Automation + Libraries: Autodesk EAGLE 8.7 Has It All

We made a promise a year ago to make Autodesk EAGLE the best PCB design tool for every engineer. Since then, we’ve delivered some heavy hitting improvements to routing, schematic editing, SPICE simulation, ECAD-MCAD integration, and a whole lot more. Now it’s time to give libraries the love they deserve. Love em’ or hate em,’ libraries matter, but managing them takes way too much time. We’re fixing that problem in Autodesk EAGLE 8.7.

What’s New

The focus of this release is all about library automation. Remember all that time you spend manually creating footprints and translating symbol pins from datasheets into EAGLE? That’s all tedious work that takes time and is prone to human error. How about sitting back and letting automation do the manual work?

Paste 2.0

We’re all veterans at translating pin configurations from a datasheet into EAGLE. It’s no big deal for simple components, but for those of you working with high pin-count devices, it just takes way too much time. That’s why you’re going to love Smart Paste 2.0.

What it does

The new paste allows you to automatically create symbols without having to decipher a datasheet manually. Simply copy pin information from your datasheet, and Paste them into EAGLE to have every pin number, name, and description automatically created for you. Whether that’s 10 pins or 100, it all happens instantly.

How it works

The workflow for Smart Pasting pins is super simple and only requires 3 steps to get working:

Copy pin configuration information from your datasheet. In your EAGLE Symbol Editor, select Paste. Pins are their associated names are automatically added for you, magic!

Here’s how this looks in action:

Library.io & IPC Footprint Wizard

We’re excited to introduce a new single source of truth for all of your Online Managed Libraries – Library.io. Within this new library ecosystem, we’ve put together what every engineer has been dying for, an IPC Footprint Wizard!

What it does

The IPC Footprint Wizard eliminates the need to manually draw packages in Autodesk EAGLE. The Wizard will walk you through the process of entering information from your datasheet to create IPC-compliant packages right the first time. Plus, when you create a package, the Wizard automatically generates a 3D model! That’s 2 for the price of 1.

How it works

You can use the IPC Footprint Wizard either directly from a browser or within EAGLE. When you first log in, you’ll be greeted with a collection of your existing Managed Libraries.

Open the Package Editor from either EAGLE or the web, and you’ll first be prompted to select a package type.

You’ll then define pin count, pin pitch, and min/max values from your datasheet. There’s no need to worry about entering incorrect values here; the Wizard will check your work and alert you to any errors.

Once all of your datasheet info is entered the Wizard will then generate not only your defined package but also a 3D model. That’s right, no more having to make your own 3D models!

When a package is finished, it gets locked in as a new version. If you need to make changes to a package, you’ll make a new version. This is a great way to ensure all of your libraries remain version controlled.

After creating a package in Library.io, you can then attach it to a device in EAGLE. This can be done from the Library Editor. Within the device view as shown below, select Add from web to connect directly to your Library.io catalog.

This will open all of your Managed Libraries in Library.io, and you can select the Add button to add a package to your device.

If you’re already in the middle of creating a device and need a package, the Create New Package button will send you through the IPC Footprint Wizard without having to leave EAGLE.

You can add as many packages as you want to your device view. Each can have a unique variant name which makes it easy to manage multiple variations of the same package used across several projects.

Once your package is added, it’s simply a matter of mapping symbol pins to package pads. Then you can add that part to your project!

Oh, and remember, when you need to share your design with Fusion 360 your 3D models will already be ready for you. That’s automation at its finest.

Automation + Libraries, What’s Not to Love?

Library creation and management has always been a tedious time sink, but not any longer! The powerful automation features in Autodesk EAGLE 8.7 put time back on your side for more creative engineering endeavors. This is just the start of some great library enhancements in EAGLE, stay tuned for future automation wizardry.

For those of you already on an EAGLE Subscription, this update will be ready and wait for you when you open your tool.

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