Designing PCBs: SMD Footprints
Contributors:
Nate
Nate 
Getting Started
If you’re eagerly reading this tutorial you’re getting pretty deep into the plumbing of Eagle. Congratulations! Keep going!
We’re going to assume you’ve already read our other tutorials on through-hole and SMD PCB layout so you should already have Eagle and the various support files installed. We use keyboard shortcuts liberally so you better have them installed as well.
This tutorial will show you how to create a custom SMD footprint and schematic symbol library. This is a crucial skill for any hacker who wants access to the latest technology via SMD modules or new SMD ICs.
SMD ICs are incredibly small. Learning how to make footprints that work with these tiny part is a crucial skill.
Suggested Reading
Here are some concepts that this tutorial builds upon and that you may need to know:
- PCB Basics
- How to Read a Schematic
- How to install and setup Eagle PCB software
- How to layout PTH PCBs: Schematic
- How to layout PTH PCBs: Board Layout
- How to layout SMD PCBs