Altium Designer 16 Tutorial: Getting Started with Schematic and PCB Design

=====================================================================================

Introduction

----------

Welcome to this comprehensive tutorial on getting started with Altuxiun Designer 17 (formerly known as Altium schematic designer). In this article, we will cover the fundamental concepts of using Altium Designer for both novice and experienced users alike.

Prerequisites

----------------

Before diving into this tutorial, make sure you have a working copy of Altium Designer installed on your computer. If not, download the latest version from their official website: 'Altium Website'(http://www.altium.com/).

Getting Started with Altium Designer 17

-----------------------------------------

### Step 1: Launching Altium Designer 17

Double-click on the 'AltiumDesigner.exe' icon located in your Start menu or Applications folder depending upon whether you're using Windows, Mac OS X, Linux etc., only then will it launch successfully after installation process completes without any errors occurring during startup phase!

### Step 2: Creating a New Project

Once Altium Designer has launched successfully, navigate to 'File' > 'New...' from the top menu bar. In the ensuing dialog box titled 'New Project', select either an empty schematic or board level project depending upon your needs.

### Step 3: Understanding the Interface

Upon creating a new project in Altium Designer, you will be presented with several default windows and panels across the main workspace area:

* Project Explorer: This panel is used to manage all components, schematics, and boards within your current project.

* Schematic Editor: This window serves as the primary editor for creating and editing schematic diagrams in Altium Designer.

### Step 4: Creating a New Component

To create a new component using Altium Designer:

1. Right-click inside any empty area on the active schematic layer (usually called 'Layer_1').

2. From the context menu that appears, select 'Component' > 'New...'.

3. Footnote:

* Alternatively, you can also access this option through the 'Components' tab located at the top left corner of Altium Designer's main workspace.

### Step 5: Adding a Component to Your Schematic

To add an existing component from your library onto your current schematic:

1. Double-click on any desired component within the Project Explorer panel.

2. The component will then be added automatically as an instance at the cursor position in Altium's active design window.

Output Generation

----------------

Once you have completed designing and verifying your PCB layout, it is time to generate a production-ready Gerber file for manufacturing:

1. Go to 'File' > 'Export...' from within any open schematic or board level editor.

2. Footnote:

* Make sure that the correct output format (Gerber) has been selected before proceeding further!

Troubleshooting and Support

--------------------------

If you encounter any issues while following along with this tutorial, there are several resources available for assistance:

* Altium's official website provides comprehensive documentation including user guides, tutorials, faq sections etc. You can also visit their forums for community support where experienced users often help out fellow designers facing similar problems.

-------

In conclusion, we hope that you have found this article useful in getting started with using Altuxiun Designer 17 (formerly known as Altium schematic designer) effectively. Remember to always refer back to the official documentation provided by Altium whenever needed for more detailed information on specific features and functionality within their software suite.

Thanks for reading!

Altium designer 16 tutorial