Hi AlanC,

That seems like a sensible approach.

• A thought:

I nearly always get "Track to Track" and "Track to Pad" errors.

Have you somehow set up the PCB Design Rules in a way that accidentally conflicts with the values in the Autorouter?

No, I go with the EasyEDA defaults except for Vcc and Gnd.
The errors are truly bad however.
If I keep trying I usually get a good result (but for big board this is not really an option).
Regards Alan

I have to say that, personally, I never use an Autorouter. I usually have too many constraints to leave any part of a layout to an Autorouter to mess up.

By the time you have to deal with layer choices, layer-to-layer transfers, planes and plane breaks, copper floods and extended thermal pads, most Autorouters have made such a mess of my signal and power integrity that it's more work to fix than doing it all by hand.

That said an Autorouter is a very fair and generous tool. It can mess up even a very simple layout!

:)

I have designed some stuff by hand but it is not worth the time.
The signal issue is probably not much of an issue with TTL running at a few MHz.
But as I now review the PCB and delete anything I don't like the the layouts are much better.
If I assume the issues I have had are common then it will help many others and unload the server.
Regards AlanX

The signal issue is probably not much of an issue with TTL running at a few MHz.

That largely depends on how the power, ground and signal tracks are laid out. It's always possible to mess up a layout in such a way that there's too much crosstalk resulting in glitches in digital circuits or simply feedback in linear circuits or even unwanted offsets in DC circuits.

If you keep an eye on it then you can correct any obvious layout errors but I'd rather not have to correct a mistake that usually only gets put in as a result of an Auto rather than a manual router.

Like most tools, an Autorouter in skilled hands can help produce a good result but simply trusting it to do a good job on every board, every time can land an inexperienced user in a lot of trouble very quickly.

:)