TECHiE TALKS

Creating PCB Layouts from home is nothing ordinary for geeks, that all he does is nothing but techie stuff. This tutorial is all about how we create a commercial like PCB layout using only your Computer, Laser Printer, A4 size acetate , iron and the diagram for your circuit.

1. First open MS Paint

2. Press Ctrl + PgDn to zoom the canvas/workspace or you can go to view > zoom > custom > preferred zoom size. Press Ctrl + G to view the grid. It should look something like this:

3. Let’s call 1 box a pixel, for the size of an ic pin, let us use the 74LS04 an inverter having 14 pins as an example for our PCB layout. 1 square consist of 2×2 white pixels inside and 8×8 pixels outside and it should look like this:

4. That is now 1 pin of the ic, the second pin should be 2 pixels apart. Doing this you can you can use the select tool, square the drawing copy the paste.

5. Make sure to use the encircled function to avoid overriding one picture from another.

6. Do it 7 times for the 7 pins.

7. After doing it 7 times, use the select tool and copy the 7 pins of the ic and paste it moving down 21 times.

8. Now we have a layout for 1 ic. We can draw a layout for our supplies, according to our taste or how we like to see it. For the label I used arial size 8 putting 1 space in each character to see it more clearly after itching. I just used the select tool get the label ctrl+R for rotate flip it horizontally to see the exact label after transferring the PCB layout on the PCB board.

9. We can do the same for other IC’s and connect each pin according to how we like it. You should not be confused if whether the position is or placement is the same after transferring the pcb layout drawing to the pcb. Just think that you are placing the ic over the drawing and connect the pins as seen in your diagrams.

10. After setting all your drawings crop the image and press ctrl + A and ctrl + C or copy.

11. Open MSWord and set the paper size to A4 to get the actual size. File > page-setup > paper tab > paper size > A4 or 21 x 29.7 cm. Fill the sheet with your layout for later use such as errors.

12. Print the document in a laser printer and make sure you set the paper to A4 and use transparency or acetate.

13. What I have created here is a diagram for my mobile robot; this layout is for the microcontroller, sensors and for the comparator.

14. After printing the PCB Layout, you have to iron it on the PCB and make sure its not turned upside down. Iron it slowly and make sure it’s not that hot so that it won’t melt.

15. Let it cool down before pulling the acetate if it’s not that dark get another copy and override the previous drawing. Grab a marking pen to color unwanted portions such as lapses. After all looks good you can start etching the PCB Layout on your PCB.