EAGLE Circuit Board Design Tool Reaches V. 5.3 – Download Here

Developed by CADSoft Solutions, Eagle is an easy to use layout editor which helps you design printed circuit boards (PCBs). The program consists of three main modules - Layout Editor, Schematic Editor, Autorouter - which are embedded in a single user interface. The latest version of the software adds a slew of new features and enhancements. They're all listed below, so have a look.

The app's name is an acronym, which stands for Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor. As noted above, Eagle is comprised of a Layout Editor, a Schematic Editor, and an Autorouter. All three are accessible from Eagle's UI, eliminating the need to convert netlists between schematics and layouts. Main features of the software include online forward- and back-annotation, context sensitive help function, multiple windows for board, schematic and library, powerful user language, an integrated text editor and no hardware copy protection. It's cross platform, too!

Speaking of which, the new release makes the Linux version no longer use libXinerama and libXfixes, "because these libraries are not available on all systems," according to the makers. As far as UI changes go, a command can now be used to reposition the cursor to the point where it had been before a context menu in the drawing editor was opened. The Shift+Right mouse button now reverses the direction of rotation in commands that rotate objects with the right mouse button.

CADSoft Solutions has also added the options LOAD and SAVE to the AUTO command, which allow loading and saving the Autorouter parameters, according to the changelog. The default board outlines generated by the BOARD command now start at the origin of the drawing area, and are no longer offset so that they are centered within the 50mil grid, while the INVOKE command now displays in the status line the part and device name of the object attached to the cursor, says the company. The PASTE command now accepts an 'orientation' parameter in the command line and is no longer a transparent command either. The ROUTE and SET commands have also undergone some tweaks. You can read the “what's new” list here in its entirely.

Download Eagle 5.3 (Freeware Version / Update).