Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: ‘Dream First, Details Later
Happy’s Tech Talk #40: Factors in PTH Reliability—Hole Voids
Facing the Future: Time for Real Talk, Early and Often, Between Design and Fabrication
Essentra Components Advise on Efficient PCB Design With New Free Guide
June 16, 2020 | Essentra ComponentsEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Essentra Components know that the performance of your circuit will depend greatly on how it’s laid out on the PCB, and that poor PCB layout can cause function and reliability problems. To save time and problems they suggest therefore that designing your PCB needs to start before the actual process of ideation, definition and validation.
This updated Essentra Components guide to efficient PCB design shows how you can improve the overall product by allowing electronic design engineers to ensure compatibility among the project hardware. The guide is available at www.essentracomponents.com.
They suggest that design and prototyping should begin with consideration of the design software, fabrication and component density, then matters of trace width calculation and a choice of SMT or Through Hole technology. The guide addresses how to avoid errors in landing patterns, deal with component fit, consider the positioning of specialist components such as decoupling capacitors, so leading on to optimising the layout of switching regulators and concerns of blind and buried vias.
They offer free component samples and free download of component CAD designs as well as other related articles for free download.
- Three Top Tips for Selecting PCB Spacers
- Three trends impacting smart home security industry
- Plastic to play a key role in 5G phone networks
Share on:
Suggested Items
Digital Twin Concept in Copper Electroplating Process Performance
07/11/2025 | Aga Franczak, Robrecht Belis, Elsyca N.V.PCB manufacturing involves transforming a design into a physical board while meeting specific requirements. Understanding these design specifications is crucial, as they directly impact the PCB's fabrication process, performance, and yield rate. One key design specification is copper thieving—the addition of “dummy” pads across the surface that are plated along with the features designed on the outer layers. The purpose of the process is to provide a uniform distribution of copper across the outer layers to make the plating current density and plating in the holes more uniform.
Meet the Author Podcast: Martyn Gaudion Unpacks the Secrets of High-Speed PCB Design
07/10/2025 | I-Connect007In this special Meet the Author episode of the On the Line with… podcast, Nolan Johnson sits down with Martyn Gaudion, signal integrity expert, managing director of Polar Instruments, and three-time author in I-Connect007’s popular The Printed Circuit Designer’s Guide to... series.
Showing Some Constraint: Design007 Magazine July 2025
07/10/2025 | I-Connect007 Editorial TeamA robust design constraint strategy balances dozens of electrical and manufacturing trade-offs. This month, we focus on design constraints—the requirements, challenges, and best practices for setting up the right constraint strategy.
Elementary, Mr. Watson: Rein in Your Design Constraints
07/10/2025 | John Watson -- Column: Elementary, Mr. WatsonI remember the long hours spent at the light table, carefully laying down black tape to shape each trace, cutting and aligning pads with surgical precision on sheets of Mylar. I often went home with nicks on my fingers from the X-Acto knives and bits of tape all over me. It was as much an art form as it was an engineering task—tactile and methodical, requiring the patience of a sculptor. A lot has changed in PCB design over the years.
TTCI Joins Printed Circuit Engineering Association to Strengthen Design-to-Test Collaboration and Workforce Development
07/09/2025 | The Test Connection Inc.The Test Connection Inc. (TTCI), a leading provider of electronic test and manufacturing solutions, is proud to announce its membership in the Printed Circuit Engineering Association (PCEA), further expanding the company’s efforts to support cross-functional collaboration, industry standards, and technical education in the printed circuit design and manufacturing community.