How to Upgrade Your PCB Design Skills

When you think you have mastered the basics of PCB design, you are going to want to upgrade your skills and start to improve. However, with the world of PCBs being so open, it can be difficult to know precisely where to start. Here are some of the things you can do to begin to upgrade your PCB design skills.

Find a New Design Software

Depending on the software you are using, you might find that it is holding you back a little as a designer. The best PCB design softwares will allow you to design any circuits you could imagine with next to no limitations. However, others may not have the same capabilities and could limit what you can actually design. 

If this is the case for you, you should definitely look into a new software. There are many alternatives out there which can grow with you and support you at every stage of your PCB design learning curve.

Design More Complex PCBs

Once you have mastered the simpler circuits, you will no doubt be eager to sink your teeth into something more complex. Luckily, PCB design offers many different types of circuit for you to try. One of the more difficult designs you can try out is the rigid flex circuit. 

The difficulty here lies in creating a fully functioning PCB with some high levels of constraints. Luckily, Altium’s online resources allow anyone to try their hand at designing these complex devices. The software provider is determined to allow anyone the chance to upgrade their skills as a designer.

Get a Job in the Sector

One of the key upgrades you could make for your PCB skills is to go from a hobby designer to a professional one. This is likely to be extremely difficult depending on how much experience you actually have but it could teach you important things you could never hope to learn by yourself.

Even if you don’t want to work as a designer for a company, you could set yourself up as a sole trader and design kits for a specific thing. For example, if you designed a good PCB to go inside a radio, you could start selling these kits to allow other hobbyists to build their own radios.

Give It Time

No-one becomes better at something overnight. If you feel frustrated and like your designs are going nowhere, you need not worry. This is the natural process everyone goes through when picking up a new hobby. One good thing you can do is keep a record of all the schematics you have designed so far. By reviewing them every now and then, especially the first few you designed, you should be able to see how much of an improvement you have made. 

Every PCB you design will help you to upgrade your skills as a designer. Persevere, and it won’t be long before you can design extremely complex PCBs capable of some extremely complex functions. Start your next design now!