On Sat, 23 Oct 2010 17:33:02 +0100, you wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I have had some moderate success designing PCBs in Eagle and having them=20
>made by BatchPCB.  I currently use a fairly crude method of soldering=20
>SMD parts, but it seems to work (info at http://tinyurl.com/2brjyn6).=20
>I'm pretty happy with this workflow.
>
>However, the skills I built up manually routing double sided=20
>through-hole boards with "huge" components don't translate well to=20
>surface mount.
>
>As an example, see the board at http://tinyurl.com/35gdrpx (none of the=20
>finishing e.g. silkscreen/ground pours is done yet).  It is a simple=20
>breakout for the FT232RL so I can use it with a breadboard, but getting=20
>all the wires routed without hundreds of vias is challenging me.
>
>So I would welcome any tips for SMD boards.  Do people use the=20
>auto-router?=20

NO! NO! NO! Don't even think about it!

> Would it be more sensible to layout on 2 sides somehow=20
>(e.g. Vcc/GND on one, signal on the other).=20

Yes - normally you'd put a groundplane on  the bottom and do as much routin=
g as possible on top,
using the bottom for occasional jumpers to preserve the  connectivity of th=
e groundplane.
Ground is usually the place that the largest number of connections go  to, =
so putting it on a plane
instantly means you can pretty much forget about all of these connections.=
=20

> Do I just need lots more=20
>practise at component layout and routing?

Yes. practice is the only way to get better - It can't be taught - you will=
 develop a feel for what
will work. =20

The main  thing to  remember is that placement is everything - time   spent=
 getting the placement
right is saved  many times over when routing.  And don't be afraid to rip-u=
p...

Also, take a hard look at existing boards to see how other people have done=
 it. You can learn from
both good and bad examples!

--=20
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