Quite often I am asked to repair a PCB (with components on it) with no
support data. When it is quite a simple PCB (less than 100 components)
and there really is no service information to be had via the web I
photograph or scan both sides of the PCB (assuming it's single sided
track with components on the other side.) Then I just put the 2
printed photos, which are to the same scale, on a light source with the
track side reversed. I can then mark the positions of the components
on the track side but it isn't too easy as you'll imagine. I just
wondered if there was a software package that enabled a print side PCB
photo to be overlaid manually with circuit symbols to produce a full
circuit that could then be 'autorouted' to produce a logical (input on
left output on right, ) 0V at bottom sort of circuit diagram? I would
very much like to try one out if it's reasonably priced (free seems
eminently reasonable too). My attempts to go from my 'components
overlaid on PCB track' to a logically laid out diagram are quite often
akin to an explosion in a spaghetti canning factory.