|
FreePCB User
Guide |
Version 1.2 |
3. Installing FreePCB
Eventually, FreePCB will come
with a nice installer, but for now you have to do it manually. Here are the
instructions
- Download the latest version of the software from www.freepcb.com.
It may be in the form of a zipped archive file, with a name like freepcb_1000_src.zip,
or a self-installing archive such as freepcb_1000_src.exe.
- Before unzipping the file, create a new folder on your hard drive such as C:\FreePCB.
- Unzip the archive into your new folder. Your folder should now contain
subfolders as shown:

- The subfolder bin contains the
FreePCB.exe
executable, the
default configuration file default.cfg,
and a few other files.
- The subfolder doc contains documentation (mainly this User
Guide).
- The subfolder lib contains
the core footprint libraries.
- The subfolder lib_contrib contains
footprint libraries contributed by other users.
- The subfolder lib_extra contains
less commonly used footprint libraries.
- The subfolder projects contains folders for each
PCB project.
- The subfolder src
contains the source code for FreePCB.
- You may want to make a shortcut for starting FreePCB from your desktop.
Open the C:\FreePCB\bin folder in
Windows explorer, and drag the file FreePCB.exe
onto the desktop with the RIGHT mouse button. You should be prompted with a
list of options including creating a shortcut.
- Now you can start FreePCB by double-clicking on the desktop icon.