Altium
A leading PCB design platform for schematic capture, layout, and end-to-end electronics development
Altium Designer® is a professional electronic design automation (EDA) solution that enables engineers to design complex printed circuit boards (PCBs) with a streamlined workflow from schematic to manufacturing. It provides an integrated environment for schematic capture, PCB layout, component management, and design verification, helping teams reduce rework and accelerate product development.
Widely adopted in embedded systems, aerospace electronics, industrial products, and high-speed digital designs, Altium supports collaboration across electrical, mechanical, and manufacturing teams. With strong design-rule checking, 3D visualization, and robust output generation, engineers can ensure PCB quality, manufacturability, and traceability throughout the product lifecycle.
Altium Modules and Capabilities
The core Altium workflow provides a complete set of tools for designing and delivering production-ready PCB projects. Its capabilities cover schematic capture, PCB layout, verification, documentation, and manufacturing outputs, and can be extended with collaboration and data-management features depending on your environment.
Core PCB Design Capabilities
- Schematic capture with hierarchical and multi-sheet design support
- PCB layout and routing for single- and multi-layer boards
- High-speed design support with differential pair routing and impedance planning
- Design rule checking (DRC) for electrical, spacing, and manufacturing constraints
- Footprint creation and library management for components and symbols
- 3D PCB visualization and mechanical clearance checking
- Interactive routing, length matching, and constraint-driven design
- Manufacturing documentation, assembly drawings, and bill of materials (BOM)
Verification and Signal Integrity Support
- Electrical rule checks (ERC) and schematic validation
- Constraint management for routing, spacing, and net classes
- Length tuning and differential pair matching for high-speed signals
- Power distribution planning and PCB stack-up configuration
- Design-for-manufacturability checks and fabrication readiness review
- Output generation: Gerber/ODB++, drill files, pick-and-place, IPC documents
- Revision comparison and change tracking across design iterations
- Integrated error highlighting and reporting for faster issue resolution
- Design review workflows with comments and markup (platform-dependent)
- Post-processing and documentation export for stakeholders and vendors
Altium Add-ons and Collaboration Extensions
- Managed component libraries and lifecycle control
- Versioning and revision control integration for design data
- Team collaboration and review comments on schematics and PCB layouts
- Cloud-enabled access for distributed teams (platform-dependent)
- Supplier links and part availability / sourcing support (platform-dependent)
- ECAD–MCAD collaboration for enclosure fit and mechanical constraints
- Release management packages for manufacturing handoff and traceability
Altium’s collaboration and data-management workflows help teams control libraries, track revisions, and produce consistent manufacturing packages. By reducing manual handoffs and improving design traceability, engineering teams can minimize errors, speed up procurement alignment, and deliver production-ready PCB data with confidence.