Maybe you received some design projects from another company that uses different software. Perhaps an executive decision was made to switch to a new EDA tool. There could be any number of reasons why a user would need to transfer a design from one platform to another. However, one issue that has always been difficult to overcome is the transference of a PCB layout schematic capture between the different software platforms, while maintaining consistency. HURDLES WHEN CHANGING PCB DESIGN TOOLSĪs Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools become more and more widespread, several companies have introduced their own PCB design software into the market-with both advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it’s essential that your design tools have import capabilities that are easy to use and support a wide range of design schematic and PCB layout formats, to accommodate designs imported from other PCB Design tools.

This saves time and minimizes chances of introducing unexpected design inconsistencies. Instead, a PCB design import wizard is much more effective at importing the design directly from the old design tool into the new one. What do they do? Do they re-enter the design from scratch into the new tool? This is costly and time-consuming, and will more than likely lead to discrepancies in layout between the two designs. If a PCB designer has a design in one particular design tool format or program, such as Designspark PCB or Kicad PCB, and wants to use a different tool moving forward.

Altium kicad importer