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First post, by feipoa

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Do you guys have a favourite Windows-based PCB layout program which is freeware or shareware and allows for more than 2 layers without paying? If so, please share the name and your experience with it. I spent about 45 minutes watching a tutorial video for a program called EAGLE. I finally get to the part where it goes through layers, and it mentioned that only the top and bottom layers are allowed in the free version. Is there any user-friendly, free layout program which allows for more than 2 layers? Is there a program which makes recommendations for trace spacing based on signal frequency and trace length? What do you use?

EDIT: Some of the popular google search results for "free PCB layout" are: Eagle, FreePCB, KiCAD, Fritzing, DesignSparkPCB, ExpressPCB. Haven't had time to look into them yet. I have very little time. I don't want to waste a whole lot of time with Eagle trying to fit 2 layer, only to find out I need 3 or 4 layers to fit a particular size requirement. I'd prefer to start with a program which allows for 4-layers from the onset.

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Reply 1 of 1, by SquallStrife

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KiCad is the "go-to" free, open-source solution. It has a lot of quirks, and can be tough to get your head around once you're used to Eagle (or any commercial CAD package TBH), but has a lot of community support and produces high quality output.

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