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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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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.

Blog
Power Integrity Issues?

Power problems can be hard to spot until it’s too late. See how easy it is to analyze your power nets, check voltage drops, and improve reliability with Power Analyzer by Keysight - all without leaving your design environment.

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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.

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Signal Mistakes Are Expensive

See how the Signal Analyzer by Keysight in Altium Designer lets you run signal integrity checks directly within your design environment. Read our article to learn how to effectively manage impedance, return paths, stackups, and more.

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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Twice the Insight. One Seamless Simulation Bundle

Ensure power and signal integrity with the Keysight Bundle in Altium Designer. Catch issues early, reduce rework, and optimize your PCBs - all within one integrated environment featuring Signal & Power Analyzer.

Embedded thumbnail for Enhanced Constraint Manager in Altium Designer 25. Part I: From Directives to Creepage Rules
Enhanced Constraint Manager in Altium Designer 25
Enhanced Constraint Manager in Altium Designer 25. Part I: From Directives to Creepage Rules

We are introducing a new video series on the Enhanced Constraint Manager in Altium Designer 25. In the first chapter, Samer Aldhaher demonstrates how to define net classes, apply clearance and creepage rules, and validate constraints within both the schematic and PCB. The video uses a 1kW, 400V brushless DC motor driver project to illustrate real-world applications.

Embedded thumbnail for Design Faster with Altium Designer 25
Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
Design Faster with Altium Designer 25

Every second and every click count in the product development cycle. See how the new PCB Layout Replication feature in Altium Designer 25 boosts your efficiency in the PCB design process. Want to improve even more? Check out our Benefit Calculator now!

Embedded thumbnail for Creating PCB Drill Drawings and Tables in Altium Designer
How-To's
Creating PCB Drill Drawings and Tables in Altium Designer

If you want to learn more about drill drawings and tables in your PCB designs using Altium Designer, this tutorial is a must-watch. In the video, our Tech Consultant Zach Peterson walks you through multiple methods for generating these critical fabrication documents, including automatic Gerber outputs and custom drawings.

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New in Altium Designer 25
Streamlining Team Collaboration in Industrial PCB Projects - Recording Preview

This webinar recording shows how Altium Designer and Altium 365 improve team collaboration in industrial PCB projects. It covers features like version control, live commenting, task tracking, and JIRA integration to help teams work more efficiently and reduce costly errors.

Blog
Preparing for Prototype: Final Component Validation

Final component validation is the last critical check before building a prototype, ensuring all parts are accurate, available, and viable. This article shows how Altium’s integrated tools—like SiliconExpert, Z2Data, Octopart, and BOM Portal—help teams avoid costly surprises and prepare with confidence.

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Getting Started with Harness Design in Altium Designer 25

Explore the essential steps and tools for Harness Design in Altium Designer 25, from initial setup to final documentation. The article highlights how the unified design environment streamlines the entire process, improving efficiency and project integration.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Altium 365 New Website
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Altium 365 now has its own website!

Discover everything you need to know about Altium 365 and experience our suite of applications for secure, seamless, and streamlined collaboration. Visit now to explore how to streamline your electronic product development.
 

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Altium Designer: Leading the Charge in PCB Design Innovation

In the dynamic field of electronics design, Altium Designer stands out as a pioneer, continuously advancing the boundaries of PCB (Printed Circuit Board) design. Discover the latest innovations in 3D-MID design, high-speed design, and interactive routing in this new article by David Marrakchi.

Blog
What Is Solder Mask Expansion and Which Value Should You Use?

Check out our new article explaining how to ensure sufficient pad area for soldering, manage misregistration tolerance, and maintain proper solder dams between components. It also highlights the role of collaboration with fabrication houses and the use of CAD tools in defining land patterns for advanced electronics designs.

Blog
Pi.MX8 Project - Board Layout Part 3

We continue our exploration of the Pi.MX8 open-source computer module project. In this new installment, we focus on routing planning and then cover all the layers' routing with all the details you need to know if you want to prepare a similar project.

Blog
Mastering Blind and Buried Vias

Check our compilation of essential resources you'll need to use blind and buried vias successfully in an HDI PCB. In our brand new article, we present the main and most valuable information about this technology, which may not be new but is still highly useful in High-Density Interconnect projects.

Blog
Make Sure to Clean Your No-Clean Flux

No-clean flux has become popular due to its convenience. Learn more about why this solution is used, why cleaning might still be necessary, and how to remove no-clean flux residues. We will try to dispel all these doubts in this brand new article.

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Embedded thumbnail for AGND vs PGND: Proper Net Tie Connections in Power Regulator PCB Design
How-To's
AGND vs PGND: Proper Net Tie Connections in Power Regulator PCB Design

What’s the difference between AGND and PGND — and when should you use a net tie? Zach Peterson breaks down proper PCB layout for buck converters, grounding best practices, and why component placement matters in switching regulator designs.

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Altium Stories
Students at Monash UAS Fly Higher with Altium Solutions to Power Their Autonomous Drone Technology

Discover how the Monash Uncrewed Aerial Systems team leverages Altium Designer, MCAD CoDesigner, and Altium 365 to develop custom drone boards for critical humanitarian missions.

Embedded thumbnail for Say Goodbye to Disjointed Workflows: Unified Product Design in Altium Designer 25
New in Altium Designer 25
Say Goodbye to Disjointed Workflows: Unified Product Design in Altium Designer 25

Check an overview of how Altium Designer 25 unifies Multi-Board and Harness Design into a seamless, efficient workflow for faster, error-free product development.

Embedded thumbnail for From Concept to Reality: Updated 3D-MID Demo in Altium Designer 25
New in Altium Designer 25
From Concept to Reality: Updated 3D-MID Demo in Altium Designer 25

A walkthrough of the new 3D-MID capabilities in Altium Designer 25. Covers setting up a 3D PCB document, component placement on curved surfaces, routing with grids and sketches, exporting for LDS manufacturing, and generating a 3D pick-and-place file.

Embedded thumbnail for Take 66% of Your Time Back with Custom Pad Stack in Altium Designer 25
Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
Take 66% of Your Time Back with Custom Pad Stack in Altium Designer 25

This video demonstrates the measurable productivity gains of using the Custom Pad Stack tool in Altium Designer 25. It compares a detailed QFN-32 footprint customization process across versions, showing a significant reduction in time and mouse clicks—2 min 5 sec vs. 6 min 2 sec, and 45 vs. 116 clicks.

Embedded thumbnail for PCB Stackups in Reverse?
How-To's
PCB Stackups in Reverse?

Watch our new tutorial on reverse PCB stackups — a unique approach that combines thin internal layers with thicker outer cores for specialized applications. Learn how to implement reverse stackups effectively in Altium Designer, understand key manufacturability constraints, and explore Rogers materials specifically suited for this technique.

Embedded thumbnail for Design Smarter - Harness, Multi-board, and MCAD CoDesign in Action
New in Altium Designer 25
Design Smarter - Harness, Multi-board, and MCAD CoDesign in Action

This webinar highlights how Altium Designer 25, with a Pro or Enterprise subscription, enables seamless ECAD-MCAD collaboration using Harness and Multi-board Design tools and the advanced MCAD CoDesigner. Viewers will learn how to integrate harness designs, optimize multi-board systems for enclosure fit, and synchronize designs with SolidWorks, PTC Creo, and Autodesk Inventor.

Embedded thumbnail for Unified Login in Altium Designer 25
New in Altium Designer 25
Unified Login in Altium Designer 25

We've unified the login experience across Altium Designer, Altium 365, and the Altium website—one set of credentials is all you need. This update simplifies access, enhances security, and improves session management for a smoother user experience.

Embedded thumbnail for Custom Ethernet Switch Powers Up: Assembly to Working Hardware Test
How-To's
Custom Ethernet Switch Powers Up: Assembly to Working Hardware Test

Watch our latest video as host Zach Peterson presents his custom Ethernet switch PCB. He walks through the design in Altium Designer, programs the firmware, and tests the board in a real server environment using both copper and fiber connections. This video showcases the complete journey from PCB design to fully functional hardware.

Embedded thumbnail for Mastering Pad and Via Templates (or Padstacks) in Altium Designer
How-To's
Mastering Pad and Via Templates (or Padstacks) in Altium Designer

Learn how to create, export, and reuse Pad and Via templates (Padstacks) in Altium Designer. This tutorial covers standardized libraries to optimize PCB design and ensure consistency across projects.

Embedded thumbnail for Power Rail Routing Mastery: Multiple Voltage Planes in Altium Designer
How-To's
Power Rail Routing Mastery: Multiple Voltage Planes in Altium Designer

Want to design a complex Power Distribution Network (PDN)? Watch our exclusive tutorial to learn expert techniques for routing 10+ power rails on a single PCB layer—while minimizing EMI and ensuring signal integrity.

Embedded thumbnail for Unveiling 99% Task Time Efficiency
Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
Unveiling 99% Task Time Efficiency

This video showcases Altium Designer 25’s PCB Section View, a powerful tool for detailed circuit analysis and optimization. Learn how it enhances precision, improves performance, and simplifies complex PCB layouts with real-world applications.

Embedded thumbnail for Bottom Terminated Component Guide: Footprint Design Best Practices
How-To's
Bottom Terminated Component Guide: Footprint Design Best Practices

Want to create a reliable footprint for your PCB design? Watch our latest video with Zach Peterson and learn best practices for designing PCB footprints for bottom-terminated components. This tutorial covers how to properly design paste masks for QFNs, BGAs, and other bottom-terminated packages to prevent common assembly issues.

Embedded thumbnail for Design 4x Faster with Altium Designer 25
Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
Design 4x Faster with Altium Designer 25

PCB CoDesign in Altium Designer 25 enables multiple engineers to collaborate on a single PCB design, saving over 10 minutes and 300+ clicks. With an intuitive compare-and-merge workflow, teams can efficiently resolve conflicts and streamline their design process. Check out this video to learn more, and use the Benefit Calculator to see your potential time savings: https://www.altium.com/benefit-calculator.

Embedded thumbnail for Empowering Hybrid Designs with Wire Bonding
New in Altium Designer 25
Empowering Hybrid Designs with Wire Bonding

Our latest whitepaper on Wire Bonding technology is now available! It explores the role of wire bonding in modern PCB design and how Altium Designer 25 enhances the process with dedicated features. Access it here: Wire Bonding Whitepaper.

Embedded thumbnail for 8 Times Faster Simulations Using Altium Designer 25
Altium Designer's 25 Quantitative Benefits
8 Times Faster Simulations Using Altium Designer 25

Speed up your simulations with Altium Designer 25—now up to 8x faster! Watch our comparison to see how built-in simulation slashes processing time, saving you valuable minutes on every task.

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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.