{"id":1297,"date":"2021-07-28T14:20:28","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T18:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2025-08-28T17:03:36","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T21:03:36","slug":"how-to-design-a-pcb-for-manufacturing-diy-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/how-to-design-a-pcb-for-manufacturing-diy-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Design a PCB for Manufacturing DIY Projects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MsdJgEinb34\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Today on the hookup I\u2019m going to show you can take your hacked together DIY projects (or other people\u2019s projects) and make them look professional by building custom PCBs.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to walk you through all the steps and everything you need to know to make your first PCB.\u00a0 You don\u2019t need to be an electrical engineer, and the process is easier than you think.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ugly.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ugly-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"387\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t matter how simple a project is, if it looks like this some people are always going say it\u2019s too complicated, or that it\u2019s a fire hazard, or both.\u00a0 In almost all of my DIY project videos I get people commenting that I should just make them and sell them myself, but there are three big problems with that 1) I don\u2019t want to have to deal with returns and warranty claims 2) If I was fairly compensating myself for my time investment it wouldn\u2019t be the sweet deal that the DIY project is, and 3) Most of my projects don\u2019t exactly look \u201cprofessional\u201d, and even though they are perfectly safe and reliable, they definitely look DIY\u2026 But PCBs are the answer to that.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/pcb-glam.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/pcb-glam-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"387\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Printed circuit boards or PCBs are not complicated.\u00a0 They\u2019re just a non-conductive material with either holes or pads for mounting your electrical components, and then small embedded connections called traces that connect the components together.\u00a0 So, basically THIS is the exact same as THIS, but a lot nicer looking.\u00a0 Just to get everyone on the same page, lets talk about the 3 basic parts of a printed circuit board:<\/p>\n<p>There are two ways to attach a component to a circuit board: There\u2019s surface mount, where you have little copper pads on the board and you lay the components on top, and then there\u2019s through hole where you stick the ends of the components through the board and then solder them from the bottom.\u00a0 If you\u2019re new to PCBs and new to soldering, then through hole is the way to go, but the components tend to be bigger, so your design won\u2019t be as compact.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking of soldering, on your PCB you don\u2019t want solder everywhere, you only want it around your components. So to do that, the rest of the board, including the traces, is covered in a thin lacquer called a solder mask that prevents solder from sticking to it, leaving the solder only where you want it.<\/p>\n<p>As for the traces, most pcbs are double layer, meaning the tiny copper lines that act like wires between the components can be on the top, or the bottom.\u00a0 When you have a lot of traces to route around the board a double layer PCB makes it easier to do since traces can\u2019t cross over each other.\u00a0 The traces can also go from the top to the bottom of a PCB and any time you see a small hole without a component in it, those are called via\u2019s and that\u2019s how the trace gets from one side to the other.\u00a0 Traces also work just like wires, where if you are sending a lot of amperage through one trace it will need to be thicker than a trace that is just carrying data, so some traces are wider than others and therefore use more copper.\u00a0 Additionally it\u2019s common for a PCB to have an entire ground plane which means that anything that isn\u2019t a trace is actually connected to ground.\u00a0 Ground planes are good because they reduce electrical noise and help with head dissipation, but they aren\u2019t completely necessary.\u00a0 I\u2019ll show you how to make one in this video, but it\u2019s probably overkill for our board design.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ground-plane.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/ground-plane-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"387\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So now that we\u2019ve got the basics down, lets take a look at a few PCBs to see what I\u2019m going to show you how to make today.\u00a0 This board is an LED controller called the dig-quad made by a youtuber named Quindor.\u00a0 You can see that the bottom side of the board is composed of through hole components, as well as surface mount components.\u00a0\u00a0 Not only that, but quindor has designed all kinds of circuits to do voltage regulation, logic shifting, power smoothing and other crazy stuff.\u00a0 Even though that may be your ultimate goal, that\u2019s not what we are doing today.\u00a0 Today, all we\u2019re going to do is take pre-made components and connect them together using a PCB instead of wires, turning something like this, into this.<\/p>\n<p>The software that we\u2019re going to use is EasyEDA which is a free online PCB designing service with thousands of parts in its database to make the process of PCB creation easy.\u00a0 Step one is to log into EasyEDA, and I\u2019m going to use my google account to do it.\u00a0 After that go ahead and make a new project.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to be making a PCB for my blinds project, and specifically I\u2019m going to take inspiration from a few PCBs that my subscribers have made and I\u2019m going to make a sender board with 3 ethernet jacks, and a receiver board that goes in each of the blinds.<\/p>\n<p>After you choose a name for your project, EasyEDA will automatically open up in schematic mode, and schematic mode looks a little confusing, but don\u2019t freak out.\u00a0 As I said before, easyEDA has a bunch of pre-made parts, so I\u2019m just going to start searching.\u00a0 For the sender board I\u2019ll need a ESP8266 NodeMCU, a buck converter, a screw terminal, and a few ethernet jacks.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had pretty good luck just searching for the part number listed on the amazon page, and sometimes when searching you\u2019ll find an official part from EasyEDA or LCSC, but most of the time you\u2019ll be using user contributed parts, which I\u2019ve found to be pretty reliable.<\/p>\n<p>Since we\u2019re using common components I ju<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/part-picker.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/part-picker-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"387\" \/><\/a>st ordered them from Amazon, but could also order from a proper electrical components company like LCSC if you are making a large order, or you just can\u2019t find the right part for the right price on amazon.<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve got all your parts on your schematic you need to make your connections. \u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not super important to make your connections look nice here, but it does make it easier to keep track of them.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry about overlapping connections on this page, this isn\u2019t how the traces of your PCB will actually look.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/connections.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/connections-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"387\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve got your connections done use the labels for VCC, ground, and 5V and any other connections that you want to label and then save your project.\u00a0 Next click on the Design menu, then convert to PCB.\u00a0 It will probably tell you that some of your nets are not connected, and that\u2019s to be expected.\u00a0 Nets are the term used for the connections between the pins on your PCB.\u00a0 In our case we only used a small fraction of the pins available on the NodeMCU so the rest of the nets for those are open.\u00a0 If you labeled all of your connections you should be able to see that the unfinished nets aren\u2019t part of the connections that you need so go ahead and click \u201cNo, keep going\u201d to get to your PCB Page.<\/p>\n<p>On this page you can keep the default settings and then position your components how you want them on your final PCB.\u00a0 For me, I want the ethernet jacks on the back of the board and the nodemcu, buck converter and terminal block on the front.\u00a0 To do this, select each component and change the layer dropdown to your desired location.\u00a0 There are a bunch of layers to choose from, but the important ones for placing your parts are Top Layer and Bottom Layer, which are copper layers located on the top and bottom respectively.<\/p>\n<p>At this point I also like to label my board.\u00a0 You can not only put new text on your board, but you can edit the text that imported with your parts, and you can change or remove the component labels that were automatically generated.\u00a0 These labels should be part of either the top silk screen or the bottom silk screen, since we want them labeled with ink and not copper.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to put some general instructions on my board, label the positive and negative terminals of my 12v connector, and assign an ethernet port to each window.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/auto-router.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/auto-router-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"387\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Last, it\u2019s time for routing\u2026 which is figuring out a way to get all your traces connected without overlapping each other.\u00a0 For complex boards with a bunch of small parts routing is an art form, and for some things like antennas the length, shape, and location of the traces has a huge effect on performance, but for our board we can just use the auto router.\u00a0 Go up to the route menu and select auto route.\u00a0 If your board isn\u2019t going to carry a lot of power you can just leave the default settings and hit run, but since we are carrying a decent amount of current on our 12V VCC line I want to make those traces extra thick.\u00a0 To do that I\u2019ll create a design rule for that specific net by hitting the design rule button, creating a new routing rule with thicker traces, and then assigning that rule to my 5 volt and VCC and ground nets.\u00a0 After the rules are set hit run and the auto router should do its thing.\u00a0 Sometimes it goes a little crazy and creates squiggly lines, if that happens you can remove any unnecessary turns by double clicking on the white anchor point on that turn.<\/p>\n<p>If you wanted to create a ground plane instead of thick traces you\u2019d select the copper area tool, tell it you want to apply that copper plane to your ground net and then draw whatever area you want.\u00a0 Again, for this project I\u2019m just going to use traces for my grounds.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/single-1024x576-1.webp\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-8636 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/single-1024x576-1.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/single-1024x576-1.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/single-1024x576-1-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/single-1024x576-1-768x432.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/single-1024x576-1-600x338.webp 600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After routing give your board one last look over.\u00a0 I like to look at each layer individually by clicking on the eyeball on the layers menu and I zoom in make sure all the parts are aligned and all the traces are connected where I want them, then hit save.\u00a0 Next, to actually get them printed you will need to generate a gerber file, which is actually a collection of files used to tell your PCB manufacturer how to make your boards, so click on fabrication, then pcb fabrication file.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to recommend that you check your file to design rule violations, which is probably a good idea.\u00a0 In the next menu click generate gerber to download a zip file containing all the instructions for your PCB.<\/p>\n<p>This zip file can be used with any PCB manufacturer, so I\u2019m going to use PCBWay since I\u2019ve always had great service from them, they support my channel, and their prices are competitive.<\/p>\n<p>At the PCBWay website enter the length and width of your pcb into the instant quote window, then on the next page you can select your shipping method and change any other settings that you want, like the color of your board, and then add to cart.\u00a0 On the next page you\u2019ll upload your gerber file and then one of PCBWay\u2019s employees will review your order to make sure there are no serious design errors before sending it for production.\u00a0 Check out the description of this video, I usually have a promo code to get at least a few dollars off your first order at PCBWay.com<\/p>\n<p>PCBWay makes your PCBs quickly, but how fast it gets into your hands depends mostly on the shipping method you use.\u00a0 When your PCB order arrives it\u2019s time to get soldering, and since this is all through hole stuff it\u2019s a great way to practice if you are a novice.\u00a0 The key to soldering through hole components is to try not to touch the solder with the iron, instead press the iron against the pin and the hole on the PCB and then touch the solder to that.\u00a0 If you screw up and get a bead of solder you can always go back and hit it again with the iron and your solder blob should turn into a nice tent, like this.\u00a0 Another thing you can decide at this stage is whether you want your parts to be permanently attached, or if you want to use female header pins to be able to remove and switch out parts as needed.\u00a0 Header pins are an extra cost, but they are well worth it in my opinion if you can spare the extra height.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/soldering.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/soldering-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"688\" height=\"387\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So here it is the \u201cHello World\u201d of PCB Making, and a gateway drug into more complex circuits and professional looking projects.\u00a0 This PCB was actually made by a subscriber and posted on the hook up facebook page.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve made one of my projects into a PCB I\u2019d love if you could come share it with the group.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got links down in the description to a few projects made by my subscribers and the gerber files for the PCBs from this video.\u00a0 I\u2019m definitely not an expert at this yet, so if I missed something important make sure to leave a comment and let me know.\u00a0 Thank you so much to all my awesome patrons over at patreon for your continued support of my channel.\u00a0 If you\u2019re interested in supporting my channel please check out the links down in the description.\u00a0 If you enjoyed this video please consider subscribing and as always, thanks for watching the hookup.<\/p>\n<h5>Blinds Project Video: <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1O_1gUFumQM\">https:\/\/youtu.be\/1O_1gUFumQM<\/a><\/h5>\n<h5>EasyEDA Project: <a href=\"https:\/\/easyeda.com\/smarthomehookup\/video-blinds-pcb\">https:\/\/easyeda.com\/smarthomehookup\/video-blinds-pcb<\/a><\/h5>\n<h5>Github Project with User Submitted Boards: <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/thehookup\/Motorized_MQTT_Blinds\/blob\/master\/README.md#optional---pcb-design-for-3-blind-system\">https:\/\/github.com\/thehookup\/Motorized_MQTT_Blinds\/blob\/master\/README.md#optional&#8212;pcb-design-for-3-blind-system<\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today on the hookup I\u2019m going to show you can take your hacked together DIY projects (or other people\u2019s projects) and make them look professional by building custom PCBs.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to walk you through all the steps and everything you need to know to make your first PCB.\u00a0 You don\u2019t need to be an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2503,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects","category-tutorials"],"acf":[],"mb":[],"mfb_rest_fields":["title","gutenberg_elementor_mode"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1297"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8637,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1297\/revisions\/8637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesmarthomehookup.com\/test_install\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}