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Blog •
How to Create a PCB Manufacturing Cost Estimation

Some manufacturers have very convenient PCB manufacturing cost estimation calculators you can use, but the real costs depend on a number of factors. If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re producing your own boards, or you are managing manufacturing, testing, and delivery for a new project, it’s your job to help clients understand the primary cost drivers for new boards. Here’s how you can get an estimate of your fabrication costs, both for local and overseas manufacturers.

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Defining the Layer Stackup

The PCB is designed and formed as a stack of layers and the definition of the PCB layer stack is a critical element of successful printed circuit board design. In Altium Designer, the Layer Stack Manager is used to develop the printed circuit board internal design including layer-pairing, careful via design, any back drilling requirements, rigid/flex requirements, copper balancing, layer stack symmetry, and material compliance. This video guides you through creation of a layer stackup, adding the necessary layers, as well as adding an impedance profile.

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Blog •
PCB Mountable Connectors: SMD vs. Through-hole

Selecting a connector is as much an art as it is a science. The artistic side is all about aesthetics and satisfying clearances, while the scientific side is all about signal integrity. For PCB mountable connectors, you’ll need to choose between surface-mounted or through-hole connectors, and you’ll need to consider how each type affects signal integrity in your application. Here’s what you need to think about beyond the standard connector specifications.

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Blog •
PCB Via Current-Carrying Capacity: How Hot is Too Hot?

Trace and via current-carrying capacity are legitimate design points to focus on when designing a new board that will carry high current. The goal is to keep conductor temperatures below some appropriate limit, which then helps keep components on the board cool.

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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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Searching for Errors in Schematic

Searching for Errors: Errors and mistakes happen to everyone - from beginners to professionals. So we always preach how it is paramount for your design to be validated before pushing it to the PCB. But luckily it’s pretty easy to find and analyze any errors using Altium Designer. We’ll take a look at how to find and analyze errors in your schematic.

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• Jun 2, 2020
Creating Net Classes

A Net Class is a collection of nets that can be used for creating a targeted design rule. So for example, you may want all power and ground nets to have a minimum track width to handle a specific current rating. So we’ll show you how to assign these nets to a NetClass. 

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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.

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New in Altium Designer 20 • May 6, 2020
How to Transfer Libraries to Concord Pro

This video demonstrates how the Library Migrator can quickly move database and integrated libraries to the Concord Pro workspace. Your design can be organized and verified in the Library Migrator before pushing it to the cloud. After migration, the Messages panel will display any missing information.

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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.

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New in Altium Designer 20 • Apr 29, 2020
Improved Impedance Calculator

The impedance calculator in the Layer Stack Manager now supports single and differential coplanar structures. This video shows how the impedance calculator has been improved with new coplanar transmission line structures, greater control over the dimensional properties of the physical structure, and modeling of Conductor Surface Roughness using Surface Roughness and Roughness Factor values. 

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New in Altium Designer 20 • Apr 27, 2020
Propagation Delay Support

In Altium Designer 20.0, you can now selectively monitor propagation delay along the whole connection or selected objects, such as tracks, pads, and vias.

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New in Altium Designer 20 • Apr 23, 2020
New Routing Capabilities

Advanced routing capabilities help you complete the most basic, as well as the most difficult, routing challenges. In Altium Designer 20.0, we’ve added intelligent control over pad entries that are capable of working with any combination of pad geometry as well as a new any angle routing mode that allows you to make beautiful traces that smoothly contours around obstacles.

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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:

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New in Altium Designer 20 • Apr 21, 2020
New Length Tuning Engine

The tuning engine in Altium Designer has been redesigned and is now better than ever. Tuning sections can be picked up and moved to new locations on the track. What is truly remarkable is that the tunings are completely dynamic and change shape and fill patterns depending on the boundaries and surroundings.

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Blog •
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.

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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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Blog •
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 •
The Future of PCB Design Starts Here

Altium Designer is constantly evolving, with powerful new features and updates on the way. Get an exclusive first look at what’s coming next—visit our Coming Soon page to stay up to date with the latest innovations.

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Blog •
Simplify Harness-to-System Connections for Better PCB Design Outcomes

Struggling to keep harness and system designs in sync? In our brand-new article we explore how integrating PCB and harness design workflows can eliminate errors, improve collaboration, and accelerate your development process. Discover a smarter approach to connecting your harness to the system.

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Blog •
Printed Electronics: The Future of Flexible and Cost-Effective Circuit Design

This article explores the rise of printed electronics as a lightweight, flexible, and cost-effective alternative to traditional PCB design. It highlights key benefits like reduced manufacturing costs, sustainability, and new design possibilities—especially in wearables, medical devices, and automotive applications. 

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Blog •
New Routing Possibilities with Ultra HDI

Explore how Ultra HDI technology is redefining PCB design. This article breaks down the benefits and manufacturing considerations of Ultra HDI, and how it enables next-level routing density and miniaturization in advanced electronics.

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Blog •
3D-MID in Focus: Principles, Processes, and Practical Use

This article introduces 3D-MID (Mechatronic Integrated Devices), a technology that integrates circuitry into 3D plastic structures to reduce size, weight, and complexity. It explains the production process, use cases, and benefits of 3D-MID in sectors like automotive, medical, and consumer electronics.

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Blog •
Eliminate EMI and Signal Integrity Issues in Multi-Board PCB Designs

Ensure signal integrity and minimize EMI in complex electronics. Our new article explains how to address electromagnetic interference and signal integrity challenges in multi-board PCB designs, offering practical strategies and layout considerations for reliable system performance.

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Blog •
Mastering Component Templates in Altium Designer 25

Our new article by Dario Fresu explains how Component Templates in Altium Designer 25 Pro improve design consistency, reduce errors, and streamline collaboration. It highlights practical benefits like standardized naming, faster component creation, and scalability across projects. Includes examples of using templates with Altium 365™ to simplify complex component setup.

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Blog •
Wire Harness Design Guide for Development and Manufacturing

Designing a wire harness goes far beyond just connecting components—it’s about ensuring manufacturability, reliability, and compliance. This article walks you through the entire process, from initial design to production, helping you streamline development and avoid common pitfalls.

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Multifunctional Pins
What's New in 22.6 •
Multifunctional pins

You will often see that modern ICs consist of multi-functional pins. In this latest version of Altium Designer it has become far easier and much more convenient to work with such components.

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Multifunctional Pins
What's New in 22.6 •
多功能引脚

常见的现代IC均由多功能引脚组成。在最新版Altium Designer中，我们能够更加轻松、方便地处理此类元件。

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How to work with Rooms •
Using Rooms in Rules

Rooms allow you to use rules on specific areas of your design. This helps immensely with properly defining trace widths and hole sizes for specific components. We’ll show you how easy it is to assign rules to specific rooms in the PCB.

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How to create a Schematic Symbol •
Creating a Schematic Symbol: Dealing with Power Pins

Multiple schematic symbols often require the use of multiple power and ground pins. We’ll show you the difference between hidden and visible power pins, and the various methods you can use to use them in your design however it works best for you.

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How-To's •
Allowing Permanent Display of Some Layers

This video demonstrates how to permanently display some layers in the PCB using the View configuration panel.

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How to work with Rooms •
Creating Rooms in the PCB

If you want to create a room manually in the PCB or have them generated for the Schematic, Altium Designer allows you to create custom rooms. We’ll show you how to hand draw different rooms, how to create rooms by defining them through the room definition, and how to have them generated for the schematic and pushed through to the PCB by the Engineering Change Order.

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How to create a Schematic Symbol •
Creating a Schematic Symbol - Placing Designators and Comments

Placing your designator or comments can be done automatically, but that doesn’t mean they’re visible. We’ll walk you through how to make them visible and position them correctly no matter what orientation your symbol is with automatic positioning.

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How to create a Schematic Symbol •
Creating a Schematic Symbol: Adding Additional Parts

Altium Designer makes it easy to add additional parts to your schematic library. We’ll show you how through copying and configuring your new components through the Pin Editor and the properties panel.

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How to work with Rooms •
Component Placement Control Using Rooms

Rooms give you more control over how and where your components are placed in your PCB. We’ll show you how to use room properties to limit what is allowed in and out of a room using the room definition and custom queries.

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How to Work with Differential Pairs •
How to work with Differential Pair Classes?

Modern boards can contain a large number of differential pairs. For convenience, they are combined into differential pairs classes. In this video, we'll walk you through how to create and apply a differential pair class. 

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How to work with Rooms •
Adding Rooms from the Schematic

Rooms can be added directly from the schematic sheet. From the schematic sheet they are pushed to the PCB. Here we'll look at the rooms and component classes generated by default in the schematic, how to add and configure rooms manually, and how to push them to the PCB.

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Embedded thumbnail for How to Draw a Board Outline Using Coordinates
How-To's •
How to Draw a Board Outline Using Coordinates

In this video, we cover how to draw a curve by using coordinates. This can be very helpful when creating a board outline.

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How to create a Schematic Symbol •
Creating a Schematic Symbol: Mapping out the Component

When creating a schematic symbol, one of your first tasks will be creating a component symbol. We’ll show you how to map out a component in the Schematic Library Editor by creating and configuring the component, adding pins, and creating graphics.

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How to work with Rooms •
How and When to Use Rooms

Rooms are an extremely valuable tool within the Altium Designer PCB environment, but how and when do you use rooms? If you need to control component placement and layout, assign a specific design rule to a group of items, or if you have repeated channels that need similar layouts in your multichannel design, rooms can make it much easier.

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22.5-2_Custom_Diff_Pair_Suffixes
What's New in 22.5 •
Custom Diff Pair Suffixes

Even more possibilities for creating differential pairs. Now you can use any postfixes to designate positive and negative net of a differential pair.

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22.5-2_Custom_Diff_Pair_Suffixes
What's New in 22.5 •
自定义差分对后缀

更加有利于进行差分对创建。您现在可以使用任何后缀来指定差分对的正网络和负网络。

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