Eagle board layout newbie question

[Dmitri(Cabling-Design.com]

Hello everyone.
Hope someone can give me some pointers:
I'm trying to position components on the board in some kind of orderly
fashion, a pattern rather. The most important are the few LEDs , but for the
rest of them I'd also like it to look good from an aesthetic point of view.

Here is my problem: I cannot find a way to align components in the board
layout window. I mean, you can move them, and they stick to the grid, but
that's about as much control over positioning of the components as you have.
Unless I'm missing something.

Is there a way to select a group of components and run a command like any of
the desktop graphic editors would have: align top, align center, align
bottom, distribute equi-spaced, distribute centers etc, you got the idea. Am
I asking too much of Eagle? Can someone please recommend a board layout
software that is capable of more precise components placement if Eagle can't
do?

Thanks a lot to all responded!
--
Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
http://www.cabling-design.com
Cabling Forum, color codes, pinouts and other useful online resources for
premises wiring users and professionals
http://www.cabling-design.com/homewiring
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[Dmitri(Cabling-Design.com]

Leon Heller wrote:

Pulsonix will do what you want:

http://www.pulsonix.com

apart from equi-spaced distribution (next version should have it)

and EasyPC will do most of it:

http://www.numberone.com

considerably cheaper. Both are from the same parent company.

Leon

Hi Leon,
Thank you for the suggestion.
The prices for both systems are way over my head, considering I'm a
hobbyist. That was the reason Eagle got picked. I would consider another
software if it can be kept as inexpensive as possible.

So, is it definitely not doable in Eagle?



--
Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
http://www.cabling-design.com
Cabling Forum, color codes, pinouts and other useful resources for
premises cabling users and pros
http://www.cabling-design.com/homecabling
Residential Cabling Guide
-------------------------------------





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[Leon Heller]

"Dmitri(Cabling-Design.com)" <info_at_cabling-design_dot_com@foo.com> wrote
in message news:TgLod.4991025$ic1.467727@news.easynews.com...

Leon Heller wrote:


Pulsonix will do what you want:

http://www.pulsonix.com

apart from equi-spaced distribution (next version should have it)

and EasyPC will do most of it:

http://www.numberone.com

considerably cheaper. Both are from the same parent company.

Leon

Hi Leon,
Thank you for the suggestion.
The prices for both systems are way over my head, considering I'm a
hobbyist. That was the reason Eagle got picked. I would consider another
software if it can be kept as inexpensive as possible.

So, is it definitely not doable in Eagle?

I just checked with the copy I have, and it doesn't look like it. EasyPC
starts at under 100 GBP (500 pins limit), which is about the same price as
Eagle.

 

[David Harmon]

On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:02:00 GMT in sci.electronics.cad,
"Dmitri\(Cabling-Design.com\)"
<info@REMOVE_NO_SPAM_cabling-design.com> wrote,

Is there a way to select a group of components and run a command like any of
the desktop graphic editors would have: align top, align center, align
bottom, distribute equi-spaced, distribute centers etc, you got the idea. Am
I asking too much of Eagle?

AFAIK, not provided in Eagle.

One time I wanted a uniform circle of LEDs, so I created a little
basic program to calculate the positions using sin and cosine. I
wrote out the results to a script file in the form:

move d1 (1.125 2.125);
move d2 (1.50768 2.04888);
move d3 (1.83211 1.83211);
move d4 (2.04888 1.50768);
move d5 (2.125 1.125);
move d6 (2.04888 0.742317);
move d7 (1.83211 0.417893);
move d8 (1.50768 0.20112);
move d9 (1.125 0.125);
move d10 (0.742317 0.20112);
move d11 (0.417893 0.417893);
move d12 (0.20112 0.742317);
move d13 (0.125 1.125);
move d14 (0.20112 1.50768);
move d15 (0.417893 1.83211);
move d16 (0.742317 2.04888);

Then all I had to do was execute that script within Eagle board
layout to move my parts before routing the board.

 

[Dmitri(Cabling-Design.com]

David Harmon wrote:

AFAIK, not provided in Eagle.

One time I wanted a uniform circle of LEDs, so I created a little
basic program to calculate the positions using sin and cosine. I
wrote out the results to a script file in the form:

move d1 (1.125 2.125);
move d2 (1.50768 2.04888);
move d3 (1.83211 1.83211);
move d4 (2.04888 1.50768);
move d5 (2.125 1.125);
move d6 (2.04888 0.742317);
move d7 (1.83211 0.417893);
move d8 (1.50768 0.20112);
move d9 (1.125 0.125);
move d10 (0.742317 0.20112);
move d11 (0.417893 0.417893);
move d12 (0.20112 0.742317);
move d13 (0.125 1.125);
move d14 (0.20112 1.50768);
move d15 (0.417893 1.83211);
move d16 (0.742317 2.04888);

Then all I had to do was execute that script within Eagle board
layout to move my parts before routing the board.

That's a great suggestion, David. I guess, I should spend more time
learning the command language in Eagle. That would work perfect for me.
Little cumbersome, but manageable.
--
Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
http://www.cabling-design.com
Cabling Forum, color codes, pinouts and other useful resources for
premises cabling users and pros
http://www.cabling-design.com/homecabling
Residential Cabling Guide
-------------------------------------





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