Sprint-Layout can export component data to a text file. You can create a list of components or a Pick+Place file, which is necessary for automated placement of SMD components.

To export component data, click on the Export... button at the bottom of the "Component List" window:

A dialog box will appear:

Data export

Here you can define the data to be exported.

You can also define the order of the data in the list, in the right field. Just drag and drop these values to the desired position.

Separator

Specifies the character to be used to separate data in a string.

Layer Text

Specifies the side for the component's data.

By default, texts are placed in a standard way, as when placing components on the Top and Bottom side. The Standard button returns the default text placement.

X/Y - Coordinates

Determine the installation position and format of the specified center.

Rotation

It is possible to define whether rotation data will be exported with R prefix or not.

You can select which components should be used for export.

Preview

You can see how the exported data will look like.

Export...

Click this export button to write the data component to a text file.

To print a project, call the Print... command from the File menu, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar:

In the window that opens, you will see a print preview box and options for selecting print options.

In the preview field, you can immediately see what effect for printing this or that selected option will have.

The paper appears as a white page. The red dotted frame indicates the printable area on the paper. The area of this zone depends on the printer.

To adjust the print position on the page, move the cursor over the board drawing, press the left mouse button, and move the drawing to the desired position. What you see is what you get!

On the left side of the preview window, there are options:

Here you can select the layers to be printed. You can define a color for each layer. Click on the color button, to the right of each layer. To select a layer, check the box, if the checkbox is not checked, then this layer will not be on the printout.

You can define the sequence of overlay layers when printing on a page - 4 buttons below:

Layers are superimposed one on top of the other, starting from the bottom. One image of the board. This is useful when manually scaling, so that you can see all the details of the project on an enlarged printout of the project. Unnecessary layers can be disabled (uncheck).

The sequence of printing (overlay) layers: K2 - I2 - I1 - K1 - B2 - B1 - U

Layers are superimposed one on another, starting from the top. One image of the board. Unnecessary layers can be disabled (uncheck).

The sequence of printing (overlay) layers: K1 - I1 - I2 - K2 - B1 - B2 - U

Prints two images of the board on one page, one below the other. At the top, an image of the board with the upper layers is printed (the overlay sequence is indicated below), and below the second image of the board is printed, but with the lower layers (the overlay sequence is indicated below). Unnecessary layers can be disabled (uncheck). When printing two sides on one sheet, be sure to activate the "Board Outline" option, otherwise there will be a very large spacing, and the side drawings may not fit in the printable area. It also depends on the format of the board.

The sequence of printing (overlay) of the upper layers (top image): I1 - K1 - B1 - U

The sequence of printing (overlay) of the lower layers (lower image): I2 - K2 - B2 - U

Prints two board images on one page, one next to the other. The image with the top layers is printed on the left, and the image with the bottom layers is printed on the right. The sequence of printing (overlay) layers is shown below. Unnecessary layers can be disabled (uncheck). When printing two sides on one sheet, be sure to activate the "Board Outline" option, otherwise there will be a very large spacing, and the side drawings may not fit in the printable area. It also depends on the format of the board.

The sequence of printing (overlay) of the upper layers (left image): I1 - K1 - B1 - U

The printing sequence (overlay) of the lower layers (right image): I2 - K2 - B2 - U

Additionally

This is a special layer. Here you can define a solder mask and a list of holes.

solder mask
The solder mask is created around pads or SMD pads. The diameter (size) of the mask is larger than the pad by a certain value. Holes of contact pads are filled with a mask. Mask 1 is for the top layer. Mask 2 is for the bottom layer.
Using the Settings... button, you can define solder mask properties.

holes
This option is to print the diameter and positions of all holes. In the preview window, you can see text labels next to each hole - the diameter of the hole.
Using the Settings... button, you can define the height of the text.

Options
Here you can select additional options for printing:

All black

Only black and white printout is produced. All colors will be ignored and automatically changed to black.

Mirrored
The board (project) will be printed in mirror image. This is necessary for the correct transfer of the design drawing to the real board blank. As a rule, the upper layers are printed as a mirror image.

Board angles
This option adds 4 crosses at the corners of the PCB to mark the corners of the PCB.

Circuit
The option draws a border to show the outline of the board.

background picture

If you have uploaded a bitmap image as the background of your project, you can select this option to print this image along with your project.

Negative
Produces a negative print. It is used when transferring a pattern to a photoresist.

Auxiliary grid
Shows the grid on the preview page. This helps in positioning the print on the paper. The mesh will not print with the project.

Info line
Shows an information line at the bottom of a sheet of paper, printed along with the printed pattern. The info line includes: - the name of the project as a whole, the name of the tab in the project, scale, date and time.

This option allows you to scale the printout from 10% to 500%.
Option 1:1 to print a picture of real size.

Orientation

Selecting the orientation of the sheet of paper - Portrait / Landscape.

At the top of the preview, there are additional features:

Automatically positions the picture in the center of the sheet.

To clipboard

Copying the actual image, as a bitmap, to the clipboard. The picture can be pasted into other programs.

The arrangement of several board prints on one sheet, both horizontally and vertically. Enter the number of copies for X-horizontal and Y-vertical and the distance between copies.

Correction

Some printers require calibration to produce accurate printouts.

Example: The line is 200 mm long, but the printer prints a line 201 mm long. In this case, enter a correction factor, 200 mm / 201 mm = 0.995. Then the printer will print exactly at the specified scale.

Printer
To select and set up a printer. The selected printer is displayed in the title of the preview dialog box.

Seal
Sending the PCB design to the printer for printing.

Cancel
Closes the preview window and returns to the working field, without printing.

Export to BMP format

This function creates a bitmap file (*.bmp) that can be used with other applications.

The bitmap is created from the layers that are currently visible on the Stage.

To create a bitmap file, call the Export -> Format (*.bmp) command from the File menu.

You can choose whether the bitmap should be color or black and white.

Quality

Use the slider to adjust the bitmap resolution. Keep in mind that higher resolutions (high quality) require more memory resources than lower resolutions. Try reducing the resolution as much as you can with acceptable quality. This is especially important for a color bitmap.

Export to GIF format

This feature creates a GIF file (*.gif) that can be used with other applications.

The GIF file is created from the layers that are currently visible on the Stage.

The GIF format is a compressed format, so the resulting file is much smaller than a BMP file.

To create a GIF file, call the Export -> GIF (*.gif) command from the File menu.

Quality

Use the slider to adjust the bitmap resolution. Keep in mind that higher resolutions (high quality) require more memory resources than lower values. Try reducing the resolution as much as you can with acceptable quality. This is especially important for a color bitmap.

Close the dialog box by clicking the OK button to save the bitmap file.

Export to JPEG format

This function creates a JPEG (*.jpg) file that can be used with other applications.

The JPEG file is created from the layers that are currently visible on the Stage.

JPEG is a file compression format, so the resulting file is much smaller than a BMP file.

To create a JPEG file, call the Export -> JPG (*.jpg) command from the File menu.

Quality

Close the dialog box by clicking OK to save the bitmap file.

Gerber-Export

Sprint Layout exports the design to RS274-X Gerber files used for professional board fabrication. Gerber files are common to (almost) all manufacturers.

Gerber - the file will include all data for each individual layer completely (copper, components, solder masks, etc.).

Call Export -> Gerber Export... from the File menu to create a Gerber file.

The next window offers several options to create a Gerber format:

You can select the layer to be exported. Each layer will be exported as a separate gerber file.

Names for Gerber files

The name of each layer's gerber file is displayed next to the layer's name. The name of the Gerber file, each side of the board, contains 2 parts:

File name + File extension -> Project name_copper (layer name)_bottom (board side).gbr

File name + File extension -> Project name_components (layer name)_top (board side).gbr

In this process, the filename is the same for all layers, but the extension filename will be different for all layers.

File name:

You can enter a common name for Gerber files. In all files for layers, the Project name will automatically change.

File extensions...

The file extensions of each layer are predefined. You can change these extensions here:

You can edit extensions for Gerber files.

Mirrored

Reflection of the contour layer. This option is mostly unnecessary.

Mirror board outline (board size)

This option adds board size options.

Sverlovka

The option determines where the holes should be drilled. Typically, this parameter is NOT needed. Drilling will be done in any case. This option can be useful if you are drilling holes by hand, but some manufacturers get into trouble if this option is selected.

Centering (0.15 mm)

The option is available together with the Drilling option. Only marks of the center of holes for drilling (punching) are applied, which facilitates manual drilling.

Solder Mask Gap

Options will be available if solder masks are selected. You can separately adjust the gap for a regular pad, or an SMD pad. You can choose to export the solder mask, for a regular pad, and/or for an SMD pad (as well as for other elements if they are included in the solder mask).

The solder mask should be slightly larger than the copper element. You can adjust the gap for the SMD pad here.

SMD Mask Gap

The option will be available if the SMD mask is selected. You can adjust the gap for the SMD mask here.

You can see the selected directory for gerber files.

You can change this directory with the Change... button on the right.

Create Gerber File...

Click the Create Gerber File... button, Gerber files will be created and saved to the folder specified in the directory.

In the list below, you can see a protocol for each generated gerber file.

Advice:
Contact the manufacturer to find out all the circumstances.
Many manufacturers support the Sprint-Layout format (*.lay). In this case, you do not have to create Gerber files yourself. It is enough to provide the manufacturer with your project file.

Excellon-Export

An excellon file used by the manufacturer to professionally manufacture the board of your project. It contains all hole diameters and positions.

To create an Excellon file, call Export -> Hole Data... from the File menu:

It is possible, both separately and together, to select contact pads, both with simple holes and with plated holes.

A separate selection of plated holes is sometimes necessary for professional PCB production.

Coordinates...

Select which side of the board the coordinates will be generated for. If you select to drill from below, then the coordinates will be mirrored horizontally.

The Sort by Diameter option will sort holes by diameter. This will minimize unnecessary drill press routes.

unit of measurement

Select the coordinate units. Some machines can only work with inches.

The Remove zeros option is generally accepted by machines without problems. If you have problems with this option, you can deselect this option.

Normally, coordinates are exported without a decimal point. The meaning of these coordinates depends on the units used. Some machines only understand coordinates with a decimal point. You can select the output option With decimal point.

Special Options

These are additional options for the Excellon file.

Milling

Milling is a function for the production of printed circuit boards, using special CNC milling machines. Tracks and pins are cut into the copper layer of the board. Sprint-Layout supports the milling manufacturing method. Milling data is exported to a plot file in HPGL format (*.plt). The plot file is used by CNC milling machines to produce printed circuit boards.

To create a plot file, call the Export -> Mill Data command. (HPGL, *.plt)... from the File menu.

Dialog box to create a complete plot file.

Milling

Track width

You can specify the width of the mill path. Sprint-Layout uses this width to set the correction parameter for calculating insulation channels (tracks).

Sprint-Layout cannot define a setting to cut out wide, solid insulation channels between elements. For a milling machine, the minimum distance between 2 elements must be specified. If the minimum distance is not specified, the insulation channel will not be cut, see the picture on the right:

In this case, it is possible to reduce the width of the milling path, but note that all other elements will be slightly smaller if the actual milling tool is larger than the specified milling width.

K1 - Top / K2 - Bottom

You can select the side to be milled.

As a rule, the top side is not mirrored, and is milled as shown in the actual drawing.

As a rule, the bottom side should be mirrored, because the machine is fed after the top side. Depending on the sequence and position (horizontally or vertically) the board will be fed for milling, it is necessary to determine the type of mirror reflection.

The Mark Holes option helps you to mark the centers of the holes to be drilled. This option is needed to ensure effective alignment of the CNC drill during the drilling process and reduces the likelihood of breakage of thin and flexible drills at high speeds of the CNC drill.

Only for experts!

By default, the number of milling tracks = 1. You can increase this number to get more insulation channels to increase the milling width.

holes

You can determine from which side to start drilling holes.

There are 3 drilling options:

Mill all holes (CI command)

All holes are made with a cutter of the same diameter. Holes with a diameter greater than the diameter of the installed cutter will also be made with the same tool, but will be cut along its circumference, in accordance with the specified hole diameter. The CNC milling machine determines the coordinates of the hole on the board, and the cutter moves around the circle, cutting a large hole.

Depending on the diameter of the installed cutter, the hole size may be slightly smaller or slightly larger. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to make a correction for the diameter of the cutter. The cutter width option determines the width of the cut line, and makes an adjustment. It is necessary to choose a cutter that exactly matches the small diameter of the holes, but no more.

Drill all holes with one drill (PD command)

All holes are drilled with the same drill. Larger holes will only be drilled in the center, i.e. their center is marked. The command is placed in the plot-file.

Sprint-Layout will ignore other diameter dimensions, and will create one job for all holes.

Drill a new diameter with a new drill (PD command)

The command is written to the plot-file as for ordinary drilling, but sorted by diameter.

Sprint-Layout will sort all holes by diameter, and write jobs for each diameter size to one file.

Contour milling

You can determine whether you want to mill the board outline or not. And also choose the side on which you want to mill the contour.

The board outline contains all the lines and arcs labeled on the U layer.

Note:

The data for milling the contour is written to the plot-file according to its actual size. Depending on the diameter of the installed cutter, the contour size may be slightly smaller or slightly larger. To prevent this from happening, you need to make a correction for the diameter of the cutter, or provide for an adjustment when creating a project in Sprint Layout.

Data for accurate binding to the board (helps to accurately coordinate the board in the machine)

When milling a double-sided board, the board needs to be precisely coordinated. It is necessary to accurately turn the board over so that there is a complete match during milling. Additional holes are recorded as data for accurate binding of board coordinates and transferred to the CNC machine. You can define 2 or 3 base holes outside the board. The data for these holes will be written to the plot file as drilling data.

To select additional holes, move the mouse cursor to the box with a red rectangle and gray dots, immediately below the name of the option. Select the required holes (points), move the cursor over the selected point and click the left mouse button. The gray dot (hole) will change color to red, the hole is activated and will be written to the file. Click the mouse button again to deselect the hole (if needed).

The distance of the hole from the edge of the board must also be determined. Set this parameter with the "Edge Distance" option.

The text can be outlined or single-track.

Outlined text means that it will be outlined with a milled outline around the text.

Single track text means that the milled track will be applied to the text itself.

If you need to process texts separately, you must first select (highlight) the required text, and then select a parameter for it. In this case, you can set different parameters for selected and passive texts.

Mill selected elements

If you select multiple elements, before calling the Milling window, you must specify that only these selected elements will be milled.

Drilling with minimum feed

Some CNC milling machines may ignore drilling data if they are set to drill with a minimum drill feed. In this case, you need to activate this option, and Sprint-Layout will write a command to control the minimum drill feed.

Some CNC milling machines use rounded scale units HPGL=0.025mm (instead of HPGL=0.0254mm). In this case, you can select this scale unit here.

Job sorting

On the right, all tasks are displayed according to the given settings necessary for the CNC milling machine. The plot file will contain all of these jobs in the order they appear on the job sheet. Sprint-Layout arranges the tasks in the proper sequence, but you can rearrange these tasks as you like. Move jobs in the desired sequence by simply dragging and dropping them.

Create a plot file

The generation process may take some time, depending on the complexity of the project.

After that, you will see the creation plan and, as a result, the result for viewing in the project on the working field. Now you can check the result.

With this button, you can change the width of the milling path. The result can be displayed as thin lines, or as a line whose width is written in the job.

The Delete outlines button removes the preview result from the workspace.

General settings

Call the General settings... command from the Options menu.

You can change all settings for Sprint-Layout.

General settings

Basic settings

In this settings block, you can set the unit of measurement for Sprint-Layout: mm or mil (1 mil = 1/1000 inch).

You can change the units of measurement by clicking on the upper left button in this settings block.

holes

You can customize the appearance of the holes. You can choose a background color (so that the holes look transparent), you can set the holes to be displayed in white (for better identification).

Show zoom window

Activates the small green zoom box in the sidebar on the left, below the tool buttons.

Darken Auto Ground Layer

The auto ground will appear a bit darker, better differentiated from the rest of the project.

Show all auto-ground layers

You can see all auto-ground layers on all copper layers at the same time. If you do not select this option, then the auto-ground of the current layer is displayed. Displaying all auto-ground layers at the same time can be useful, but this option slows down rendering speed, depending on the complexity of the project.

Check connections (elastic) in TEST mode

All elements that are connected by connections (elastic) will be considered.

Flashing TEST mode

The test result is displayed in a blinking mode, you can better determine the connection of the elements.

CTRL-Test- Capture test element data

On the selected element, you can view its properties (eg track width or contact size) in the left toolbar. You can "capture" these values by pressing the CTRL key while selecting an element, you can use these values for the next drawing. To see these values permanent (even without pressing CTRL), you can disable this option.

Limit font line thickness (min. 0.15 mm)

This option limits the text so that the font line thickness is at least 0.15 mm. This limitation is useful because smaller values cannot be used when making a silk-screened board.

Correctly display markings after element rotation

The text labels TYPE and Rating of the component are always reflected correctly (left or bottom), it does not matter if the component will be rotated.

Auto-optimize track nodes

Sprint-Layout removes all duplicate track nodes automatically.

Original mark when exporting (Gerber/Excellon/HPGL)

Typically, a label is used for every CAM export. If you disable this option, the label will be ignored.

You can define your own colors.

There are 4 different color schemes to choose from:

Standard

User 1

User 2

User 3

Standard is a predefined Sprint-Layout color scheme and is not editable.

Custom Color Schemes 1..3 are freely editable color schemes that you can change as you see fit.

To change the color scheme, select "User..." . You can change the color of a layer by clicking on the colored square button next to the layer symbol.

The Default button resets all custom color schemes, and sets the default Sprint-Layout color scheme.

File directories

You can define fixed working folders for various Sprint-Layout files.

When first launched, Sprint-Layout sets up default directories for various files.

With the "..." button, you can select another folder.

Advice:
Leave the field blank if you want to keep the default directory defined by Sprint-Layout.

With the Use one folder for all files option, Sprint-Layout will only use one working folder for all files. This option is useful if you want to save files associated with the same project.

Library

This is the directory that contains all macros and all additional macro directories.

With the Change button, you can select another directory, or another macro library, if the folder with macros has been moved, or there is another macro library, but in a different folder.

The Reset button resets the installed directory and sets the default macro library directory.

The "Return" function saves, as a rule, up to 50 steps, which can be undone if necessary. The "Return" function remembers 50 actions, but if the project is large, you may need to remember more actions. This is usually not a problem, but if you have your own old PC and notice that the system is slow, you can reduce the number of memories.

The maximum current selected for the tracks is displayed in the property pane window.

This value is approximate. The actual value depends on many other factors such as ambient temperature, cooling, etc.

There are 2 important parameters to calculate the maximum current for a track: the copper thickness of the board (average 35µm) and the maximum heating temperature (recommended value is 20 degrees). You can change these parameters to customize the actual current value calculation.

You can define new hotkeys for the Sprint-Layout drawing tools.

Select the desired drawing tool from the list, and click the arrow in the Change field to select a new key for that mode.

You can make some additional settings regarding the appearance of the crosshairs.

Preservation

You can increase security when creating a project. You can define at what time interval the project will be saved automatically. It happens completely in the background and you won't notice it. The periodically saved file will be placed in the same folder and with the same name as the original file, only with the ".bak" extension added to the file name to distinguish it from the original file.

Properties panel

The property panel provides the ability to edit all the important properties of the project and elements, without calling special windows.

To call the properties panel, select the Properties panel from the Options menu, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar:

The properties panel will appear on the right side of the workspace.

If no items are selected, only the workspace properties will be displayed:

The property bar reacts to the current selection on the workspace.

If you select at least one element, for example, one contact, you can change its properties directly here:

You can also edit other elements (tracks, text labels, etc.).

Multi-choice

If you select multiple elements, or a group, you can edit the properties of all selected elements at the same time.

The Multi-Select window appears at the top of the Properties Panel. Here you can select the type of elements you want to edit. All changes made will be applied to all selected elements.

Design Review (DRC)

When creating a project, some inaccuracies may occur. For the project being created, there are some tolerances and restrictions, these values are called "Design Rules". To identify all inaccuracies and check the design rules there is a function DRC - control (Design Rules Check). Sprint-Layout can check some important design rules like minimum distance between 2 copper tracks etc.

To check, you need to open the DRC-Panel.

Select DRC Panel from the Options menu, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar:

DRC panel will appear on the right.

You can configure DRC parameters. You can select or deselect any of the DRC options by checking the box next to the selected option, or uncheck it.

Distances:

Between tracks:

Minimum spacing between copper tracks.

Between holes:

Minimum distance between 2 holes.

Hole diameter Min:

Minimum hole diameter.

Hole diameter Max:

Maximum hole diameter.

Road width Min:

Minimum usable track width.

Ext. otver. Min:

Minimum remaining copper ring around the hole.

Component Min:

The minimum usable line thickness of the component's outline.

Contact tags:

The option checks if there are any marks, lines, contours on pads or SMD pads.

Holes on SMD pins:

The option checks if there are holes on the SMD pins.

Checking for a mask:

The option checks if there are pins or SMD pins that are not included in the soldermask (can be edited manually).

Mask gap check:

The option checks the distance around pins and SMD pins. Can be edited manually.

Start DRC - control

After the test parameters are selected, you can start DRC - control.

Control

DRC control, for the entire project.

Dedicated

DRC control of only selected part of the project.

If you have made small changes to the project, you can select this area with changes and check only the selected area.

Test Result (DRS)

After DRC control, all found errors are listed in the list box below. Each entry shows the corresponding layer, and the error found. All errors will be marked in the project with a white, shaded square.

Example: 3 errors (minimum distance)

To display only single errors, select them from the list. You can click the Select All button to select and display all errors.

Advice:
If you double-click on the selected error in the list, it will be automatically enlarged on the working field. You can quickly view each error, in an enlarged view.

Selector

The selector is a powerful tool. Can be used to search and select specific project elements. You can search and select all contacts of a particular shape or size. The selected elements can be changed in the properties panel.

The selector can also help analyze the project. You can, for example, select all contacts in the Elements list and sort them by size. Such lists can help you find unwanted items.

Open the window using the Selector command from the Options menu, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar:

Selector panel, appearing on the right:

With the top three buttons, with a drop-down menu, you can determine the type of sorting of elements:

Elements:

Select the element type you want to analyze.

Sort by:

Select the kind of sort you want the Selector to use. The options in this window depend on the selected element type.

You can select elements based on the layer they are on.

The sorted items will be listed as a list box below these buttons.

If you select a group in the list, all elements of this group will be highlighted on the workspace.

If you expand a group, all members of that group will be listed. You can select an individual element, rather than a group as a whole.

In combination, Selector and Property Panel, you can edit the project selectively.

For example, you can select the "contacts" group in the Selector. All contacts in this group will be selected and highlighted on the working field, you can make the necessary changes in the Properties panel, for all contact pads at once.

Auto-Scale

Each time you select an entry in the Selector, the elements will be selected in the project and Sprint-Layout will increment the selected elements. You can change the scale by moving the slider pointer.

Flashing mode of selected items

The selected elements in the project will be highlighted in flashing mode. This will help identify the selected items. You can turn off the flashing mode in the General Settings of Sprint-Layout.

Auto-capture

This feature makes it much easier to connect a trace accurately, to a pin or other element. As soon as you move the mouse cursor to the selected point, at that moment the cursor will be fixed, and an exact connection is guaranteed. This feature is useful if a link and a contact are not on the same grid scale.

Each time an auto-capture is taken, the cursor is highlighted in red:

Captured crosshair

Auto-capture mode can be enabled or disabled at any time. Click on the corresponding button at the bottom of the status bar:

Enabled Disabled

Function Elastic

When you move elements that are connected to contacts by tracks, connection links are preserved. The advantage is that connections are not broken, but as a rule, you will have to edit these connections after each such move.

In the Elastic function, you can set one of 3 levels by clicking on the corresponding button at the bottom of the status bar:

Large area Small area Disabled

The large area means that the tracks may not be exactly connected to the pins than when the small area is selected.

The small area means that the trace must be connected exactly to the center of the pad for the connection to be recognized.

You can turn off the function, or change the mode of the function, with the Elastic button.

Site Master (Footprint)

The Pad Wizard will help you create component pads.

Select a typical pinout and set options. The wizard will create pads automatically.

Select Footprint... from the Advanced menu.

5 different types of pad mounting are available:

Single row (SIP)

Double row (DIP)

Quadruple (QUAD)

Circular

double circular

Each pad type has some parameters. These options are displayed in the Pad Wizard window.

Select from the list the desired contact type. The button Standard, sets the parameters to reasonable values, you can see the values of these parameters.

Contacts

You can choose the type (normal or SMD), and the size of the pad.

Number of contacts

You can enter the number of contacts.

Options

You can set the parameters that are required for the selected pad type.

Not every parameter is used, for every type of pad.

The value of each parameter is displayed in the corresponding window, and the result can be seen in the viewer window.

If you click OK, the wizard will create contacts of the specified type and place them on the workspace.

Solder Mask Editing

Typically, the solder mask will be created automatically in Sprint-Layout.

Sprint-Layout creates a solder mask by excluding all pins and SMD pins from under the mask, so these areas are free to solder.

Sometimes it is necessary to change the solder mask. To do this, you need to edit it.

Click Mask in the left sidebar to enter solder mask editing mode:

All items to be soldered will be displayed in white. As a rule, these are all contacts and SMD contacts.

In this mode, you can add additional elements to the solder mask by clicking on it. This element will be added to the solder mask and it will also be displayed in white.

Conversely, you can exclude the element from the solder mask. Click on a white element to exclude it. The element will be displayed in its normal color.

You can reset the solder mask to default values (all pins and SMD pins). To do this, select Default Mask... from the Advanced menu.

Gerber Import

Gerber files must be RS274-X. The legacy gerber format, with additional file aperture, is not supported.

Unfortunately, exporting a project to gerber format is not always accurate, as a result of which, an imported gerber file may also not accurately display the project. This is because the gerber file is an optical copy of the project. Clear differentiation between tracks, zones or contacts is not transmitted. In addition, each application that creates a gerber file can create this file in its own way. There are many options, but there are no specific rules for creating gerber files. Anyway, Sprint-Layout will always try to interpret gerber files and get the best and optimal result.

To create a project from a gerber file, select Gerber-Import... from the File menu.

Gerber file (RS274-X)

You can select a gerber file for each layer.

Select the new gerber file with the "..." button. A dialog box will appear where you can select a gerber file.

Note that if you select a file in the dialog box, that file will be interpreted and the result displayed in the preview window of the main window. This feature is very useful because gerber files often have obscure names that make the content unrecognizable. If the file is not recognized as a gerber file, then the preview window will show a big cross in the form of X. Also, if such a file is selected, the file name will be displayed in gray, which means that the file is not valid.

Hole data (Excellon)

You can select a hole data file. This file must be in Excellon format.

Sprint-Layout can only automatically recognize this data from an Exellon format file.

When you select the Exellon file in the dialog box, you will see the hole data in the preview window. The file has additional options regarding the digital format. Sprint-Layout recognizes a specific Exellon digital file format and no other digital format is recognized. In the dialog box, you can make the necessary changes to the digital format of the file if you do not know which digital format is used in the file. You can try several options. The preview window will always show the result if all settings are correct.

Create project

You can define where the project should be created, in a new tab (workspace), or in the current tab (workspace).

Create Metallization Automatically

Sprint-Layout recognizes through, plated holes automatically. You can disable this feature if enabling it produces undesirable results.

Optimize connecting tracks

Sprint-Layout recognizes single-segment connector tracks up to complex multi-segment combinations and optimizes them.

Import...

Click Import... to create a project from a gerber file.

Project information

You can open the Project Information using the corresponding button on the toolbar:

The Project window will appear:

You can enter project information. In the Comment field, you can add an annotation to the project, such as contact details, reference information, etc.

Project information will be saved with the project automatically.

Control keyboard

You can control many Sprint-Layout functions from the keyboard:

CTRL key

Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard to turn off snap to grid, if necessary, place an element in a position off the grid.

CURSOR keys

Use the CURSOR keys to move the selected elements along the current grid spacing. If you press the mouse button and the CTRL key, you can move the selected elements in 0.1 mm increments.

SPACE key

While drawing a track or zone, you can change the direction, in the "bend" mode, by pressing the key<ПРОБЕЛ>>. There are 5 modes that can be switched by key<ПРОБЕЛ>.

DEL key

Removes the selected items from the project.

Alt key

If you want to select one element from a group or macro, press and hold the ALT key and then click on the desired element.

SHIFT key

If you want to select multiple individual items, hold down the SHIFT key and you can now select one item after the other without deselecting the selected items.

F1 key

Calls up help with a description of the program's functions.

F9 key

Activates layers. Only K1 or K2.

F12 key

Automatically replaces the selected simple through-hole contact with a plated transition contact.

Hot keys for modes:

ESC Standard (default)

Z Scale

T track

P Contact

S SMD pin

Q Rectangle

F Zone (polygon)

N Special shapes

A Auto-trace

M Measurement

V Photo view

O Solder mask

You can change these hotkeys in General Settings.

Keys 1..9

With keys 1..9 you can select predefined grid values.

Keyboard shortcut:

Cancel

Repeat

Copy

Cut out

Insert

Duplicate

Choose all

Mirrored horizontally

Mirrored vertically

group

Ungroup

Change board side

Information!

Sprint Layout 6.0 RUS The program is Russified - Men1. Help help to the program, translated and compiled - Sub. Assistance in testing the Russified version was provided by forum participants: RadioKot.

Briefly about the course

When developing or repeating various electronic circuits by novice radio amateurs, in most cases it becomes necessary to develop a board for the device being designed to place circuit details on it. For simple circuits, you can draw by hand with varnish or other water-insoluble paint a drawing of the future board on foil-coated fiberglass and start etching. Or use the so-called "dry" method of manufacturing circuit boards - remove excess foil from the workpiece with a cutter along the lines separating the individual tracks of the printed circuit board. Both methods completely solve the problem, but as the complexity of the circuit increases, it is more expedient to use a personal computer to trace the board according to the circuit. Here a new problem arises - which software to choose? Any "experienced" radio amateur will say - "Draw in Sprint Layout" and will be right. In the vast majority of cases, the Sprint Layout 6 program, which is easy to learn and use, is suitable for performing the tasks of tracing boards for a beginner radio amateur. That's what I'm going to tell you about in my tutorial.

The course will consist of four parts. First part preparatory and in it I will talk about the Sprint Layout 6 program, its interface and settings, coordinates, grids, rulers and units of measurement.

The second part course will tell you about the graphical primitives used in routing and actions on them, as well as macros in Sprint Layout 6. I will teach you how to work with the footprint library, create macros, and give you some tips on organizing your component library. As an example, we will choose a simple scheme and create several macros for the elements included in it.

AT third part we will proceed directly to tracing the board according to the selected scheme. In the process of work, we will study the main functions of the program for working with the board trace, after which we will print the board drawing for home-made and export it to a graphic format for publication. In addition, I will talk about the function of converting any existing board drawing to the Sprint Layout 6 format and about the possibilities of exporting a list of components to Microsoft Excel.

In the final fourth part course, we will look at the possibilities of working Sprint Layout 6 with multilayer boards. I will talk about the features of tracing aimed at further fabrication of boards, and show how to correctly obtain a set of files necessary for production (Gerber files and a drill file). We will also touch on such functions of importing Gerber files and exporting a Plot file for CNC milling.

About Sprint Layout 6

Seal

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