[Doh]

Can you do ground planes in ExpressPCB? Is it ok just to set a bunch of traces too close together to get the desired effect?

Also, is it ok to run a power ground trace under a signal trace for long lengths?

I'm putting together a board to do relay switching for my Gilmore Preamp. Thanks!

-Doh

 

[tangent]

No, ExpressPCB doesn't do ground planes, per se. I mean, a proper CAD tool allowing ground planes would be able to intelligently cut through the plane when necessary. You can mimic the effect by hand with ExpressPCB, but it's a lot of work.

Instead of using traces for this, look into the rectangle tool. That will probably do a better job for what you're looking to do.

 

[mlloyd1]

The approach Tangent mentions actually works fairly well

I used it for a PCB Express board I did a while back. Not too painful depending on your board complexity.

mlloyd1

Quote:

Originally posted by tangent .... You can mimic the effect by hand with ExpressPCB, but it's a lot of work.