In the context of Sprint-Layout, a macro is essentially a pre-drawn component footprint. Instead of drawing four pads and a silk-screen outline for a bridge rectifier every time you need one, you simply drag a "Macro" file onto your workspace.
You can assign a (e.g., R1) and a Value (e.g., 10k) to the macro, which makes generating a Bill of Materials (BOM) much easier later on. Importing External Macro Packs
If you’ve spent any time designing printed circuit boards (PCBs), you know that the "grunt work" often lies in drawing the same footprints over and over again. Whether it’s a standard SOT-23 transistor or a specific inductor you use in every power supply, manual placement is a time-sink. macros sprint layout 60
Every "Resistor 0805" on your board will have the exact same pad spacing, reducing soldering errors.
Draw a selection box around all elements of your new component. In the context of Sprint-Layout, a macro is
You can "place" a 40-pin microcontroller in one second rather than ten minutes.
Use the pad and drawing tools to create the footprint exactly as per the manufacturer's datasheet. Ensure your grid is set correctly (usually 1.27mm or 2.54mm for through-hole). Importing External Macro Packs If you’ve spent any
One of the reasons Sprint-Layout is so popular in the hobbyist community is the abundance of free, user-made macro packs. You can find massive libraries online containing thousands of specialized footprints. To add these to your software: Download the .zip or folder containing the .lmk files.