The schematic is the basis of PCB design. Schematic Capture or Schematic Entry is the process of creating an electronic diagram or an electronic schematic of the designed electronic printed circuit board (PCB). Therefore, it is said to be a front-end operation of several others in the design flow.
Schematic capture is the first step in the design of most printed circuit boards (PCBs). In many cases, a schematic editor or schematic capture tool is used, through you could in theory use CAD software, as well. Or you may create the initial schematic in schematic capture and PCB layout software.
Despite the complexity of modern components – huge ball grid arrays (BGAs) and tiny passive components – schematic capture is easier today than it has been for many years. CAD software is easier to use and is available in full-featured expensive packages, very capable mid-range packages that sometimes have free versions and completely free versions that are either open source or directly linked to a PCB fabrication company.
Difference between Schematics and PCB Layout Drawings
The 2D layout of a basic circuit is not yet ready to be laid out on the PCB. The circuit board consists of layers. The simplest PCB consists of a copper layer and a substrate layer. The copper layer is conductive and creates the circuit, while the substrate provides a surface that components can be glued, screwed, or otherwise attached to. These schematics showing where key components will be mounted doesn’t tell the PCB manufacturer how to build the PCB unless you’re making a basic breadboard.
How to Create a PCB Layout from a Schematic Diagram?
PCB editor can import electronic schematic unless you import it or replicate it inside of an electronic design automation (EDA) application. In some EDA applications, you’d start the conversion process by selecting the option “Export to PCB File”. However, PCB designer is responsible to make sure that there are no errors in the component footprints, overlaying items, or overcrowding them based on design rules.
The resulting diagram is then used as the basis for the PCB design detailing how thick the PCB layers will be and how the SMT components connect with each. The final design in the PCB editing software becomes the PCB file.
The PCB file is a data file containing the circuit board design. The PCB manufacturer doesn’t need the program used to create the file or the original schematic. They need the PCB fabrication data typically contained in the Gerber files. The PCB design tools may create a Gerber file for each layer of the PCB or a single file for the entire PCB to be fabricated.