Getting Started with Altium Designer

Altium Designer supports all aspects of electronic product development, so there's plenty to learn! You'll find the links on this page clustered into groups, each about a different area of the design process. Take a moment to skim through them all, then head off and explore. Each link will take you to an article or a training video.

New to Altium Designer?

• Installing and Licensing the Software - all you need to know about installing and licensing Altium Designer
• Where do I Start? - a short video that gives an overview of the environment and how to get started designing.
• Moving from another Design Tool - you know how to design, you just need to know how to do that in Altium Designer.
• An Overview of Electronic Product Development in Altium Designer - an engineer's perspective of designing in Altium Designer.
• Shortcut Keys - using shortcut keys will improve your productivity.

For the Board Designer

• Tutorial - Getting Started with PCB Design - the best place to start, a tutorial for a simple 9 component PCB design.
• Creating a Project and Adding Documents - a short video that shows the basics of projects and adding files to a project.
• Schematic Editing Essentials - ramp up your productivity by learning the ins and outs of placing, moving and modify schematic objects.
• Connectivity and Multi-Sheet Design - learn about the different ways you create connectivity between the sheets in a multi-sheet design.
• Preparing the Board for Design Transfer - ready to start designing the board? read this first.
• How do I Keep My Schematic and PCB Synchronized? - a short video that shows just how to keep the schematic and PCB in sync.
• PCB Design Rules - good design rules are essential for a great board design.
• Getting Ready to Route - ready to join the dots? before you start routing, read this.
• Design to Manufacturing - Output job files help you manage all the manufacturing outputs, learn about them here.

For the Librarian and Data Manager

• Creating Library Components Tutorial - a basic tutorial about creating an Altium Designer component.
• Component, Model and Library Concepts - get your head around how components work in Altium Designer.
• Quickstart - Creating Symbols and Footprints - two short videos that take you through the process of creating a schematic symbol and a PCB footprint
• Altium Vault Technology - there is a large amount of data to manage in an electronics design, Vaults provide an excellent way of managing this data.
• Vault-Driven Electronics Design - a discussion of one approach to managing your valuable electronic product design data.

Design Verification

• Verifying Your Design in Altium Designer - finished design capture? time to make sure there are no errors.
• Defining & running Circuit Simulation analyses - Altium Designer's SPICE-compatible simulation engine helps you test how your circuit will perform.
• Performing Signal Integrity Analyses - use Altium Designer's signal integrity analysis engine to verify the quality of your signals.

For the FPGA Designer and Embedded Developer

• Getting Started with FPGA Design - a basic tutorial showing how to design and implement inside an FPGA.
• Getting Started with Embedded Software - a basic tutorial that shows how to get your first embedded project up and running.
• Quickstart - Soft Design, hardware - a series of short videos that reveal the powerful yet simple process of designing inside an FPGA.
• Quickstart - Soft Design, software - including a soft processor in your FPGA design, these videos will kick-start the coding process.
• Tutorial - Checking Signal Integrity on an FPGA Design - an FPGA is a programmable component, Altium Designer's signal integrity analysis engine can analyze the programmed device.

Designing and Debugging with Connected Hardware

• Getting Started with the Innovation Station - FPGA design with Altium Designer brings the hardware platform right into the development process, this article explains how.
• Understanding how Altium Designer works with Connected Hardware - a series of short videos that show how to design, implement and debug your design inside the connected hardware.

Didn't Find What You Were After?

As well all the recommended articles and videos, there are a number of other resources you'll find invaluable to help you build your proficiency in Altium Designer.

• Visit AltiumLive - AltiumLive is your virtual coffee shop where you can meet, read, chat and learn about Altium Designer, all from the comfort of your desk. (Log in required, contact your local Altium Sales office or reseller if you have not received your unique log-in link)
• Invest in Training - get trained and get certified - there's nothing like hearing it from an expert, and having the chance to ask the specific questions you want.
• Visit the SUPPORTcenter - to search the solutions database and log a question for Altium's technical experts (log in required).
• Join a User Forum - and talk with your industry peers, including Altium Designer power users (log in required).
• Browse the FAQs - a central location from where you can jump to a range of Frequently Asked Questions. 
• Browse the Video Library - where you can explore more than 100 training and educational videos, each a short and snappy coffee-break entertainer.
• Speak to a local Altium expert - contact your local Altium Sales office or reseller, and get the low-down on how to solve that tricky challenge.