Well I could go on for hours with this subject as I have used or tried nearly every PCB package out there, including DesignSpark, which I found not so easy to use. I also have an aversion to dedicated supplier PCB programs that do not output Gerber files. I think this is why RobotRoom created their ExpressPCB compatible program (IIRC Copper Connection) that can read ExpressPCB files and create Gerber files. I longed for a Windows version of my DOS Tango PCB Series II program as it was very easy to use. It did lack two features that I needed: copper pours and rotation finer than 90 degrees. 274X output would have been a plus. All of these features were added when Accel created P-CAD 2000 thru 2006 for Windows, a great program but low cost it was not. DOS Tango was 995.00 when it came out. However after some years I stumbled upon a suitable and for the most part a product superior to the Tango DOS product: SprintPCB The excellent, not free but very inexpensive (49 Euros) PCB package from Abacom called SprintLayout6.0 (link below). If you are outside of the EU the cost is 19% less (minus their VAT). You can download a demo that does everything but save your work for free. And they take PayPal. There is also a free viewer that can view the native files. Although you may never need it they have excellent support. Bugs have been minimal and the product has been very stable for me. I have run it on XP and Win7 32/64 with no issues. Licensing is simple and you can install on more than one PC as long as you use it only on one PC at a time. Here is a short list of exceptional features that this program has that is (for me) a good bang for the buck (or euro!) 1. Ability to import 274X Gerber files to allow you to easily turn them into an editable PCB file (I found this really handy to create PCB's from Eagle and other PCB CAD package files. 2. Ability to import a BMP file from a scanned image and scale and float it in the background so that you can trace over it to create editable artwork. Really handy for those old designs or for working from artwork from magazines or the back of the ARRL handbook. 3. Easy Ground plane/Power plane pour. Pads can be set as thermals to connect to the plane with independent connection to either plane. Zone pours and cutouts can also be done. 4. Support for four layer boards. 5. Easy to use footprint creation tool for SMT/Thoughhole parts 6. Easy to use part library generation. Many parts available. 7. The ability to rotate parts in very fine increments. 8. Photo view mode that shows you exactly how the finished PCB will look. 9. Isolation generator for creating milling plots for making PCB's on a CNC mill. Worth the price for this feature alone. When used with Bernhard Pahl's SL2M3 program which converts the HPGL milling plot files and the drill/mill data to G-Code for running CNC programs like Mach-3. With some manual editing of the G-Code text one can use the program with LinuxCNC. 10. Simple point to point semi-automatic router that works with manually placed connections. 11. Moving the reference datum (X0 , Y0) point for all layers is really easy and I have not found any other program that does this as easily. 12. Perhaps most important: The program is very easy to use and learn and I have made dozens of boards using it in all of the modes. What it does not do: No real full autorouter, hence no netlist input/output Board size limited to 300mm/300mm Limited to: 4 copper layers + 2 silkscreen + 1 Outline layer + Top and Bottom Paste layers. It would be nice to have a couple of more documentation layers but their multi-board tab feature makes it easy to create a copy of the artwork so you can output additional layers and rename the Gerbers as needed. There is much more but this post is getting long and I want to point out that this company has a couple of more useful inexpensive programs: Splan7.0: A schematic creation program FrontDesigner: A panel creation product that has print and milling/drilling output capability. The usual disclaimer: I have no financial or other interest in the company the makes these programs, but I do like what they do and look forward to the next version, perhaps with more features! Sam W3OHM Owner and Moderator of the LeCroy_Owners_Group on Yahoo! Groups Links: http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/sprint-layout.html http://www.b-pahl.de/bastel/isofr/sl2m3en.html http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/splan.html http://www.abacom-online.de/uk/html/frontdesigner.html