<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
is	O
electronic	O
design	O
automation	O
software	O
for	O
printed	O
circuit	O
board	O
designs	O
targeted	O
at	O
the	O
hobby	O
,	O
hacker	O
,	O
and	O
maker	O
community	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
is	O
available	O
as	O
freeware	B-License
,	O
and	O
the	O
hardware	O
designed	O
with	O
it	O
may	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
commercial	O
and	O
non-commercial	O
purposes	O
without	O
limitations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
currently	O
available	O
publicly	O
as	O
version	O
2.0	O
by	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
Limited	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
first	O
non-beta	O
release	O
on	O
January	O
17	O
,	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
,	O
TraxMaker	O
and	O
SimCode	O
were	O
originally	O
developed	O
by	O
the	O
Orem-based	O
MicroCode	B-Algorithm
Engineering	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
since	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
5	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
3.1	I-Application
,	O
9x	O
and	O
NT	B-Device
became	O
available	O
in	O
1997	O
,	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
6	O
,	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
PRO	O
,	O
TraxMaker	O
3	O
and	O
TraxMaker	O
PRO	O
in	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Electronic	O
design	O
automation	O
software	O
(	O
EDA	O
)	O
developer	O
Protel	B-Algorithm
marketed	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
2000	I-Algorithm
as	O
a	O
schematic	O
capture	O
tool	O
,	O
together	O
with	O
TraxMaker	O
as	O
its	O
PCB	O
layout	O
counterpart	O
,	O
as	O
a	O
powerful	O
yet	O
affordable	O
solution	O
for	O
circuit	O
board	O
needs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
wide	O
availability	O
of	O
plug-ins	O
and	O
component	O
libraries	O
have	O
accelerated	O
adoption	O
,	O
and	O
quickly	O
amassed	O
a	O
worldwide	O
community	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Protel	B-Algorithm
was	O
renamed	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
Limited	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
2000s	O
,	O
engineering	O
efforts	O
were	O
redirected	O
towards	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
DXP	B-Algorithm
2004	I-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
2000	I-Algorithm
was	O
eventually	O
discontinued	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
its	O
new	O
status	O
as	O
abandonware	O
,	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
2000	I-Algorithm
remained	O
popular	O
among	O
hobby	O
users	O
and	O
students	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
popularity	O
has	O
been	O
observed	O
by	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
the	O
most	O
successful	O
features	O
of	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
2000	I-Algorithm
have	O
since	O
been	O
integrated	O
in	O
DXP2004	O
and	O
later	O
were	O
incorporated	O
into	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
Designer	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Open	O
source	O
hardware	O
and	O
easy-to-use	O
development	O
boards	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Arduino	O
and	O
the	O
Raspberry	B-Operating_System
Pi	I-Operating_System
have	O
increased	O
community	B-Architecture
interest	O
in	O
electronics	O
,	O
particularly	O
in	O
fablabs	O
,	O
hackerspaces	O
and	O
makerspaces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
resulted	O
in	O
high	O
piracy	O
rates	O
for	O
professional	O
software	O
packages	O
,	O
or	O
users	O
sticking	O
to	O
outdated	O
software	O
,	O
including	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
2000	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
initiatives	O
such	O
as	O
EAGLE	B-Language
have	O
attempted	O
to	O
fill	O
this	O
void	O
,	O
releasing	O
restricted	O
versions	O
of	O
semi-professional	O
EDA	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
rise	O
of	O
KiCad	B-Language
further	O
fragmented	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
pressure	O
eventually	O
provided	O
the	O
incentive	O
for	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
to	O
release	O
a	O
simplified	O
and	O
more	O
user	O
friendly	O
version	O
of	O
their	O
professional	O
EDA	O
software	O
package	O
and	O
flagship	O
product	O
,	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
Designer	I-Algorithm
,	O
targeted	O
at	O
less	O
complex	O
circuit	O
board	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
culminated	O
into	O
the	O
rebirth	O
of	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
as	O
schematic	O
capture	O
and	O
PCB	O
design	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
the	O
resemblance	O
in	O
naming	O
,	O
the	O
current	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
differs	O
entirely	O
from	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
2000	I-Algorithm
regarding	O
features	O
and	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
:	O
the	O
SPICE	O
simulation	O
module	O
has	O
been	O
removed	O
;	O
the	O
library	O
system	O
has	O
been	O
overhauled	O
;	O
and	O
the	O
controls	O
changed	O
from	O
classic	O
menus	O
to	O
a	O
more	O
modern	O
and	O
visually	O
appealing	O
ribbon	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
14	O
May	O
2018	O
,	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
announced	O
plans	O
to	O
merge	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
and	O
Upverter	O
into	O
a	O
single	O
,	O
free	O
to	O
use	O
design	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
blog	O
post	O
on	O
May	O
11	O
,	O
2019	O
,	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
COO	O
Ted	O
Pawela	O
stated	O
that	O
the	O
plans	O
had	O
evolved	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
products	O
would	O
remain	O
separate	O
,	O
with	O
interoperability	O
features	O
for	O
the	O
design	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
implements	O
schematic	O
capture	O
and	O
PCB	O
design	O
using	O
the	O
same	O
engine	O
as	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
Designer	I-Algorithm
,	O
providing	O
an	O
almost	O
identical	O
user	O
experience	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
schematics	O
are	O
uploaded	O
to	O
the	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
server	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
by	O
anyone	O
with	O
a	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
account	O
,	O
stimulating	O
design	O
re-use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
supports	O
integration	O
with	O
the	O
Octopart	O
search	O
engine	O
and	O
allows	O
drag	O
and	O
drop	O
placement	O
of	O
components	O
from	O
the	O
Octopart	O
search	O
results	O
if	O
schematic	O
models	O
are	O
attached	O
to	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
can	O
build	O
missing	O
schematic	O
symbols	O
and	O
commit	O
them	O
to	O
the	O
server	O
,	O
called	O
the	O
Community	B-Architecture
Vault	O
,	O
making	O
them	O
available	O
for	O
other	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
not	O
possible	O
to	O
import	O
component	O
models	O
from	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
Designer	I-Algorithm
directly	O
into	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
,	O
but	O
there	O
are	O
community-supported	O
workarounds	O
to	O
this	O
limitation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Transfer	O
of	O
schematics	O
to	O
a	O
PCB	O
is	O
a	O
straightforward	O
process	O
in	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
since	O
PCB	O
footprints	O
are	O
automatically	O
attached	O
to	O
any	O
component	O
on	O
the	O
schematic	O
that	O
was	O
picked	O
from	O
the	O
Octopart	O
library	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
supports	O
design	O
rule	O
configuration	O
and	O
real	O
time	O
design	O
rule	O
checking	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
is	O
only	O
available	O
for	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
requires	O
users	O
to	O
have	O
access	O
to	O
a	O
Windows	O
license	O
to	O
use	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2020	O
,	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
can	O
be	O
run	O
in	O
Wine	B-Application
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
,	O
with	O
limitations	O
,	O
but	O
some	O
users	O
reported	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
work	O
on	O
their	O
Linux	B-Application
distribution	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unofficial	O
support	O
for	O
Linux	O
and	O
BSD	O
users	O
is	O
provided	O
by	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
staff	O
and	O
volunteers	O
on	O
the	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
forum	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
users	O
can	O
import	O
resources	O
from	O
competing	O
EDA	O
software	O
packages	O
,	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
does	O
not	O
support	O
exporting	O
design	O
resources	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
workaround	O
for	O
this	O
issue	O
is	O
provided	O
by	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
Designer	I-Algorithm
15	O
and	O
16	O
which	O
do	O
support	O
the	O
import	O
of	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
requires	O
a	O
free	O
account	O
to	O
represent	O
its	O
users	O
in	O
the	O
community	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
,	O
all	O
schematics	O
and	O
PCBs	O
are	O
uploaded	O
to	O
the	O
server	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
viewed	O
by	O
other	O
users	O
as	O
soon	O
as	O
they	O
are	O
committed	O
through	O
the	O
internal	O
svn	B-Application
engine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
this	O
renders	O
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
undesirable	O
for	O
closed	B-Application
source	I-Application
projects	O
,	O
it	O
encourages	O
collaboration	O
in	O
the	O
community	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
are	O
allowed	O
to	O
fork	B-Application
existing	O
projects	O
,	O
or	O
request	O
permission	O
to	O
collaborate	O
in	O
existing	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Importing	O
schematic	O
documents	O
and	O
PCBs	O
from	O
other	O
EDA	O
packages	O
(	O
OrCAD	B-Algorithm
,	O
PADS	O
,	O
P-CAD	B-Algorithm
,	O
EAGLE	B-Language
)	O
is	O
supported	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Altium	B-Algorithm
warns	O
that	O
users	O
may	O
experience	O
a	O
performance	O
drop	O
for	O
large	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
documents	O
are	O
under	O
version	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
by	O
default	O
,	O
allowing	O
users	O
to	O
revert	O
changes	O
made	O
in	O
their	O
projects	O
,	O
and	O
build	O
new	O
versions	O
of	O
existing	O
schematic	O
symbols	O
or	O
footprints	O
in	O
the	O
Community	B-Architecture
Vault	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CircuitMaker	B-Algorithm
supports	O
direct	O
generation	O
of	O
production	O
files	O
in	O
industry	O
standard	O
formats	O
such	O
as	O
Gerber	O
and	O
NC	O
Drill	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
printing	O
of	O
stencils	O
for	O
DIY	O
circuit	O
board	O
etching	O
.	O
</s>
