PCB layout is a means to combine your artistic side and your creative skills with the power of automation. I always say that if a PCB design looks good, it will probably work well. However, neatness in routing often leads to unwanted crosstalk as trace segments are routed in parallel for long distances. Interactive Placement - To obtain a high route-completion rate, component placement is extremely important. If the board is difficult to route, it may just be the result of poor placement, slots/gates positioned all over the board, or perhaps the sequence of pins on components are flipped. We need to help the router as much as possible by opening route channels and providing space for vias. Interactive placement is best done by cross-probing and dragging the components one-by-one from the schematic to place on the PCB—taking functionality and design constraints into account. During placement, consideration should not only be given to routing, but also...