Mentor and Digi-Key Announce NEW PADS Maker and PADS MakerPro for the Aspiring Innovator
Mentor, a Siemens business, and Digi-Key Electronics, a global electronic components distributor, announce the availability of two new printed circuit board (PCB) design solution offerings, PADS® Maker and PADS MakerPro. These new offerings are targeted for the aspiring innovator who needs commercially proven technology at an affordable price point. The PADS Maker product is FREE while PADS MakerPro provides additional design capacity for $499. Both feature direct access, through PartQuest™, to Digi-Key’s part catalog for more than a million ready-to-use symbols and footprints, and to PADS AMS Cloud, a free, cloud-based, analog/mixed-signal circuit simulator.
“Since 2014 we have partnered with Digi-Key to deliver software solutions that empower innovating engineers to accelerate their electronic design cycle times,” said AJ Incorvaia, Vice President and General Manager of the Mentor Board Systems Division. “With the introduction of PADS Maker and PADS MakerPro Editions, makers, startups, and small businesses will now have access to free and low-cost, professional-quality PCB design tools fully integrated with Digi-Key’s catalog of over 5M parts.”
Designers using the PADS Maker products can take advantage of enhanced features, including:
- Intuitive, powerful, and easy-to-use design environment from the leader in printed circuit board (PCB) design solutions: Mentor, a Siemens business
- Complete desktop environment with no requirement for cloud storage or community IP sharing
- QuickStart videos and documentation
- FREE access to PADS AMS Cloud for analog/mixed-signal simulation
- Scalability to the full PADS Product Creation platform for unrestricted design and layout, including access to HyperLynx® simulation and design verification
- Professional-quality schematic entry and layout for PCB design
- Integration with Digi-Key’s full product catalog of over 5M components
- Direct, FREE access to over 1 million symbols and footprints through PartQuest
- Online customer support
PADS Maker is offered through a free, annual, renewable license. PADS MakerPro adds one year of enhanced support and increased design capacity, including additional layers and design size, for a one-time charge of $499.
“In response to the growing maker and start-up community, our users are demanding more capable and proven solutions to help them with their designs” said Randall Restle, VP, Applications Engineering at Digi-Key. “With this level of professional tools, our customers now have a greater ability to get the job done in less time, with less risk, and less cost. Mentor eliminated the annual license subscription for the new PADS MakerPro edition in favor of a ‘license once and use forever’ license and made the new PADS Maker edition a totally free license. Innovators will now have the best technology, at the lowest costs, to achieve their goals.”
For more information visit the Digi-Key website.
