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Embedded thumbnail for PCB Library Management: One Library or Many?
How-To's
PCB Library Management: One Library or Many?

This detailed guide walks you through the pros and cons of each approach and offers proven strategies for managing component data, whether you're an independent designer or overseeing libraries for an entire organization.

Blog
Stack-Up to Success: Avoid the Pitfalls

"Stack‑Up to Success" highlights how a carefully planned PCB stack‑up is foundational to preventing warpage, managing impedance, and avoiding manufacturing delays by clearly communicating layer construction, materials, and tolerance requirements to fabricators.

Embedded thumbnail for Coming Soon: Sawtooth Rounding Support for Length Tuning
New in Altium Designer 25
Coming Soon: Sawtooth Rounding Support for Length Tuning

Sawtooth Rounding for Length Tuning improves signal‑path accuracy by applying controlled corner‑rounding to sawtooth geometries during both Interactive Length Tuning and within‑pair matching in the Auto Tuning engine. Discover this capability and additional innovations on our Coming Soon page.

Embedded thumbnail for Coming Soon: Z-Axis Clearance Rule
New in Altium Designer 25
Coming Soon: Z-Axis Clearance Rule

The Z-Axis Clearance Rule checks the shortest distance between copper features on different layers in a PCB design. It is available in both the Constraint Manager and the legacy PCB Rules Editor. Discover more new features in Altium on our Coming Soon Page.

Embedded thumbnail for Coming Soon: Advanced Polygon Pour Engine
New in Altium Designer 25
Coming Soon: Advanced Polygon Pour Engine

Now supports true arcs instead of approximated curves in copper pours. This enhanced engine marks a major advancement in the polygon pour process in Altium Designer, delivering smoother and more accurate copper shapes. Native arc rendering improves visual quality and helps ensure cleaner, more professional PCB designs.

Embedded thumbnail for How to Design Rigid-Flex PCB Stackups from Scratch
How-To's
How to Design Rigid-Flex PCB Stackups from Scratch

Watch this tutorial to learn the fundamentals of Rigid-Flex design. We cover everything from understanding polyimide materials and adhesive layers to building complex, multi-layer Rigid-Flex constructions that are ready for manufacturing.

Blog
How to Effectively Use Jira for Hardware Development Projects

Originally built for software development, Jira has become a popular tool for agile project management across various industries. Our new article explores how hardware teams can leverage core Jira features and adapt agile principles to suit the unique needs of hardware development.

Embedded thumbnail for How to Draw Antipads - Complete Tutorial
How-To's
How to Draw Antipads - Complete Tutorial

Discover how to draw and define antipads in Altium with this complete tutorial. Learn three different methods for creating antipads around vias. From simple design rules to advanced polygon cutouts for both basic and complex PCB designs.

Embedded thumbnail for Do PCB Manufacturers Actually Look at Fabrication Drawings?
How-To's
Do PCB Manufacturers Actually Look at Fabrication Drawings?

Explore this in-depth tutorial featuring real fabrication drawings, stackup specifications, and drill tables - all created using Altium Designer’s Draftsman tool. Learn essential insights into PCB data management and manufacturing requirements from an industry perspective.

Embedded thumbnail for Compensating Transmission Line Losses in a PCB Calculator
How-To's
Compensating Transmission Line Losses in a PCB Calculator

This tutorial uncovers the key difference between ideal, lossless impedance calculations and real-world signal behavior giving you practical techniques to design controlled impedance PCBs that deliver reliable performance.

Blog
How to Make Your PCB Layout AOI and X-Ray Friendly

Designing for inspection is key to reliable manufacturing. This article covers practical PCB layout tips to optimize your board for AOI and X-ray inspection helping you reduce defects, false positives, and production delays.

Embedded thumbnail for How Close Can You Bring a Reference Plane?
How-To's
How Close Can You Bring a Reference Plane?

Explore our in-depth investigation into practical simulations using both Altium Designer and Polar Si9000. We demonstrate impedance sensitivity analysis and reveal the real limitations of optimizing reference plane proximity for improved signal shielding.

Blog
Understanding Systems Engineering

Read our brand-new article where we explore the key areas of an engineering project and the different stages of electronic product development from a project execution perspective. From initiation and planning to design, development, validation, testing, and certification, we walk you through each phase to help you understand how successful electronic products are brought to life.

Embedded thumbnail for Do PCB Thermal Vias Actually Work?
How-To's
Do PCB Thermal Vias Actually Work?

Are thermal vias really helping your PCB’s heat management? Tech Consultant Zach Peterson dives into simulation data, research, and a controversial article to uncover the truth. Learn why via count and spacing matter more than sheer quantity.

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Blog
What Is BOM Management? A Practical Guide to Avoiding Costly Part Mismatches

From design to production, effective Bill of Materials (BOM) management is critical to ensuring smooth collaboration between engineering, procurement, and manufacturing teams. In this practical guide, we break down proven strategies for structuring, maintaining, and synchronizing your BOM to prevent costly mistakes and accelerate time-to-market.

Blog
Requirements Portal Introductory Tutorials

This series of guided demos shows how the Altium Requirements Portal transforms scattered requirement spreadsheets and emails into traceable, version-controlled data that stays aligned with your PCB design efforts.

Blog
Bridging the Gap: When to Use Rigid-Flex Instead of Flex & Connector

Discover when a rigid-flex PCB is a better choice than a separate flex circuit and connector, especially for designs requiring compact packaging, repeated motion or high reliability. The article emphasizes that although rigid-flex needs more upfront planning and fabrication collaboration, it often pays off in simpler assemblies and improved performance.

Blog
Bridging Mechanical and Electrical Teams for Smarter Automotive Design

As vehicles evolve into advanced electronic systems, the separation between electrical and mechanical design teams becomes a critical bottleneck. This article explores how synchronized ECAD–MCAD workflows help automotive projects move faster, reduce rework and maintain design integrity.

Blog
How Structural Electronics Enables 3D, Flexible, and Wearable Integration

Structural electronics integrates electronic functionality directly into the physical structure of a product, eliminating the need for traditional circuit boards. This article examines how advances in materials, additive manufacturing, and flexible substrates are enabling compact, 3D, and wearable systems with enhanced performance and design freedom.

Blog
Most Common Causes of PCB Assembly Rework and Scrap

Many PCB assemblies fail not because of exotic faults, but due to basic issues like incorrect BOM entries or footprint mismatches that force rework or scrap. This article dives into the most common causes and how to prevent costly defects in your design-to-manufacturing process.

Blog
Behind the Scenes with AI Embedded Development

Forget one-shot AI hacks Ari Mahpour shows the thoughtful, sustainable way to integrate AI into embedded firmware development. Learn the core principles (planning gate, HAL abstraction, observability, timeout design) that can help you push your efficiency 5-10 times in real hardware projects.

Blog
We're heading to PCB West 2025!

Join Altium at PCB West 2025 in Santa Clara, CA, on October 1! Stop by Booth 300 for the official launch of the new Altium platform, built on the foundation of Altium Designer and Altium 365. Be sure to check out our live demos of Altium Develop and Altium Agile.

Blog
Peak Electrical Performance in Multi-Board Designs With Advanced Simulation and Compliance Tools

Moving from single-board to multi-board systems is a leap in complexity. You must manage not just routing, but power, signal integrity, mechanical fit, and regulatory requirements across boards. In this article, you’ll discover how Altium’s advanced simulation and compliance tools help engineering teams overcome these challenges and deliver reliable multi-board solutions.

Blog
Executive Insights Into Electronic Product Development Gaps You Need To Close

Electronics hardware development is falling behind broader product development disciplines due to fragmented workflows, poor collaboration, and limited compliance visibility. This gap introduces risk, delays, and missed opportunities but executives see real business value in modernizing electronics development through better integration, traceability, and lifecycle visibility.

Blog
Sourcing For High-Mix Low-Volume Electronics Manufacturing

High-mix, low-volume (HMLV) electronics manufacturing requires agile sourcing strategies to handle shifting BOMs, erratic lead times, and component volatility. All while controlling costs and ensuring compliance. Cloud-based tools like Altium provide real-time component visibility, BOM collaboration, and supplier integrations to help navigate HMLV complexities.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to Calculate the Area of a Polygon
Working with Polygons Febr. 24, 2020
How to Calculate the Area of a Polygon

This video demonstrates how to calculate the area of a polygon or region.

Embedded thumbnail for Overview of Altium Designer 20
New in Altium Designer 20 Febr. 21, 2020
Overview of Altium Designer 20

With the release of Altium Designer 20 comes with it many new and exciting features. See why Altium Designer is the best choice for PCB designers.

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