Making a cheap PCB is easier than you think. Here is short summary of how to create your layout and a list of some PCB manufacturers that you can choose from to get your circuit board manufactured.
What you need to create a PCB:
- An idea for an electronic circuit
- A schematic diagram
- A PCB design
- Gerber files from your design
I’ve written a PCB Design tutorial for KiCad that will show you exactly how to design a PCB from scratch.
Next, choose one of these cheap PCB manufacturers:
Cheap PCB Manufacturers
OSH Park
OSHPark is a US-based PCB manufacturer. They’re famous for their purple PCBs. I love that you can upload your KiCad files directly without having to create Gerber files first. It just makes everything a bit easier.
Seeed Studio
Seeed Studio is Based in China. Cheap and friendly. I visited them on my trip to China a while back, and I can highly recommend them.
Also, check out my interview with Seeed Studio from when I was just starting out.
Eurocircuits
Eurocircuits is a European-based PCB manufacturer. It’s my go-to manufacturer when I am working on professional projects where quality is more important than price.
Make Your First Printed Circuit Board
Download my guide with all the steps you need to design your first printed circuit board (PCB) from scratch.
PCBWay
PCBWay is a Chinese PCB and Assembly service that can offer really good prices. I’ve ordered from them once, and the board arrived about one week after I placed my order.
Compare Different Manufacturers
A really good resource for finding a cheap PCB manufacturer is PCBShopper.com. Here you can enter your board size and where you are located in the world and get both price and estimated delivery time for a lot of different manufacturers.
When you have selected your manufacturer, go ahead and follow their instructions on how to send them your design files¸ then sit back and wait for your fresh circuit board to arrive in the mail =)
Don’t know how to design a cheap PCB?
It’s extremely useful to learn how to design circuit boards on your own. I waited too long before learning it, but when I finally did – a whole new world opened up for me. Suddenly I was able to build projects with RFID technology, large microcontroller boards, quadcopters, see-through-wall sensors and much more.
To learn to design PCBs, check out my beginner’s KiCad tutorial.
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More PCB Design Tutorials
Make Your First Printed Circuit Board
Download my guide with all the steps you need to design your first printed circuit board (PCB) from scratch.
