Stephen wrote:
Hello,

Are there any web sites you recommend for teaching someone (me) about
pcb design or can you describe the process here?

Briefly:
Design components (schematic symbol and PCB footprint)
Draw schematic (using above and library components)
Run electrical rules check (ERC) - look for mistakes (unconnected wires etc)
Extract netlist (connectivity) and send to PCB editor
Set up constraints (minimum track size, minimum distance from track to hole,
track to track etc)
Place components
Route PCB (by hand usually better than autoroute) - turn straight-line
'airwires' into routed copper traces
Run design rules check (don't violate any constraints)
Fix the problems (perhaps make changes in schematic and update PCB)
Export Gerber (artwork layers) and Excellon (drill files)
Send to PCB fab (or make yourself)

What software is easy to learn for designing pcbs?

Eagle is popular, but the UI takes a bit of getting used to. It's free for
small boards.

Altium is nice, but it's a pro package with a pro price.

There's a variety of vaguely open source packages around that are
probably fine for simpler PCBs, I've not tried them.

Every company and their dog seem to have a commercial PCB package: I'd
suggest steering clear of the cheap and obscure ones. Generally the more
popular packages have better support and more library components.

I know you can send your pcb design away and someone posts it back to
you; which companies do you recommend for this?

I've used PCBTrain, which are a bit more 'pro' than you might want. There's
a collection of ultra-cheap send-it-to-china fabs such as:

http://www.seeedstudio.com/service/i...ite/pcbService
http://dorkbotpdx.org/wiki/pcb_order

that look interesting, but I've not tried them.

If you tried to make your own pcb by etching or uv, how do you go
about getting all the holes in the right places? Is it just a matter
of being very patient and careful with a pillar drill? That sounds
like a very monotonous job and the most tedious part of the process?

I've used a CNC drilling machine. Hand drilling with a pillar drill is
doable too - you usually have a pad which is a good target for the drill.
The tricky bit is getting everything aligned if you have a double sided
board (on a CNC I did the drilling first, and then used that as alignment).

Depending on the application, a surface mount only board may be worth a
go. Surface mount is quicker to solder than through-hole IME. Or use as
many SMD parts as you can to cut down the drill holes.

Theo