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Are Your ECAD Tools Holding Back Engineers’ Productivity?

The article highlights that productivity issues often stem from tool limitations rather than engineer effort, especially as project complexity grows. ECAD tools that offer clear version control, cross-discipline integration, and workflow awareness are key to sustaining efficiency.

NEW
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How-To's
PCB Design Tips to Improve RF Power Amplifier Layout

Take a deeper look at RF power amplifier PCB design as we expand on our original 6 GHz RF signal generator tutorial with an in-depth design review. Discover essential layout optimization techniques such as switching regulator routing, feedback loop placement, stitching via implementation, and effective copper balancing.

NEW
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Altium Stories
How Altium's Assembly Assistant unifies Quantum Systems' Dev Process

Quantum Systems develops unmanned drone systems for aerial intelligence and rapid, field-ready innovation. With the Assembly Assistant, their team streamlined a once tedious prototype build process, eliminating manual exports, file conversions, and unnecessary guesswork.

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How-To's
Creating Stacking Stripes for PCB Fabrication: Altium Tutorial

Watch our new tutorial where we demonstrate how to place stacking stripes along the edge of a PCB and configure design rules to control clearances. In this video, you’ll learn how to create a dummy net, use the query system to apply rules specifically to stacking stripes, and leverage split planes on internal layers.

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How-To's
Empower Your Designs with Advanced Power Analysis

Power Analyzer brings clarity. Agile Teams brings control. Combined, they help teams deliver reliable hardware with confidence.

Blog
7 Ways to Catch Rules & Constraints Early – Checklist

Discover seven actionable ways to spot and fix rules and constraint issues before they derail your PCB project. Using Altium Designer Agile, these tips help you build more manufacturable and reliable boards with fewer iterations.

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How-To's
Component Selection Process Tips for PCB Design

Explore our new component selection tutorial and learn Zach Peterson’s proven approach to finding and choosing parts that take your electronic designs from good to exceptional.

Blog
Do You Need an IPC-D-356 Netlist?

If your output package is Gerber-based, adding an IPC-D-356 netlist can dramatically improve how your design is reviewed and validated for production. Here’s when it matters, what it contains, and how to generate it quickly in Altium.

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How-To's
Signal Analyzer by Keysight Promo Video

Design faster, collaborate smarter, and catch signal integrity issues early with Altium Agile Teams and the Signal Integrity Analyzer by Keysight — both integrated directly into Altium Designer Agile. Check out our new promo video to learn more.

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How-To's
NFC Reader Testing: Flashing and Validating the Project

Join Zach Peterson as we build and test an NFC reader board from start to finish. You’ll see how a custom NFC reader goes from manufacturing to working hardware, with step-by-step guidance on firmware flashing, power checks, and RFID tag detection.

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How-To's
Power Analyzer by Keysight Promo Video

Unlock faster, more reliable PCB design with Altium Designer Agile Teams and Power Analyzer by Keysight. Integrated directly inside Altium Designer, this powerful combination enables fast, secure, and adaptive collaboration helping engineering teams move quickly, stay aligned, and scale confidently. Watch this short video to see how this software improves your PCB design process.

Blog
Avoid These Top 3 Power Distribution Failures in PCB Design

Power distribution issues can silently undermine your PCB’s reliability. This article uncovers the top three failure modes and shows how Power Analyzer by Keysight helps you catch them early in the design phase and how Altium Agile Teams turns those checks into structured team action.

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How-To's
Do 90-Degree Bends Destroy Signal Integrity? The Surprising Answer

Discover why the long-held belief about 90-degree PCB traces may be more myth than reality. This video explains key signal integrity principles and uncovers insights that can help you make more informed design decisions.

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New in Altium Designer 20
Taking Control Without Adding Complexity – Presentation Embedded World North America 2025

See how Altium makes project oversight faster and smarter with automated workflows, real-time tracking, and connected design data without adding work for engineers. Watch our Embedded World North America 2025 presentation to learn more.

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Blog
How to Maximize Copper in Your PCB Design: The Pros and Cons of Copper Pouring Versus Placing

There is a saying in copper pour PCB design, “Copper is free.” It means a PCB editor designer must think in reverse. A board starts off as solid copper, and the copper you don’t want is removed. It is faster to build, less consumptive, and less expensive to make a board that is mostly copper as compared to the same size board that is mostly bare. Picking the correct technique will make the difference between an effortless or frustrating experience.

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Blog May 14, 2020
How to Highlight Nets in Altium Designer to Simplify Schematic and PCB Designs

Highlighting nets will help you simplify your schematic and PCB design. In Altium , there are multiple options that enable you to leverage this capability to simplify the verification of connections and circuit paths and make sure that the design you send to your manufacturer accurately reflects the printed circuit board you need built.

Routed tracks
Blog May 5, 2020
Helpful Tips for Interactive Routing in Altium Designer

Before you jump into the software, you should know the types of things you’re going to want to look out for. Traces, connection lines, differential pair routing, and route paths can all affect the routing process of your board. Make sure that you’re equipped knowing, ultimately, what you want your board design to accomplish and furthermore, where you anticipate potential problem areas to be.

Blog Apr 22, 2020
Any Angle Routing: When Should You Use It?

EDA tools have come a long way since the advent of personal computing. Now advanced routing features like auto-routers, interactive routing, length tuning, and pin-swapping are helping designers stay productive, especially as device and trace densities increase. Read full article in our blog:

Blog Mar 20, 2020
A Message from Altium on COVID-19

We understand that many of you, like ourselves, have transitioned to working remotely. This process comes with its challenges and we would like to offer all and any help we can to minimize disruptions for your teams and business.

Blog Mar 2, 2020
About Altium Designer Home Page

With the new Altium Designer Home page, we are aiming to help users stay up to date with the latest features and productivity tricks available in Altium Designer. Learn more about the Home page in this documentation article.

altium-community-forum
Blog Feb 25, 2020
Getting Connected: Altium’s User Community Forums

The Altium design environment is a complex and sophisticated set of software tools. Not surprisingly, becoming proficient with these tools will take some time, and you’ll need to practice every step of the design process from beginning to end. So what happens if you get stuck along the way?

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Simulation in Altium Designer
Low-Pass Filter

Learn how to modify an op amp low-pass filter circuit for simulation. 

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How-To's
Design Reuse

If you need to shorten your time-to-market, reduce costs, and minimize errors in the design process. Then you need to make sure that you’re designing smarter, with design reuse blocks. Check out this demo to see how it works.

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Simulation in Altium Designer
Flyback Converter

Learn how to use transient analysis on an example flyback converter and handle basic errors during the simulation preparation. 

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How-To's
Back Drilling in Altium Designer

In this video, we will learn about Back Drilling technology, how to set up back drilling using the Layer Stack Manager, and how to set up the Stub Length sizes for back drilling by specifying applicable nets using the Design Rules Editor.

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How-To's
Distributed - Element Circuits in RF Design

The capacitance and inductance of Distributed-Element circuits are determined by the shape and location of different copper elements in the PCB layout, instead of being concentrated in one point in space. Learn how to work with these circuits in Altium Designer.

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How-To's
Collaborative Editing

Save time and minimize reworks while teaming up on a PCB design from anywhere in the world. Watch the video for a sneak preview of the new collaborative editing functionality.

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How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Exporting Results

After completing your simulation in Power Analyzer by Keysight, you will likely need to export some of the results for further analysis. In this video, we will show you how to prepare a report once the simulation is done.

Embedded thumbnail for Plane Connect - Direct in RF Design
How-To's
Plane Connect - Direct in RF Design

Designing high-frequency circuit boards requires a sharp eye toward maintaining signal integrity. Some signal connections are more prone to interruption than others. In this video, you can learn how Altium Designer's Polygon Connect Design Rule and the Thermal Relief option can help in the PCB design process.

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How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Understanding and Correcting Violations

When you finish the Power Analyzer by Keysight simulation process, you may find some design problems. In this video, we will learn how to understand and correct any violations that may arise on your board.

Embedded thumbnail for Routing Any Angle or Arc in RF Design
How-To's
Routing Any Angle or Arc in RF Design

High-frequency signals require special consideration when routing. Altium Designer allows you to add RF nets to a net class, then apply design rules. Learn how, as well as some other handy high-frequency routing tips, in this video.

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How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Working with Power Analyzer Panel

Learn how to use the Power Analyzer software by Keysight panel. This video explains all the basic instructions and provides helpful hints for using the software effectively.

Embedded thumbnail for Which PCB Materials are used in RF Design
How-To's
Which PCB Materials are used in RF Design

High frequency signals are carried on circuit boards via transmission lines. Learn the differences between standard 50 ohm impedance microstrip lines and coplanar transmission lines in this video. We also explore the best-use cases for coplanar transmission lines, how they impact loss and interference, dielectric thicknesses, and more.

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How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Configuring Autorecognition

Before using the Power Analyzer by Keysight, it is important to configure certain parameters. In this video, we will demonstrate how to properly set up the software for auto-recognition.

Embedded thumbnail for Adding Power Nets for Simulation
How To Work with Power Analyzer by Keysight
Adding Power Nets for Simulation

One of the most important things when designing your PCB is to check and measure the quality of electrical power for your project. Power Analyzer by Keysight offers you the ability to simulate how power is distributed on your PCB. In this video, we will show you how to prepare power nets for simulation in Altium Designer.

Embedded thumbnail for How to Use Transmission Lines in RF Design
How-To's
How to Use Transmission Lines in RF Design

High frequency signals are carried on circuit boards via transmission lines. Learn the differences between standard 50 ohm impedance microstrip lines and coplanar transmission lines in this video. We also explore the best-use cases for coplanar transmission lines, how they impact loss and interference, dielectric thicknesses, and more.

Embedded thumbnail for How to Reverse Engineer a PCB from Gerber Files
How-To's
How to Reverse Engineer a PCB from Gerber Files

Have you ever done a reverse-engineering? In this video we walk you through the process how to prepare a PCB from Gerber files, using a variety of methods, including via CAMtastic in Altium Designer.

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Integrating Requirements June 2025 Webinar
On-Demand Webinar May 28, 2025
Integrating Requirements into Your PCB Design Workflow
Join our webinar where you will learn about integrated requirements tools who can help you eliminate late-stage design changes, AI support through system requirements and integration of design requirements directly in PCB Design. Don't miss it, register now!
Streamlining Team Collaboration
On-Demand Webinar Apr 17, 2025
Streamlining Team Collaboration in Industrial PCB Projects
Join us for our upcoming webinar to discover how Altium Designer and Altium 365 can transform your team’s collaboration and take your PCB design projects to the next level. Attend for a chance to win free access to the Altium 365 Training Bundle.
PCB CoDesign Webinar
On-Demand Webinar Jan 24, 2024
Discover How Altium Designer 24 Revolutionizes Team Dynamics in PCB Design
Expand your collaboration skills and stay ahead of the curve with PCB CoDesign. Design teams often grapple with prolonged design cycles and coordination issues, leading to delays and inefficiencies. In the current landscape, design processes are hindered by fragmented collaboration, resulting in increased layout times and difficulties in synchronizing design updates.