I put a ground plane on the bottom layer - that way I don't have to route
any of the ground wires, but I can still route on the bottom layer and it
will keep separate from ground.

I never use auto-route - I find it's easier (and somehow very Zen-ful) to
route the thing myself.  Practice is really the key to this.  Once you've
done it a few times it gets easier, then it begins to get tedious, but it
doesn't take that long.

Also spend a little time surfing around and look at how other people have
done it.  Specifically makerbot and arduino board layouts are readily
available and you can even download the Eagle files.

DougM

On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 9:33 AM, David <lists@edeca.net> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have had some moderate success designing PCBs in Eagle and having them
> made by BatchPCB.  I currently use a fairly crude method of soldering
> SMD parts, but it seems to work (info at http://tinyurl.com/2brjyn6).
> I'm pretty happy with this workflow.
>
> However, the skills I built up manually routing double sided
> through-hole boards with "huge" components don't translate well to
> surface mount.
>
> As an example, see the board at http://tinyurl.com/35gdrpx (none of the
> finishing e.g. silkscreen/ground pours is done yet).  It is a simple
> breakout for the FT232RL so I can use it with a breadboard, but getting
> all the wires routed without hundreds of vias is challenging me.
>
> So I would welcome any tips for SMD boards.  Do people use the
> auto-router?  Would it be more sensible to layout on 2 sides somehow
> (e.g. Vcc/GND on one, signal on the other).  Do I just need lots more
> practise at component layout and routing?
>
> And yes, I know you can buy these things.  But I'd rather spend a few
> weeks reading a datasheet and learning about how things work.
>
> David
> --
> http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
> View/change your membership options at
> http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
>
--=20
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
.