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How to name/organize files for Circuit Studio...

tonyshell

Hi, I just started using Circuit Studio a few weeks ago.  I'm doing PCB design for a pinball machine I'm designing as a hobby, so I'm not using it 8 hours a day.  My question is about how to organize and name files.  I started out naming the schematic and PCB library files after the part number, but I don't think this is the right way to do it as that part may be obsolete or out of production in a few months.  I'm thinking that naming it with a generic name such as "RES10K0_1W5pct".  I'm also using multiple PCBLib files for parts that have the same footprint, which I'm thinking may be a huge waste of space once I have created/downloaded several dozen common parts.  Should I use the same PCBLib file for all parts that, for example, have an SMD0402 footprint?  Is there a best practice for naming, organizing and linking the SCHLib/PCBLib files?  If anyone has some advice or guidelines, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

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    Hi Tony, sounds like a fun project and good luck with your design. A few pointers that may help.

     

    A library (PCBLIB or SCHLIB) may contain many components, do not create a separate library for each component. You may choose to place all your parts into just one library (one for schematic and one for PCB) or logically divide up your libraries, e.g. device types, manufacturer etc. If you only have a small design then stick to one library.

     

    You can certainly reuse footprints, for example the same SMD0402 could be used for any device requiring that land pattern. However you will find many of the Altium libraries use the approach of a unique footprint per component (specific to manufacturer and device). Sharing the footprint means that you cannot have unique 3D models for each device and any minor variations to land patters that might be required to accommodate different devices. Having said that if you are just after generic footprints then by all means reuse them.

     

    Also consider if you need to generate a BOM. For a hobby project I would guess it is not critical to know exactly which manufacturer/device has been selected for each component (e.g. any generic 1% resistor will do) so you can combine schematic symbols under a generic name rather than having to have a whole array of manufacturer specific devices.

     

    If just working on a single design then no harm in keeping the SCHLIB and PCBLIB in the same folder as the project. However if you are wanting to work on different designs then keep your libraries in a separate project and let CircuitStudio know about the library (File > System Preferences, Data Management : Installed Libraries). This allows your libraries to be available to all projects.