Making a neatly layed out bus

Layout
1

I’m progressing rather well with my first PCB, but my layout is a little sloppy. I have a couple of questions of how to better layout IC’s and traces.

  1. Seems my IC’s are not exactly aligned. this makes the interconnecting traces have some small jags in them, both horizontal and/or vertical. How can I align pin 1 of my IC’s so that they have the same X and/or Y coordinates? For example suppose I have 8 IC’s in a horizontal line, is there an easy way to line them up horizontally? Can I select the group and then auto snap them into line?
  2. Suppose I’m running an 8 or 12 bit bus horizontally across my PCB. How can I get the spacing between each trace the same and have room for Vias? I’m using 10 mil traces and have 30 mil Vias. Is there some kind of bus tool?
    I’m getting to the point where the PCB is maybe 75% complete, but it looks a little shabby, how can I clean it up? Thanks Mike
2

You can try using the grid for placement. Just set something course for initial alignment and then finer for touch ups. I use full screen cross hair cursor. If you click in the middle of the pad you want to line up with another it becomes easier to see when you move it too.

3

Well… that’s kinda what I doing, at least now. I have a bunch of traces that are a little goofy. Suppose I’ll have to go back and space them out better. My traces are 10 mils, the vias are 30 mils, so I’ve been placing the traces 40 mils apart. Then I’ll look at the position of pin 1 of the IC’s and move them to consistent XY values. It’s a learning process. Next time I’ll know better to layout the IC’s better. Thanks Mike

4

Did you want 30 mils on the vias? I just checked and that seems to be my default.

5

I’m not sure what I want or need. 30 mils seems to be doing the job. As I go, I seem to figure out what is necessary. Problem is once I find something better or a better method or technique I have to change everything. Then as the project gets bigger there is more to change. As I said it’s a learning process. In the past every board I made was wire wrapped. Here you could see the layout clearly and the grid was set. So, I’m attempting to transfer those skills to this. Mike

6

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