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10-02-2018, 12:43 AM
Library parts: Packages (part-2)
With either the mechanical drawing or the component in hand, we can proceed to making the package in the Eagle parts library.
You can open the library through various routes:
Open a schematic, then go to the Library menu on the top toolbar, left-click, then select OPEN. A window opens and you see a list of libraries. Select the one you wish to open and a new window opens which is the "library editor".
In the top tool bar are icons for: File, Save, Device, Package, Symbol, Script, Run, Zoom functions (Fit to window, in, out, redraw) back, Forward, Stop. Left-click on Package and a window opens. You can select an existing package or choose to create a new one.In the window beside the word "New", type in the name of the package you wish to draw, then left-click on 'OK.
Eagle will ask you: "Create new package (name you typed in)?"
Left-click on OK
A window opens up that is the package editor which looks exactly like the board editor window with all the same functions. The ORIGIN is dimension (0,0) in whatever scale or measure you have chosen for the GRID. Note that if you normally work in inches on your PCB, it is convenient to do the same here. However, it is not necessary to do so. Most components are made to even millimeter dimensions, so it might be easiest to switch the GRID here to mm. There are many parts that are designed in the tenth-inch scale and have dimensions that are multiples of 2.54mm - a dead give-away! It is sometimes convenient to switch the grid to an odd dimension if you are laying down pins for an odd-size connector or device.
For example, there is a connector series that has pin spacing of 0.156" - a pretty odd value but the decimal equivalent of 5/32" from the time when inch-scales divided by eight were "the rule". In Eagle, we can set the grid to 0.156", lay down the pads for the connector, then switch back to something more friendly, like 0.05" to lay down the outline and position any required text.
We use the LINE DRAW function on the left-hand menu to draw the outline. If it is a capacitor with a round case, we would use the CIRCLE tool. For both of these, we choose the smallest line width but NOT ZERO. If we select "0" then the inside of the circle or rectangular shape will be filled in black. On the board, this means the entire footprint is coloured with silk screen. To make a rectangle, we select the LINE function, then choose an angle function from the top toolbar that appears, if we do not want to use the default of right angles. Left-click in the editor field where you want to start the shape, then cursor to where the first corner is; left-click, then cursor to the next corner; left-click, until you have come back to the starting point, then double left-click to stop the drawing function.
SAVE after every drawing step! Eagle likes to crash.
To make a circle, select the CIRCLE function then cursor to the origin; left-click; pull the cursor sideways and watch the cursor position indicator beside the GRID icon. Stop when you get to the radius of the circle (half the diameter) and double-click.
With either the mechanical drawing or the component in hand, we can proceed to making the package in the Eagle parts library.
You can open the library through various routes:
Open a schematic, then go to the Library menu on the top toolbar, left-click, then select OPEN. A window opens and you see a list of libraries. Select the one you wish to open and a new window opens which is the "library editor".
In the top tool bar are icons for: File, Save, Device, Package, Symbol, Script, Run, Zoom functions (Fit to window, in, out, redraw) back, Forward, Stop. Left-click on Package and a window opens. You can select an existing package or choose to create a new one.In the window beside the word "New", type in the name of the package you wish to draw, then left-click on 'OK.
Eagle will ask you: "Create new package (name you typed in)?"
Left-click on OK
A window opens up that is the package editor which looks exactly like the board editor window with all the same functions. The ORIGIN is dimension (0,0) in whatever scale or measure you have chosen for the GRID. Note that if you normally work in inches on your PCB, it is convenient to do the same here. However, it is not necessary to do so. Most components are made to even millimeter dimensions, so it might be easiest to switch the GRID here to mm. There are many parts that are designed in the tenth-inch scale and have dimensions that are multiples of 2.54mm - a dead give-away! It is sometimes convenient to switch the grid to an odd dimension if you are laying down pins for an odd-size connector or device.
For example, there is a connector series that has pin spacing of 0.156" - a pretty odd value but the decimal equivalent of 5/32" from the time when inch-scales divided by eight were "the rule". In Eagle, we can set the grid to 0.156", lay down the pads for the connector, then switch back to something more friendly, like 0.05" to lay down the outline and position any required text.
We use the LINE DRAW function on the left-hand menu to draw the outline. If it is a capacitor with a round case, we would use the CIRCLE tool. For both of these, we choose the smallest line width but NOT ZERO. If we select "0" then the inside of the circle or rectangular shape will be filled in black. On the board, this means the entire footprint is coloured with silk screen. To make a rectangle, we select the LINE function, then choose an angle function from the top toolbar that appears, if we do not want to use the default of right angles. Left-click in the editor field where you want to start the shape, then cursor to where the first corner is; left-click, then cursor to the next corner; left-click, until you have come back to the starting point, then double left-click to stop the drawing function.
SAVE after every drawing step! Eagle likes to crash.
To make a circle, select the CIRCLE function then cursor to the origin; left-click; pull the cursor sideways and watch the cursor position indicator beside the GRID icon. Stop when you get to the radius of the circle (half the diameter) and double-click.
