March into Innovation with Altium Designer

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Setting the New Standard in Electronics Design.

Efficiency. Collaboration. Accuracy.

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Altium Designer Getting Started User Guide
Choose a topic from the list below or simply push the Play button and start our step by step guide

Altium 365 logo
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8 Articles to Master
Get started using Altium 365 with sample data and practical examples. While working with an existing design, you will learn: How to move components and project models to Altium 365 How to place the project in Altium 365 How to replace the components in your project with identical ones from Altium 365 How to work with components and models from Altium 365
8 videos 26:21
schematic fragment
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12 Articles to Master
Learn how to create a complete functional schematic and interact with it within the scope of the project.
12 videos 50:42
3D PCB booard design
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22 Articles to Master
Explore the professional process of creating a complex printed circuit board from scratch to a full-fledged working device, using modern Altium tools sets.
22 videos 1:17:44
example of draftsman
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2 Articles to Master
Take a look at the most convenient approach to creating high-quality assembly drawings of the designed printed-circuit board by means of an Altium Draftsman module.
2 videos 12:36
Altium Designer interface screenshot
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5 Articles to Master
Export all required file sets for board manufacturing and assembly of the end device by using the OutJob file.
5 videos 09:21
Altium Designer interface screenshot
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4 Articles to Master
Discover the manual and automatic approach to creating components symbols and footprints of various complexity with the addition of the created components to the library.
4 videos 26:05

PCB Development Path

Each new project includes a new solution, new details, and new compromises to which the engineer MUST pay attention. In order to get the results closer to the ideal, the designer of the future device must make proper calculations, imagine the consequences of decisions made, compare different device configurations and, finally, make the right choice. Altium Designer offers a complete set of tools allowing the engineer to follow the PCB development path without leaving the design environment and without resorting to third-party programs. From the beginning of the project to its completion, the designer must perform many operations related to each particular stage of the development path. From these stages, as from the blocks, a typical design path is built.

The development path of every PCB always starts with creating a new project in which the design of the schematic and board will be carried out and synchronized. At this point, it is assumed that a library is created and placed in your repository. In this guide, you will use the existing library of managed components. After the project is created, work starts on the electrical schematic design on which the components are placed and their interconnections are defined. The Electrical Rules Check (ERC) design rules will be checked several times while working on the schematic, and once completed, the project will be compiled. The next step contains all the work related to PCB design. This step includes forming the board shape, creating a layer set (stackup), synchronizing with the schematic, design rules definition, components placement, routing, and much more. During PCB design, all rules such as Design For Assembly (DFA), Design Rules Check (DRC), and Design For Manufacture (DFM) are checked online, all of which help decrease errors and problems. After the PCB is completely designed and error-free, the documentation development stage begins including exporting the Bill Of Materials (BOM) exporting, creating assembly drawings, etc. The final step of the PCB development path is uploading files for the manufacturer to create a printed circuit board that will be used to create a finished device. These are the steps necessary in a typical PCB development path.