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Eagle is a program that you can use to make printed circuit boards.

It uses a visual format which is similar to, but not quite the same as, how you would normally draw circuit diagrams. It has a lot of snazzy features which make it very desirable for hacker/diy sorta people:

• You can get a legit copy for free right here: http://www.cadsoftusa.com/download-eagle/?language=en
• There is a decent community and lots of free parts libraries here: http://www.cadsoftusa.com/downloads/libraries?language=en
• It has a very nice output system that lets you customize production files easily
• It is fully scriptable if you decide you want to learn the ulp language. Doc here: http://www.cadsoftusa.com/downloads/file/ulp640_en.pdf
• It runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

About the class

• Class should be 2-3 hours
• By the end, you should be able to build and export basic schematics and board layouts
• Instructor will provide some Rules and Gerber settings that you can use with most fabricators
• Afterward, you should have enough confidence to explore the rest yourself

Topics Covered:

• Turning circuit diagrams into Eagle schematic files
• Creating layouts (board files) from Eagle schematics
• Building custom parts
• Creating text and marks
• Outputting production files (Gerbers)
• A few clever tricks for this and that
• Avoiding a few things that will make you angry

Materials required:

• A computer running Cadsoft Eagle.
• A circuit diagram to work on. (optional)

Eagle is not hard to learn, but it is kind of tedious at first. Trying to figure it out by yourself is really annoying, but with just a little help, everything goes a lot more smoothly.