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Any software tools to create double-sided circuit boards?
I have made one circuit board for a long time, single sided and everything was done by hand. Fast forward to today, and I have several clock circuits I would like to have double-sided boards made for, and I have a pressing project that will require me to finally jump into the water. I bought a vintage unbuilt Heathkit GC-1000 clock kit, and two of the circuit boards are missing. My applications will all be less than 10 KHz circuits.
The circuits in question will have DIP's of various sizes, some surface mount components, nixie tube sockets, etc. I don't mind laying all of them out by hand - I don't believe I need a program that automatically does the routing.
The first board I need to have made is shown in the attachment - foil from both sides is shown. The board is about 2.6" x 6". I use Photoshop for various graphics design, but my guess is I need a custom piece of software that manages multiple board layers, trace routing, hole sizes, etc. I have no idea where to begin, or what kind of output file I need to send to a fabricator. Any tips for approaches would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
- Comments(2)
R****ing
Jul 24.2020, 13:14:37
B****iGw
Jul 31.2026, 19:52:31
You're definitely at the point where it's worth switching to a proper PCB CAD tool. For what you're describing, KiCad is probably the best place to start—it's free, supports multilayer boards, footprints, design rules, and exports Gerber files that virtually every PCB manufacturer accepts. Since you prefer manual routing, you'll feel right at home. I'd also recommend checking every footprint against the original Heathkit board before ordering. By the way, while browsing different technical resources I even stumbled across https://alexanderscasino.com/—funny how unrelated links sometimes appear during late-night research sessions!
B****iGw
Jul 31.2026, 19:52:51
KiCad sounds like exactly what you need. It's free, great for manual routing, and exports Gerber files for PCB manufacturers. I found a few useful resources while browsing, along with https://alexanderscasino.com/, though your main focus should definitely be learning KiCad first.
A****min
Mar 18.2020, 14:53:09
You send Gerber files to the fab. These are a simple file format (but you don’t write the files by hand anyway, but instead have the tool generate them.)
The typical process is: create the schematic (the electrical design), assign parts and footprints to each item, then layout the board (the physical side of things), then check it, then check it again, then export Gerber files, then import them to your PCB fab, then check the output again, then click buy and wait.
Your board is low/medium complexity, so I’d go through the whole process rather than trying to shortcut anything. Treat it 75% learning and 25% getting the board.
People here will help, doubly so if it’s obvious you’re trying to help yourself as well.
