Quickstart Overview
The purpose of this Quick-Start is to provide you with a simple introduction to PADS Professional Premium. PADS Professional Premium is the "premium edition" of PADS Professional including all the capabilities of PADS Professional + advanced desktop functionality (RF Design, Rigid Flex, Multi-Trace advanced routing) + cloud-connected productivity (design management & collaboration, access to real-time component sourcing data, and drag & drop access to high-quality ECAD model content). This Quick-Start will not cover the advanced desktop functionality referred to above. Each of those capabilities (RF, Rigid Flex, Multi-Trace) can be evaluated separately here.
Through a series of short exercises, you will learn how to make a simple PCB design using PADS Professional. Although PADS Professional supports various PCB design flows, this guide focuses on a simplified PCB design process where the following topics are introduced.
Lesson 1: Opening and Populating a New Project
Opening a new project:
From the Windows Startmenu, navigate to the PADS Pro Tools VX 2.x. folder and click on PADS Pro Designer VX 2.x. The icons for Designer and Layout can also be found on the trial environment's desktop.
Once PADS Designer opens, go to: File ► Open ► Project.
Navigate to C:\PADS_Professional_QuickStart\Lesson 1 - Starting and Populating a New Project\LED_Flasher.prj, select the file named "LED_Flasher.PRJ" and click Open.
Populating a new project
Add a new sheet to your project by going to: File ► New ► Sheet.
The Properties panel will automatically display. Left-click inside each highlighted cell and overwrite system generated values as shown below.
Left-click to focus on the Navigator panel.
Within the Navigator panel, Right-click the file named “3” and click “Rename” from the menu.
Type “Design” and press Enter key.
This concludes Lesson 1: You’ve successfully added a new Schematic sheet to your design and customized its Title Block.
Go to: File ► Close Project, keep PADS Designer open, then proceed to Lesson 2.
Note: PADS Professional automatically saves your work.