Altium Designer

Altium Designer (AD) is a PCB and electronic design automation software package for printed circuit boards. It is developed by Australian software company Altium Limited. Altium Designer was previously named under the "Protel" brand.

History
Altium Designer was originally launched in 2005 by Altium, known at the time as Protel Systems Pty Ltd. It has roots back to 1985 when the company launched the DOS-based PCB design tool known as Protel PCB (which later emerged into Autotrax and Easytrax). Originally it was sold only in Australia. Protel PCB was marketed internationally by HST Technology since 1986. The product became available in the United States, Canada, and Mexico beginning in 1986, marketed by San Diego-based ACCEL Technologies, Inc. under the name Tango PCB. In 1987, Protel launched the circuit diagram editor Protel Schematic for DOS.

In 1991, Protel released Advanced Schematic and Advanced PCB 1.0 for Windows (1991–1993), followed by Advanced Schematic/PCB 2.x (1993–1995) and 3.x (1995–1998). In 1998, Protel 98 consolidated all components, including Advanced Schematic and Advanced PCB, into a single environment. Protel 99 in 1999 introduced the first integrated 3D visualization of the PCB assembly. It was followed by Protel 99 SE in 2000. Protel DXP was issued in 2003, Protel 2004 in 2004, Altium Designer 6.0 in 2005. Altium Designer version 6.8 from 2007 was the first to offer 3D visualization and clearance checking of PCBs directly within the PCB editor.

Features
Altium Designer's suite encompasses four main functional areas, including schematic capture, 3D PCB design, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) development and release/data management. It integrates with several component distributors for access to manufacturer's data. It also has interactive 3D editing of the board and MCAD export to STEP. Altium 365, a cloud-based infrastructure platform, connects all key stakeholders and disciplines for PCB design. This includes mechanical designers, engineers, PCB designers, parts procurement, fabrication, and assembly. Altium 365 hosting allows to find, configure and use parts.

File formats
Altium Designer supports import & export of various PCB and CAD data exchange file  formats. The tool's native file formats are the binary file formats *.SchDoc and *.PcbDoc.

Altium Designer is capable to import and export AutoCAD *.dwg/*.dxf and ISO STEP file formats.