I had been creating some SMD adapter patterns with it, then I just export the pattern in a Lossless BMP or PNG (I forget which one I use right now) and repeat pattern to fill a whole page of paper using Irfanview and that works out nicely. The trick Mooly suggested works pretty good. I am not sure if I had contacted them to increase my pin Capability or not but it is something I need to do if I haven't already. I haven't done it yet but I am glad to hear that they updated the library system, what a nightmare that thing was, it took me a long while to get used to it. I just fired it up the other day and I got an update notice. You can still add/remove libraries manually via Library Setup if you so desire.

This appears to allow them to automatically add all libraries created on the computer. Libraries are now broken into groups, separating the user libraries from the standard included ones. The library management system has finally been completely revised. More recently, they mentioned that a complete rewrite was in the works and it now appears to have gone live. Novarm has long admitted the system was broken and they weren't happy with it. You could work with it (mostly) but it wasn't pleasant or intuitive. It has been no secret that it was one of the biggest letdowns in DipTrace. As much as I loved DipTrace, I HATED the LMS I hated it with a passion. In my designs, I haven't bumped up against this limit yet.Įnough about DipTrace in general, what have they changed? First and foremost they updated the previously horrible library management system. This gives you 500 pins, 2 signal layer with unlimited ground/power layers. The standard Freeware license is 300 pins/2 layers but if you contact them and let them know you are a hobbyist you can get a Non-Profit Lite license for free. If you use Eagle you are SOL, but its no problem in DipTrace. For example, lets say you wanted to make a board that was 4ft long, with twenty LEDs on it, for under cabinet lighting. Its a pin/layers licensing scheme, not a board size scheme. Very useful when you need to create a part for something obscure.Īlso, their licensing is much more convenient for hobbyists. Plus, creating your own parts is by far the easiest of any of the programs.

Personally, I found it much more intuitive than Eagle and KiCAD at least from the hobbyist perspective. For those that are looking for a PCB design package, I strongly encourage you to add DipTrace to your list of ones to try. I know that most of you likely are Eagle or KiCAD users but I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up that there is a new version of DipTrace out.

Diptrace freeware limitations