PCB Design with OrCAD: Build an Arduino-Style Board

Designing your own custom hardware can feel overwhelming when navigating complex industry-standard tools. This text-based guide simplifies the process, taking you step-by-step through the entire printed circuit board (PCB) design lifecycle using OrCAD. You will transition from understanding basic circuit symbols to generating production-ready manufacturing files. Through clear written explanations, you will learn how to capture schematics, map footprints, route traces, and prepare professional design packages, using a practical Arduino-style board project as your guide. What you'll learn: - Understand foundational PCB concepts, terminology, and the OrCAD user interface. - Create multi-page schematics using off-page connectors and structured hierarchical designs. - Design custom footprints and pad-stacks using modern component sourcing workflows. - Route electrical traces efficiently while applying basic signal integrity and design-for-manufacturing (DFM) rules. - Generate professional Bills of Materials (BOM), 3D models, and industry-standard Gerber files for fabrication. The course begins with essential PCB design theory and OrCAD interface basics before guiding you through schematic capture, footprint creation, layout routing, and manufacturing preparation. You will practice each concept through written exercises and structured walkthroughs. This course is designed specifically for beginners, electronics hobbyists, and engineering students, requiring no prior PCB design experience. Start reading today to bring your custom hardware ideas to life.