MAKE | HOW TO – Make a custom library part in Eagle’s CAD tool

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By Phillip Torrone
Posted 2006/03/14 @ 12:40 pm
Category Electronics

Kd7vnn writes – “The eagle cad tool is a great thing. It does have something that I see as a draw back. That is that you need to pick a package for your part while you are still working on the schematic phase of a project. I assume Cadsoft, the makers of eagle, have their reasons. Although eagle comes with an extensive part library, some times the part you want is not in the package you want, and other times neither the package or part you want is in their libraries. In these cases you are you are left with two choices. First, pick a similar part that already exists. Second, make your own part. This instructable will focus on the later option.” Link.

BY Phillip Torrone

Editor at large - Make magazine. Creative director - Adafruit Industries, contributing editor - Popular Science. Previously: Founded - Hack-a-Day, how-to editor - Engadget, Director of product development - Fallon Worldwide, Technology Director - Braincraft.

In the Maker Shed

3 Responses to HOW TO – Make a custom library part in Eagle’s CAD tool

AndyPeters on March 15th, 2006 at 3:24 pm said:

That is that you need to pick a package for your part while you are still working on the schematic phase of a project. I assume Cadsoft, the makers of eagle, have their reasons.

Simple reason — all real PCB layout packages do this. It’s so that the PCB layout person (who usually isn’t the circuit design engineer) knows what package to use for each component. The design engineer chooses a component symbol, which contains the package info for the layout person and may also contain part number info for BOMs, etc.

After all, if you place a OP275 on the schematic, how is the layout person supposed to know that you want the SOIC version and not the PDIP version?

Some CAD packages aren’t “integrated,” and they require you to export a netlist from the schematic tool that you import into the layout tool. This netlist will also contain the package info that you’ve included as part of the component symbol on the schematic. No guessing and it’s all automatic.

Newer tools are “integrated” and as such the layout and the schematic tools are part of the same package. There’s no need to explicitly export a netlist, but you still need to inform the layout tool what package is required for each component.

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Wormterp on January 21st, 2008 at 5:36 am said:

Hello to all,
I have been trying to make a part in Eagle and have been unsuccessful any help would be greatly appreciated. I need to make a custom Via. I need the via to be right on the edge of my board and have a half circle cut out of it so that a Component can be wired to both sides of the board and “hover” above the board. Anyway I have tried every way I can think of to make a package in the library editor that is a custom via and be able to name it as a connection but apparently I am not doing it right. Please let me know if anyone has done this or if it is even possible to do this. Thanks alto for any help.
Wormterp

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Tim Crawford on January 27th, 2008 at 2:49 pm said:

Hi Wormterp,

I doubt Eagle can do that. What you can try is to make
the PCB larger and use the standard via. Then saw the
board cutting strait through the via’s. Use a hobby saw.
Xacto makes some. A hacksaw will destroy the via.

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