Schematics - Easy draw circuits, free

[KX4QC]

Ever struggled with a CAD app and just wished there was something easier to draw a quick professional-looking circuit schematic, that incidentally is also of publication quality?
One answer seems to be xcircuit. It seems to be free for Linux and Win, and often included with many modern Linux distros.
Is it perfect? No, but hard to beat for the price.

How it worked for me:
I installed it and found that it didn't appear in any Menu. So where did it go?
In a terminal i typed

Code: Select all

which xcircuit

which returned

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/usr/share/xcircuit

so that's where it is!
I then opened my Menu editor, chose a suitable place for xcircuit, using /usr/share/xcircuit as the command to start it. Next, I found a fine-looking icon for it and saved.
Tested the new "launcher" item in the menu to see that it did in fact start xcircuit. Bingo! first time.

Next to find out how to use it. There are many videos on the web , ranging from the informative to the completely useless. I found these two a good start, but YMMV.


Xcircuit Tutorial 1: Installation and some basic commands

Xcircuit Tutorial 2: Drawing a voltage divider circuit (Enough here to get you drawing!)

Ha! I was so happy! Voltage dividers, an emitter follower, a tuned circuit... and then i wanted a triode -yeah, one of those hot old glass things that light up and bite your fingers. No tubes (valves) at all.

-But not to worry, there's a page with more symbols than you can shake a stick at, all for free download at:
http://opencircuitdesign.com/xcircuit/l ... aries.html

You'll need to add the download(s) to the /usr/share/xcircuit folder (or wherever xcircuit lives ), and then add the symbols before you can use them. Hint: File -> Library Manager . As a last resort, consult the Help!

There are half a dozen keyboard shortcuts and a very few icons that do almost everything. 20 minutes or so of practice, and you'll be drawing like a pro!

So what's wrong with it? Don't expect a JPG graphic; it saves as .PS or .EPS (PostScript) or exports as .SVG (Vector Graphic). See what your word processor app likes best. The Save your schematic is called "Write" (why?)

I think you'll be astonished at the clean professional-looking quality! Tell a friend, and impress with a circuit or two of your own...

[KX4QC]

I still like this app, but the more I use it, there are a few irritations. first for a radio guy, there's a Ground part, but no antenna, so I searched for one in any of the downloadable extra "libraries" for xcircuit, but no antenna so far.
Ok, I know it isn't hard to stick three little lines together, but....

[KX4QC]

Well, after a little trying with Xcircuit, as discussed, good as far as it goes, I tried KiCad viewtopic.php?t=157 and so far I like it better.

KiCad is modular and can do anything from a simple schematic to completed documentation for a commercial project. You use as much or as little as you want.

KiCad warning: you really do need to RTFM. Then it makes sense, otherwise I suspect you'll never get it to work with random poking at the buttons.