Altium Getting Started Guides

If you are new to Altium, this is a getting started workshop to get you started on your first board. I walk you through starting with a napkin sketch to a board submitted to the fab shop for manufacture.  Be sure to watch this video series BEFORE you start your first board. 

Each video is 3-15 minutes long. The total workshop will take you 5 hours.  Click the link to view each video.

With feedback questions or other comments, drop me a note: Eric.Bogatin@Colorado.edu 

Altium Designer Tools used in this class:

• each student will apply for their own student license for Altium designer. It is completely free.

• Fill out the form on this page.

• Download and install the latest version of the software from this page. 

• Run Altium Designer. Select license manager in the far right corner. Ignore any error messages. Click ok.

• Download the most recent Altium Designer  Integrated Library  we will use for our class here.

• Watch this video where I walk you through creating your name badge circuit board  Download the zip file for the name tag template 

I have created a playlist on YouTube with a series of getting started videos on how to design a simple practice board with Altium Designer.  Watch these videos that will walk you thru using Altium to design and build a simple practice board:

1-1 Overview and the seven steps

1-2 Block diagrams

1-3 Sketch the schematic

1-4 Select the type of parts

1-4b Engineering Change Order (ECO) 2021-01-16

1-5v2 Open up Altium

1-6 Create a new project

1-7 Integrated libraries

1-7b ECO

1-8 Add symbols to the schematic

1-9 Wire up the schematic

1-10 Wiring the timing block

1-11 Finish the schematic

1-11b Summarizations

1-12 Validate

1-13 Directive for line width control

1-14 Validate footprints

1-15 Push the schematic to the layout

1-16 PCB stack up

1-17 set the board outline

1-18 Set the layout constraints

1-18b more constraints: keep out and thermal vias

1-19 Placing parts on the board

1-20 adding the ground layer

1-21 routing

1-22 power traces

1-22b a simpler way of routing cross unders

1-23 DRC and silk screen

1-24 Output manufacturing files and placing the fab order 

1-24b Using Adv Circuits and PCBway to do a free DFM of your gerber files

1-25v2 Export DFM verified gerbers, BOM and pick and place files

1-26 shaping the ground plane

 

 

Using Altium Libraries Effectively

2-1  Introduction to Libraries

2-2 Intro to integrated libraries

2-3 inside an integrated library

2-4 Changing a component's source library 

2-5 Introducing the Library Package

2-6 Compiling  a Library Package into an Integrated Library 

2-7 Creating a new LibPkg

2-8 Adding a part from snapEDA into a LibPkg

2-9 Adding a part from Octopart into a LibPkg

2-10 Adding a part from a local libPkg into a schematic

2-11 Creating new elements

2-12 Creating a Symbol

2-13 Defining Symbol Parameters

2-14 Creating a Footprint

2-15 Linking Symbol and footprint