Schematics Software

[GinoDelG]

I'm currently using SmartDraw to create schematics of my boat systems. I like it, but at $120 a year it's more than I want to pay for creating and updating just a handful of simple schematics a year. Can anyone suggest something cheaper? I use a Macbook Pro computer.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by GinoDelG

I'm currently using SmartDraw to create schematics of my boat systems. I like it, but at $120 a year it's more than I want to pay for creating and updating just a handful of simple schematics a year. Can anyone suggest something cheaper? I use a Macbook Pro computer.

I really like TinyCAD for quick electrical drawings, but you'll have to run Windows

[phorvati]

Originally Posted by GinoDelG

I'm currently using SmartDraw to create schematics of my boat systems. I like it, but at $120 a year it's more than I want to pay for creating and updating just a handful of simple schematics a year. Can anyone suggest something cheaper? I use a Macbook Pro computer.

Its a wiring diagram, not schematics. For instance Eagle from what i recall, was a free schematic capture tool, but I am not sure that will help you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EAGLE_(program)

[Mike OReilly]

I'm on a Macbook Pro. I've got a little program called ElectricDesign. I forget what it cost, but it wasn't much.

I downloaded it to do some electrical designs. I've played with it, and it seems quite functional, but I haven't actually put it to a real test.

[Beausoleil]

I've used MS Visio for Windows in the past, and have found that LibreOffice Draw on Windows/Linux/MacOS (tried all three platforms!) can read .vsd and .vsdx files. I haven't edited them and saved them in the native LibreOffice Open Document Format's (ODF) .odg files. The drawback is that there's no ready-made icons like there are in Visio.

This discussion over at StackExchange lists some alternatives...

[torrmundi]

Digikey’s Scheme-it is browser based and free.

[Spot]

KiCad


https://kicad.org/download/macos/


It will do schematics, BOM's, and PCB layout


Freeware


I have ran a couple versions in Windows.