The Shaughnessy Report: Showing Some Constraint
Elementary, Mr. Watson: Rein in Your Design Constraints
Target Condition: Are Autorouters Friend or Foe?
DownStream's Fabstream.com and Electro-Labs.com Combine Resources to Launch Solo-Labs.com
April 27, 2016 | DownStream TechnologiesEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
Two leading online resources targeted to the electronic engineering professional and enthusiast combined resources today and launched Solo-Labs.com. The new resource brings together the assets of DownStream Technologies’ DIY Maker initiative Fabstream.com and Electro-Labs.com to create a community-based portal where users can find electronic design tools, resources, project tutorials and knowledge to create PCB-based electronics.
“This move makes complete sense on many fronts,” said Rick Almeida, Managing Director of Fabstream and Founder of Fabstream’s parent company, DownStream Technologies, LLC. “Electro-Labs.com has been a longtime strategic partner of FabStream.com by providing value added content like DIY projects, and electronics tutorials that complement our SoloPCB Designer software application. As that relationship deepened, it became clear that strategically we should join forces and allow customers to get all the information and tools they need to build PCB-based electronics in one location,” he added.
Solo-Labs.com will be a resource for PCB-based electronic project development. The site is comprised of free electronic design software, as well as dozens of project tutorials to help users’ jumpstart a project, including step-by-step tutorials, videos, PCB schematic and library reference files, industry articles and more. Additional projects and tutorials will be added regularly, and the community of users will be able to share files, designs, tips and techniques through the community feature on the site. The team from Electro-Labs.com will continue to develop new projects and add new content to Solo-Labs.com going forward.
“We are excited to combine the resources and content of Electro-Labs.com with Fabstream.com,” noted Abdulgafur Mujdeci, publisher of Electro-Labs.com. “The SoloPCB Designer software is unmatched in its capability within the Maker community. It allows us to create PCB designs without compromising electronic performance because of design tools that lack functionality. This new venture will allow us to concentrate on creating and delivering more engaging content to our audience using SoloPCB Designer as the catalyst to bring our ideas to reality,” he added.
New Free PCB Software
With the launch of Solo-Labs.com also comes the new release of SoloPCB Designer 2.0™, the portal’s free PCB design software. SoloPCB Designer is a Windows-based PCB design software, consisting of powerful schematic capture and PCB layout modules. SoloPCB Designer provides all the capability to meet the most challenging design requirements, with the features and functionality of high-end commercial systems blended into an easy-to-use system. With the launch of Solo-Labs.com, SoloPCB Designer has discontinued the requirement that users purchase physical PCBs from a set manufacturer. With version 2.0, the software is still free to download and use. Customers now only pay for Gerber and Drill files based on their design content. This allows users to purchase their PCBs from the manufacturer of choice anywhere in the world and as often as they wish.
Beginning today Fabstream.com and Electro-labs.com will be discontinued and all web visits will be re-directed to Solo-Labs.com. Fabstream’s free PCB design software will also be retired. Users are encouraged to visit Solo-Labs.com to download the new SoloPCB Designer software.
Availability and Cost
Solo-Labs.com is live and SoloPCB Designer is available free to download and use. The user pays only for the output of CAM files when they are ready to manufacture their printed circuit boards. Ordering is easy from within the software and pricing starts at $49 (US) for 2 layer board CAM file sets, $99 (US) for 4 layer CAM file sets, and $149 (US) for 6+ layers.
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.
The Shaughnessy Report: Showing Some Constraint
07/14/2025 | Andy Shaughnessy -- Column: The Shaughnessy ReportWhen we first decided to cover strategies for setting PCB design constraints, one designer we spoke with said, “They’re not really constraints; they’re more like guardrails that prevent your design from going off a cliff.”
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.