Introductory information about printed circuit board (PCB) designs is presented in this book. It is organized into eight chapters. The first chapter introduces basic terminology, along with some structural details of a PCB. Some limitations and constraints in the design process are introduced as well, along with applications of PCBs.

Chapter 2 focuses on the various technologies used in the manufacturing of a PCB. Various design steps involved in the design of PCBs are introduced, starting with material selection. These steps include an understanding of the limits and values needed for imaging, etching, and drilling. The explanations are presented in a step-by-step manner, along with some examples that should enable a novice designer to provide appropriate requirement details to the PCB manufacturer.

In the third chapter, the assembly process of a PCB is discussed. The primary focus of this chapter, however, is on manual assembly. After an introduction to soldering details for PCB assembly, pad size and lead spacing issues are addressed. Chapter 4 introduces schematic drawing conventions and standards. Chapter 5 discusses the primary focus of the book: the design process. Starting with software design tools, various steps of the design process are addressed, including material selection, thickness and width of traces, number of layers, pad and thru-hole design issues, component placement, and routing methodology.

In chapter 6, component and data sheets are introduced. Finished board inspection details are provided in chapter 7. Finally, in chapter 8, details involved in assembly drawing are introduced.

The appendices contain some PCB drawings and some circuit schematics. At the end of the book, a superfluous amount of commonly used manufacturing terms and acronyms is provided.

The designer’s checklist provided after the preface is the most useful component of the material provided in the textbook. Chapters 2 and 5 provide most of the information about the design process. The book is fairly easy to read, and provides information appropriate for a novice PCB designer, but does not provide any new details to a moderately experienced designer.