proto circuit board

I'm not quite sure if I'm on the right page as far as what you are asking, but I think you'll find it by searching "pcb etching" into youtube.  

 

there are also many companies that offer etching in any quantity.

You can get circuit boards manufactured in small quantities for very low prices, no need to screw around with trying to hand make a PCB.  It's a messy business and not as easy as you might imagine.

 

I can get 10 1.1 x 1.2" circuit boards made and shipped for around $36 total, including shipping.  At that price, I see no point in fooling around with anything else. 

 

I use a free package called DipTrace, to do schematic capture and board layout.  It has an Order PCB link that links you the PCB house, Bay Area Circuits.  They happen to be one of the low cost ones I already identified, so I just use them, and it's very convenient to link them.  I just fired it up for the Super-Chuffer board, for 10 boards it's $30.49 + shipping, that usually ends up being around $6 for small quantities.

 

ExpressPCB.com is a service I used for a long time.  You download their design tool (simplistic but easy to learn), design and send your order to them for production.  Not the cheapest but simple.

RS Electronics of the UK (they own Allied Electronics here in the States) has made available a pretty capable software package for free called Designspark.  It's a bit harder to learn but doesn't tie you to a particular fab house and their higher prices.  I use this tool exclusively now, and split my PCB production between SeeedStudio in China and Accutrace here.

Your choice really depends on your short-term timeframe vs what your long term plans are.

Nick C.

ExpressPCB is what I use for work...I did the math with the other programs mentioned and found that with shipping included, the cost for the boards I've designed is close to the same (2 layer mini board 3.8" x 2.5") between the vendors.  What the ExpressPCB offers is 2 day shipping (or 1 day if you want to pay the extra $$), while the others have a week or longer delivery time.

That's my 2cents
B


Sent from a smart phone....please excuse the brevity and any typos

I looked at several PCB layout packages, the thing I liked about DipTrace was it was the easiest one to create part templates for the layout with.  Some of the packages make that so difficult with a steep learning curve, that sent them packing for me.  DipTrace also has an excellent autorouter, I normally only have to do a couple trials with placement to get a good route.