![]() In addition to PCBs, we laid out thick-film silk-screens the same way. There was simply *no* physical means of laying out a PCB by hand without resorting to photographic reduction, including the layout of IC chip masks. My experience is from the mid-1970s to mid 1980s. I’ll add my own testimony to this *very-clear* explanation. Posted in Software Hacks Tagged KiCAD, pcb, Printed Circuit Board Post navigation There are some reasons graceful traces might be better than sharp angles. ![]() There’s also a second post on the topic with more details. The plugin produces rounded corners and teardrop-shaped pads. The video by below talks about how we got here and debunks some common myths about PCB design. ![]() Now there is a plugin to help make your boards appear like old-fashioned circuit boards. If you use KiCAD, though, there’s no reason to have rectilinear traces. So traces started appearing at very common angles like 45 degrees or 90 degrees only. But when computer-aided drafting took over, the early packages couldn’t deal with wavy lines making all sorts of angles. Boards from this era have a distinct appearance because the tracks are generally curved. It was easier to work on the large pieces and any errors were reduced by the scale amount. The finished artwork would be photographically reduced to produce the board. The first PCBs we built involved a draftsman laying out large pieces of tape.
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