News

Circuit Diagram 2.0 Beta 1 Released

This release includes a number of changes to make designing circuits easier, including automatic flipping of components when placing them and dragging from right to left or bottom to top. Documents can also be resized and there are many improvements to the use of keyboard shortcuts, including the ability to delete components by pressing the delete key on the keyboard.

Please see below for the full list of changes.

Windows Explorer Thumbnails

Thumbnails are now shown in Windows Explorer for Circuit Diagram Documents, as shown in the picture below. This feature has been difficult to get working, and there may be problems with the thumbnails not appearing - please leave a comment to let me know if they are working or not.

List of Changes

The following new features have been added since Circuit Diagram 2.0 Alpha 3:

• Automatically flip components when placing
• Delete components using keyboard delete key
• Resize document
• Document properties window
• Print document
• Recent files list
• Confirm when exiting with unsaved changes
• Thumbnail previews in Windows Explorer for CDDX files
• Show shortcut keys in toolbox
• Highlight selected item in toolbox
• Zoom using mouse scroll wheel while holding down ctrl key
• Plugin support for:
  • Custom export formats
  • Custom import formats
• Open CDDX files created in Circuit Diagram 1.x
• New components:
  • Voltmeter & ammeter
  • 4-bit counter

Please note that the .NET Framework 4.0 is now required.

You can download the new version here, and please get in touch using the forum if you have any questions about this new version.

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Circuit Diagram 2.0 Alpha 3 Released

This realease includes the following new features:

• New components: microcontroller, demultiplexer and inductor
• Flip & rotate components
• Open XML files from previous versions of Circuit Diagram
• Text formatting for components (including subscript and superscript)
• CDDX updates
• Other fixes

Important when upgrading from version 2.0 alpha 2:

• Any compiled (*.cdcom) components you have downloaded separately must be re-downloaded
• Unfortunately, it is not possible to open CDDX files created in 2.0 alpha 2 in this version, but all XML files from previous versions can be opened

If you wish to downgrade back to 2.0 alpha 2 after installing this version, you will need to uninstall the new version first.

If you have any problems please get in touch using either the forum or contact page.

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Circuit Diagram 2.0 Alpha Released

A preview of Circuit Diagram 2.0 is now available to download. Please note that it is still in the development stage, and you may encounter problems using it.

Design Your Own Components

A completely redesigned system for components, which will now be loaded at runtime rather than being hard-coded into the application. They will no longer be written in code, but in XML, making it easy for anyone to write their own components to use in their diagrams.

This will enable the following features:

• Download new components from www.circuit-diagram.org/components
• Share your components with others by uploading them (create an account first)

A tutorial for making your own components is also available.

Editing

Select and move multiple components at once while editing.

Shortcuts and Toolbox

Asign keyboard shortcuts to components and customize the items in the toolbox.

Other Improvements

Also included are many other improvements, such as the proper rendering of connections on certain components. (You may have noticed that connections are not drawn properly for the inputs of components such as logic gates, and that three wires joining at the same point did not show as a connection.)

OPC-Based File Format

The new Circuit Diagram Document (*.cddx) file format brings with it the following improvements:

• Stores connection information as well as layout information meaning that it
• contains all the data needed to simulate a circuit (simulation is not supported by Circuit Diagram)
• Open Packaging Conventions based - can be opened using a zip library and XML parser
• Custom components used in the circuit can be embedded within the document

Note: the structure of this file format is still subject to change, and files could become incompatible with future versions until the format is finalised.

Download

Before downloading, please be aware of the following:

• Some features from the stable version have not yet been implemented
• If you create and save circuits using this version you may not be able to open them in a future version as the file format has not been finalised

Reporting issues:

• If the problem concerns Circuit Diagram itself, please report the issue here
• If the problem concerns the new components section of this website, please use the contact form here

Not all components from the previous version have been converted over yet.

A prerelease version can be downloaded here for testing.

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Circuit Diagram 1.3 Released

This update fixes an issue when using Circuit Diagram on computers with some non-English languages.

New Components and Features

The following have been added:

• Label (add text your diagrams)
• US-style resistor

Visit the downloads page to download Circuit Diagram 1.3.

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Circuit Diagram 1.2 Released

Custom Components

You are now able to include a component in a diagram even if Circuit Diagram does not have built-in support for it. By placing the new component titled "Custom Component" (found under the External Connection category in the toolbox), you can choose a PNG image to be displayed in your circuit diagram.

This enables you to export to PNG or print the diagram containing your custom component.

Please be aware of the following when using this feature:

• Joins will not appear when your component is connected to another one
• Saving the document will save the path to the image you have chosen, so your component will not be shown if you send the file to someone else (unless you also send the image)
• Exporting to SVG is not supported - your component will not be visible
• Custom components cannot be resized

I hope to add full support for custom components that can be resized, customised and used in the same way as the built-in components in a future version.

New Compnoents

The following components have been added:

• Push-to-Break Switch
• Changeover Switch
• D Flip-Flop

Other

This release also includes bug fixes and adds an error log.

Visit the downloads page to download Circuit Diagram 1.2.

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Circuit Diagram 1.1 Released

Recent Files

There is now a list of your last 10 documents, which can be found under File->Recent Files to make opening recent documents easier.

New Components

The following components have been added:

• Analogue switch
• Fuse
• Ground
• Transformer

Other

This release also includes bug fixes, including a crash when right-clicking on a component in the toolbox.

Visit the downloads page to download Circuit Diagram 1.1.

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Circuit Diagram 1.0 Released

This version has been in development for a while now, and it introduces many new features and components. Due to reasons described below, you must manually uninstall previous versions and then install this version - you will not be notified about this update.

User Interface

The new user interface should make designing circuits much easier. Components are now displayed in the new toolbox on the left hand side, with icons rather than text to tell you which component the buttons represent (a popup also lets you know which is which when you hover over one of the images).

Clicking on one of the items in the toolbox allows you to place that type of component (or move/resize a component if the select tool is used).

Please note that if not all of the components can be displayed in the toolbox at once, a scroll bar will be shown. This can be disabled by going to Tools->Options and disabling "Show toolbox scroll bar".

You can still use the mouse wheel to scroll through the components. In addition to clicking on the items, holding the mouse button down over one which has a small triangle in the bottom right hand corner causes it to expand and reveal additional similar components which can be placed instead.

Clicking on one of these sets the first item to the new item, as shown below:

Toolbox

To edit a component, you now simply click on it when the "Select" option from the toolbox is chosen, and the properties for the component will be shown on the right of the main window.

The component is updated as you change these properties - there is no need to click "OK" as in previous versions. You can now use the zoom feature in the lower right hand corner of the main window to zoom in and out when editing your circuit.

Double-click on the "Zoom" label at any time to reset the zoom level back to 100%.

New Components

The following components have been introduced with this update:

• Photo diode
• Diode bridge
• Crystal
• Microphone
• Loudspeaker
• Motor
• Buzzer
• Heater
• Variable capacitor
• Trimmer capacitor
• Polarised capacitor
• Inductor

Application Updates

This version includes a new update system which allows you to check for updates manually through Help->Check for Updates, and also allows you to choose whether to check for updates automatically on start-up (although this will only happen once per day) - this setting can be found in the options window.

This new system means that previous versions of Circuit Diagram will not notify you of this update.

Circuit Diagram Document File Type

Circuit Diagram documents now have their own file extension (rather than .xml as with previous versions).

This means that you can double-click on a file to open it with Circuit Diagram, and Windows 7 users can use the "Recent" jump-list feature when Circuit Diagram is pinned to the taskbar.

I hope you enjoy using this new version. Visit the downloads page to download Circuit Diagram 1.0.

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Coming In Version 1.0

Version 1.0 of Circuit Diagram will be a major update with many new features.

The first of these is the brand new user interface, with a new theme and toolbox. This enables components to be represented by icons rather than the current text representation, making it easier to quickly find the component you need.

Editing components will be much easier than the current process of right-clicking and choosing "properties" - a simple click on the component reveals the component editor within the main window with changes being reflected immediately by the component once a property is changed.

On top of these features, there will also be many new components, including more types of capacitor and resistor.

Circuit Diagram 1.0 is expected to be released in the next few weeks.

Please note that version 1.0 will bring a new update system which means that current versions will not notify you when it is released, so please check back here soon!

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Circuit Diagram 0.6 Beta Released

New in this Release:

• New components:
  • Both N-Channel and P-Channel MOSFETS
  • PNP transistor
  • NPN transistor
  • Light dependent resistor
  • Toggle switch (option for switch)
• Full undo/redo support
• Confirmation when closing with unsaved changes
• Other bug fixes including problem when changing thermistor properties

Please visit the downloads page to view available downloads.

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Circuit Diagram 0.5 Beta Released

New in this Release:

• New components:
  • Ammeter (meter)
  • Voltmeter (meter)
• Undo/redo functionality for placing/moving components
• Choose resolution when exporting PNG image
• New logo

Please visit the downloads page to view available downloads.

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