How to Make an Electrical Schematic
Circuits are formed from electrical components connected to each other with conductors such as wires and solder. Electrical schematics are drawings that represent circuits. Commercial software programs create electrical schematics by storing the symbols used to represent components, along with the various connectors, in their menus and palettes. These programs may be very expensive, so freeware or shareware can be used as alternatives. Another option is to create the schematics with a drawing program.
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Things You'll Need
- An electrical diagram
- An introductory physics or electricity text
- A handbook or data sheets on electrical components
Instructions
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Software Programs
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1
Download open source programs that can create electrical schematics. Many excellent ones may be found for Linux operating systems but also for Windows and Macintosh. An example is XCircuit. If you are unable to find open source programs, proceed to steps two to four for alternatives. Optionally, proceed directly to step one of section two, in order to learn which drawing programs you can use to make electrical components and schematics from scratch.
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2
Purchase shareware. These programs very often offer sophisticated features at a much lower cost than commercial software does.
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3
Use stripped-down or free versions of commercial software. Some companies, including Cadsoft's Eagle and Cadence's OrCAD Demo, offer free versions of their software to the general public or students or faculty.
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4
Purchase commercial software, such as the full versions of Cadence OrCAD. The advantage of doing so is that large companies may offer free upgrades and good technical support.
Drawing Programs
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5
Obtain a drawing program, such as MS Paint, Gimp, or Photoshop.
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6
Identify the symbols of components you wish to create. These should include analog and digital ones, such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors, op-amps, diodes, and also power sources.
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Create each symbol separately, using tools such as lines, triangles, circles, and squares. For example, a resistor is three small triangles with two straight lines at both ends. Op-amps are rectangles with a series of short lines on both of their longer sides.
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Add the symbols as palettes if the software program you are using has that capability. If not, save them individually to the same location, such as a folder on your hard drive.
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Create schematics by adding the symbols to a new document. Connect the symbols by adding straight lines.
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