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Molded Interconnect Devices
Blog
MIDs Make a Comeback as Vertical SMD Modules for Your PCB

Molded interconnect devices are essentially plastic molded substrates with traces running along any surface, including at right angles and running vertically. Altium users can use the new 3D Routing extension to design their own component carriers, which can be mounted vertically in a standard assembly process. If you’ve always wanted to vertically mount components or entire circuits, but without the expense of adding a flex section to your design, the new 3D Routing extension with HARTING’s component carrier designs provides a unique solution.

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How to work with Variants
What Are Design Variants For?

Variants in Altium Designer allow you to create several variations of the same design all from one source project. Variants can be managed in the project and through Altium Designer you can control variants in the PCB, Schematic, Draftsman, and Outjob files to make your designs easily editable without redundancy.

MCAD CoDesign Process
Blog
MCAD CoDesigner 2.9.0 is Out

Altium has released version 2.9.0 of the MCAD CoDesigner. This version has the option to exclude small components when transferring from ECAD to MCAD. The arc behavior was improved, and the support for splines in board shape and cutouts was added. With this release, you can now select a specific SOLIDWORKS configuration of a part to use on the board and view the improvements made for Siemens NX.

Rigid-Flex in Altium Designer
Blog
Support for Rigid-Flex in Altium Designer

Altium Designer's world-class PCB design features help users quickly get started with new rigid-flex designs and prepare them for manufacturing. Rigid-flex in Altium Designer starts with designing a manufacturable PCB layer stack complete with via transitions and any calculated impedance requirements. Keep reading to see how Altium Designer supports your flex and rigid-flex designs.

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Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension
MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Solidworks

MCAD CoDesigner is built to address the challenges of electronic product design by enabling seamless collaboration between your electrical and mechanical engineers. This video will show you how to start collaborate between Altium Designer and SolidWorks. 

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DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Panelization

When you go to manufacture your design you can get a board manufactured by itself or with multiple in a panel. We’ll show you the how and the why to create panelization with the Embedded Board Array/Panelize tool, as well as how to create break away points for your individual boards.

2+N+2 PCB Stackups
Blog
2+N+2 PCB Stackup Design for HDI Boards

Like any other advanced PCB, success in HDI design comes from designing the right stackup. One common HDI stackup used to support routing into moderate pin count, high-density BGA components is the 2+N+2 PCB layer stack for HDI boards. We’ll explore this stackup more in this article, as well as how it is related to other advanced stackups used in HDI PCBs.

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How to work with Variants
Display Variants in Draftsman Document

You can use the draftsman document to display your board variants. We’ll show you how to create a draftsman document and add variants to it properly displayed and editable through the properties panel.

PDF Viewer in Altium 365
Blog
PDF in Altium 365 Web Viewer

Altium 365 Web Viewer now includes a built-in PDF viewer that allows you to view PDF files in releases without an external PDF viewer application. Keep reading to learn about new key features that make your work easier

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How-To's
How to print PCB?

Do you want to know how to use the updated document output feature? This video tells about the changes to the document output and shows how to quickly form a PDF or print a PCB in Altium Designer 21.

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DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Avoid Solder Wicking

If solder gets sucked into via holes in can cause an unreliable connection in your otherwise manufacturable design. We’ll show you a few easy ways to avoid this solder wicking using rules.

Rigid-Flex Applications
Blog
Flex and Rigid-Flex PCB Applications

There are two basic reasons for designing a flex circuit into your product: to build a compact and efficiently assembled device, or to make the circuit dynamically integrated with the mechanical function of the product. You may, of course, lean on both of these reasons for justifying the use of flex circuits. On this note, let’s look at some rigid-flex PCB applications and design examples to see the issues that spring to mind when designing flex circuits

Altium Designer Interface
On-Demand Webinar
Preparing your files for Fabrication Release

When you’re done creating a new board, it’s time to send your design data to the manufacturer. Before releasing your designs, you’ll want to make sure that everything is ready and works as intended. In this informative video, we’ll review some of the must-have checks before sending your output data for fabrication. 

Sharing Settings in Altium 365
Blog
Granular Sharing — Role and Group Management

With Altium 365, you can grant permission to teams or users based on the specific needs of a project. We have expanded Altium 365’s file-sharing setting, giving you more granular control over who can download source files and reshare projects with others

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Working with MCAD CoDesigner extension
MCAD CoDesigner Quick Start: Autodesk Inventor

MCAD CoDesigner is built to address the challenges of electronic product design by enabling seamless collaboration between your electrical and mechanical engineers. This video will show you how to start collaboration between Altium Designer and Autodesk Inventor. 

Embedded thumbnail for Variants in Output Documents
How to work with Variants
Variants in Output Documents

Variants can be used with output files to keep track of all the variations within your design. We’ll show you how to export these files including a Smart PDF, and an outjob file with variants.

Use your DRCs
Blog
Design Rule Checking in the PCB Design Workflow

Any time you design a PCB, and you want to turn it into a real product, you will have to make sure the design obeys the constraints within the standard PCB manufacturing process. This imposes multiple rules on any design, and ECAD software will enforce design rules as you create the board to ensure you obey these important constraints. Make sure you enforce the right design rules at the beginning of the PCB design workflow 

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DFM and Fabrication Cost/Time Constraints
Copper to Edge Clearance

It is necessary to maintain edge clearance from your copper in your design. We’ll show you how to maintain it, what exceptions there are to the rule, and how you can ensure its manufacturability.

How to select high frequency materials
Blog
Best Practices for High-Frequency PCB Material Selection

High frequency PCB design can seem esoteric, and I've heard many an engineer describe it as "black magic"! The subject is also a bit confusing, especially once someone asks which frequencies could be reasonably considered "high". Before you do anything inside the layout for a high-speed or RF PCB, you will need to pay attention to the materials being used in the board. If you're unsure which high frequency PCB materials you should use, then keep reading to learn more.

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RF PCB Design
Design RF PCB: PCB edge plating

Board edge plating provides additional noise suppression and improves EMC. This video provides some practical tips for creating metalized PCB edges in Altium Designer.

Tag
Blog
Favorite Tools for BOM Review

Check out our article, where Lawrence Romine shares his top tools for conducting efficient Bill of Materials (BOM) reviews in PCB design. It highlights key features in Altium 365, Octopart, and ActiveBOM that help engineers avoid unsourceable components and streamline procurement.

Blog
Simple Strategies to Reach 10% PCB Cost Reduction

Our new article outlines strategies to achieve a 10% reduction in PCB costs by optimizing design and material choices, such as adjusting stack-up materials and hole sizes, using lower-cost parts, and considering single-sided assembly. These techniques help reduce expenses without sacrificing quality.

Blog
Say Goodbye to EDA Software Vendor Lock

Check how Altium 365 helps eliminate EDA software vendor lock by enabling multi-CAD support in the cloud. This allows users to work with different CAD file formats within a single platform, enhancing collaboration and reducing the need for additional licenses. This approach offers greater flexibility and is set to transform the industry.

Blog
The Ultimate Introduction to High-Speed Signal Integrity for PCB Designers

High-speed signal integrity is essential in PCB design to ensure data accuracy and system reliability. Key issues like impedance mismatches, crosstalk, and signal reflections need to be addressed through strategies such as controlled impedance traces, differential pairs, and suitable material choices. Check out our first article of the series about this topic.

Blog
Multi-Board PCB Signal Integrity: A Complete Guide

Our new article on signal integrity in multi-board PCBs covers essential aspects like connector pinouts, cable designs, and interconnect strategies. These factors ensure reliable performance in high-speed applications across industries such as military, aerospace, and AI.

Blog
Pi.MX8 Project - Board Layout Part 4

We invite you to explore a new chapter in the PiMX8 Project, focusing on the final stages of PCB layout design for the Pi.MX8 compute module. This installment covers critical topics such as routing power planes and signal delay tuning, essential for ensuring proper functionality and performance.

Blog
How Thermoformed Flex PCB’s are Designed and Fabricated

Thermoformed flexible PCBs are specially designed and fabricated by heating and molding them into specific shapes, making them suitable for compact and complex applications like automotive dashboards and wearable devices. This process involves precise temperature control and careful handling to ensure durability and quality. Discover more from Tara Dunn's new article.

Blog
Boost Connection Integrity and Design Efficiency with Wire Bonding

Altium Designer's wire bonding feature enhances PCB design by supporting chip-up configurations for Chip on Board (CoB) designs. It offers easy validation of bond wiring in 3D views, ensuring accurate and efficient design processes. Check more about this feature on Altium's new feature page.

Blog
How High Frequency SMD Passives Work in a PCB Layout

High-frequency surface-mount device (SMD) passives like resistors and capacitors play a crucial role in PCB layouts, particularly in circuits operating above 1 GHz. Our article explores how these components function at high frequencies, their operational limits, and the importance of considering parasitic elements in design.

Blog
Essential DFM Tips for Aerospace Projects

Design for Manufacturing (DFM) is a crucial aspect of aerospace projects. This process ensures high-quality designs that meet the unique challenges of the aerospace industry, such as extreme conditions and stringent reliability standards. Learn more about essential DFM tips in our brand-new article.

Tag
NEW
Embedded thumbnail for Arduino to Custom PCB: Professional Design Transformation
How-To's
Arduino to Custom PCB: Professional Design Transformation

Discover how to upgrade your Arduino Nano-based PCB design into a professional, custom PCB. This tutorial walks through the process of replacing development boards with individual components to create a production-ready design, using a real drone project as the example.

NEW
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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

Embedded thumbnail for Stripline Routing Deep Dive: How Close Is Too Close?
How-To's
Stripline Routing Deep Dive: How Close Is Too Close?

In this video, Zach Peterson takes a deep dive into what happens when reference layers are incorrectly set in a PCB stackup and how that affects impedance, signal integrity, and EMC. He also shares valuable insights into stripline routing proximity issues and best practices for assigning reference planes.

Embedded thumbnail for Coming Soon: Solder Mask Zero Expansion
New in Altium Designer 25
Coming Soon: Solder Mask Zero Expansion

Solder Mask Zero Expansion marks a move toward industry alignment, specifically with IPC-7351B and IPC-2581B standards. It changes the default solder mask expansion value from 4 mil to 0 mil. Discover more upcoming updates on our Coming Soon Page.

Embedded thumbnail for Analog Supply without a Ferrite: Proper Isolation Techniques Explained
How-To's
Analog Supply without a Ferrite: Proper Isolation Techniques Explained

In our new tutorial, you'll learn why ferrite beads may not be the best choice for isolating analog and digital supply pins on integrated circuits. Zach Peterson debunks common misconceptions about ferrite bead isolation and introduces better alternatives, including dedicated LDOs, precision voltage references, and effective filtering techniques to help you achieve cleaner analog signals in your designs.

Embedded thumbnail for Enhanced Constraint Manager in Altium Designer 25. Part II: Physical Constraints and Routing Differential Pairs
Enhanced Constraint Manager in Altium Designer 25
Enhanced Constraint Manager in Altium Designer 25. Part II: Physical Constraints and Routing Differential Pairs

In the second video of Samer Aldhaher’s "Enhanced Constraint Manager" series, we continue designing a 1 kW, 400 V brushless DC motor driver. This episode focuses on setting physical constraints using constraint sets, routing differential pairs, and demonstrating the Auto Shrinking feature in Altium Designer 25.

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Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
Auto-tuning Your Way to Faster PCB Design

Watch how the Auto Tuning feature in Altium Designer 25 delivers optimized DDR4 routing in a single click! Fewer steps, massive time savings. Try our Benefit Calculator to estimate your own time and cost savings.

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