DIY Layout Creator
Introduction
DIY Layout Creator (DIYLC) is a specialized software tool designed for hobbyists and electronics enthusiasts to create circuit layouts on stripboard, perfboard, PCB, and point-to-point wiring. It provides an intuitive, drag-and-drop interface for placing components, arranging connections, and visualizing circuit designs before assembly. With a built-in component library and customization options, it allows users to design layouts with precision and clarity. The software is particularly useful for designing, analyzing, and debugging guitar wiring diagrams, helping musicians and builders plan and troubleshoot custom wiring configurations for pickups, switches, and controls. Its versatility makes it an ideal solution for DIY electronics projects, prototyping, and documentation.
Click here to get the latest version for all platforms.
Click here to read the user documentation as well as developer documentation.
Click here to request a feature or report an issue.
Click here to become a Patreon of DIYLC.
Mac users: in most instances, the Gatekeeper will block DIYLC and mark it as damaged because it’s a 3rd party app from an independent vendor (me). This document covers how to allow DIYLC on your Mac.
Samples
Point-to-point tube amplifier
Guitar wiring
PCB tube amplifier
Perfboard guitar effect
Features
- platform independence, will run on any machine having Java JRE/JDK 8 or newer
- easy to use interface, most of the operations can be done using mouse
- draw PCB, perfboard, stripboard or point-to-point circuit layouts layouts, schematics and guitar wiring diagrams
- high flexibility, has the API to allow plug-ins and new components to be added
- improved performance and reduced memory consumption compared to the previous versions
- save default values for each property of a component individually
- group components together and treat them as one, e.g. move, edit or delete
- export the output to image, PDF or printer
- export PCB trace mask suitable for toner transfer
- export PCB designs to Gerber for fabrication
- create a Bill of Materials as a part of the project or export it to few different file formats
- analyze guitar wirings and show detailed pickup configuration in each switch configuration
- zoom in/out feature
- configurable grid spacing on the project level
- auto update checks for new versions
- import files created with older versions of the application
- cloud feature – share your projects, search through the cloud and download other users’ projects
- highlight connected areas to simplify validation and circuit debugging
- analyze guitar wiring diagrams and visualize pickup wirings for each switch configuration
- export circuits to SPICE-compatible netlists
To report bugs or request a new feature go to Issues page and create a new issue describing your problem or request.
To join the discussion or request technical assistance, use the dedicated Discussion Group.
Want to contribute?
DIYLC is provided free of charge and can be used and redistributed freely. Please note that it takes a lot of time and effort to build, test and maintain it and to interact with the growing community of users. If you find DIYLC useful and want to support further development, these are some of the ways you can contribute
- Become a Patreon.
- Make a one-time donation with PayPal.
- Help with adding the information to the user manual or other project documentation.
- Extend the component base, read this wiki to learn how to create new components.
- Add a new functionality though plug-ins, read this wiki to learn how to create new plug-ins.
License information
Source code is released under GNU General Public License version 3. Contact the project owner to obtain a license in case you plan to use the source code, or any part of it, in commercial purposes.
Credits
- Big thanks goes to folks from the following online communities for contributing ideas and helped test the app: DIY Stompboxes, AX84 and Free Stompboxes.
- I’m happy to report that DIYLC 4 is the fastest version ever. YourKit Java Profiler helped tremendously with memory and performance profiling and pointed me to places in the code that took longer to run or consumed more memory than I’d like them to. I strongly recommend this tool to anyone developing Java or .NET applications because it helps finding bottlenecks and allocation hot-spots very fast.
YourKit is kindly supporting open source projects with its full-featured Java Profiler.
YourKit, LLC is the creator of innovative and intelligent tools for profiling Java and .NET applications.
Take a look at YourKit’s leading software products: YourKit Java Profiler and YourKit .NET Profiler
![Lost Without You - John Petrucci [Guitar Cover]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CvhLPmLvHVM/default.jpg "Lost Without You - John Petrucci [Guitar Cover]")
![John Petrucci - State of Grace [Guitar Cover]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K3bYjMICR5g/default.jpg "John Petrucci - State of Grace [Guitar Cover]")
i was wondering if in the new version you are working on if there was a way to make it so that if you click and drag a trace it doesnt drag the whole trace but just that point and stretches/angles the trace. if that makes sense.
It has to do with compatibility with Vista. I wrote DIYLC 1 long before Vista was released. If you’re not after old layouts from the gallery you could try Java version. It works on any machine with Java installed.
Cheers
Hi bancika, thanks for replt earlier. Well the problem still persist. i tried both the compatibility mode above and all the rest. Still no luck. Btw im using windows vista home premium. Nt sure whether thats the problem. Any other method that i could try?
Hi this my 1st time installing diy layout creator v1.x . after installing it, i open and it pop a window saying no active document. when click “ok” it still keep popping up, this will not allow me to use the program with this matter. Is there any wrong?
Hi, try to run the app in compatibility mode. Right click on the EXE file -> Properties -> Compatibility -> choose windows XP or 98.
That should solve the problem.
Cheers,
Bane
Hi Bancika.
I have just drawn a Layout using your excellent Layout Creator, but used version 1 (Windows only) Want to upload the layout to Project Library but it sends me to your old Storm Software address.
I don’t want to upgrade to the Java version.(Old timer, he he)
Any suggestions? Thanks a lot for your great work.
It was amazing to see it being born step by step and your interaction with the masses.
JMFahey (Argentina)
Hi,
there’s no upload mechanism on the new site so it’s ok to use the old one. I’ll update the zip file periodically with new layouts. The new java version will have a library on it’s own.
Cheers,
Bane
In mac if you are having trouble exporting you can always cmd/shift/4 and select the area you want to screenshot and bullseye the layout and it saves a screenshot of your selected area. Just a quick workaround
Thanks for the tip, I know nothing about macs 🙂
Cheers
Hey, thanks for writing this software. I use Eagle CAD for PC boards, but I’m dyslexic when trying to lay out perf boards. I just can’t visualize them 🙂
When i like its ergonomic design. very handy andshaveso excellent.
Sorry for the multiple posts, but it may be interesting for Lenny users to konw that to excecute jar files, they can install “jarwrapper” package.
Arg, can’t launch it 🙁
I’m glad there is a multi-platform version to use under Debian (multi language would be great 🙂 )
Thanks for the comments Paul. The first two versions were mostly oriented towards pedal builders, thus .1″ grid that matches perf and vero board hole spacing. I wanted the new version to be friendlier to amp builders. The idea to make grid spacing configurable sounds great. Thanks!
Bane
Bane,
Thanks for the offer – but I was able to get very satisfactory results from using the MacOS X screen capture as PNG, then into GIMP for scaling and printing. So all is well, and I’m drilling and soldering my PCB today!
I’m really looking forward to the new version, let us know on AX84 when it’s ready for testing! One more comment while its on my mind- in inches mode, grid divisions should be in eighths or sixteenths instead of tenths…
Thanks again for the great software, it saved a LOT of time relative to doing this in Canvas or Illustrator.
Cheers,
Paul
Sorry to hear about that. I’m aware of size issues and undo issues, but not printing and export. If it’s any consolation I could try to export your layout to image and send it back to you. New version of DIYLC is under development from the scratch and those annoyances will be fixed.
Best regards,
Bancika
Hi Bane,
Just spent quite awhile playing with DIY 2.x beta. In fact, did a fairly ambitious layout with it, and was quite impressed.. And then was heartbroken to find that (at least on MacOS X) it apparently won’t export an image (never writes the file), and the print preview shows only an empty page (haven’t tried on a printer, but assume nothing there either, as printing to pdf comes up blank). Is this a known problem? I’d really like to be able to print/use my nice new layout!
Other bugs worth reporting….it won’t remember the layout size (or cm or inch mode) between saves. It reverts to standard. Strangely, the undo feature will also always undo the layout size back to default as well as undoing the last action. A feature request would be to make it understand the ” symbol as inches in the dialogues.
Many thanks,
Paul
Hi, I’ve tried tu use DIY 2.x with Ubuntu 9.10, but i can’t see the icon in the Library Frame.
How I can Fix it?
Thanks 🙂
Very Nice. Thank you very much!
It’s not very easy, but you could try to play with xml files in library folder. Take one that looks the closest to the thing you need, duplicate the file and edit it using the text editor. App will install the new component automatically
Cheers
Nice program. Using it under Linux right now. Wondering how to add components to the library because as a radio enthusiast I need things like coils, trimmer capacitors and so on.
DIY Layout Creator 2.x appears to be broken.
? ? ?
Just tried it and it worked. Please try again.