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I've just finished designing a PCB in Eagle. Now I want to use the freerouting.net autorouter to route my board (because Eagle's default auto is crap, sadly).

The one problem: converting my Eagle PCB in BRD format into the DSN format used by the freerouting.net router. There seems to be no way to export a BRD as a DSN. I've tried using the brd_to_dsn.ulp script on the freerouting website, but it's broken.

How can I convert my BRD to DSN? Alternatively, is there any good autorouter that can accept Eagle files?

Any help is greatly appriciated!

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    \$\begingroup\$ I've been in design for over 20 years, and I've yet to see an autorouter that costs less than 100k that produces decent results every time.<br> I rarely use the one I have (Altium) and never let it route an entire board. How complicated is your board, anyway? You might be better just biting the bullet and routing it by hand. Unless really complicated, the time spent trying to find, learn, use and optimise an auto router might be better spent getting on with it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jay M
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 7:51
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    \$\begingroup\$ BTW there is a rumour that Altium Designer will directly read and write Eagle files in the near future. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jay M
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 7:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ +1 for routing it by hand. Unless it's the last PCB you'll ever do, you'll need to learn to route PCBs manually and the sooner you start, the better. \$\endgroup\$
    – Armandas
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 8:04
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    \$\begingroup\$ @JasonMorgan that would be awesome! I'd love to be able to export my Altium projects to Eagle. But speaking of the Altium auto-router, it always does crazy stuff, dropping multiple vias on the same location, moving pre-routes are locked, etc. I never use it unless I am trying to get a guess of how tough it will be to hand route ;) \$\endgroup\$
    – dext0rb
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 19:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ My board isn't very advanced--it has only 4 ICs, 30 pins, and a voltage regulator circuit. The problem is that I'm trying to squeeze it onto a small PCB (project requirement) about 3.5x1". I guess I'll just spend the time to route it well, manually. \$\endgroup\$
    – mr_schlomo
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 19:52

5 Answers 5

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Go to http://www.cadsoftusa.com/downloads/ulps

and try to find "brd_to_dsn_v6.ulp"

click "Download"

or try this - http://www.cadsoftusa.com/downloads/download/407

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Ooops, didn't see that! :) \$\endgroup\$
    – mr_schlomo
    Commented May 17, 2012 at 22:32
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The Electra autorouter is supplied with many PCB packages, including the Pulsonix software I use. It's an option with Pulsonix. I don't use it much, but it does a good job, and is very fast. It works with Eagle files that have been converted to DSN format.

Pulsonix imports Eagle V6 files and libraries, BTW. They provide ULPs, which make it quite easy. Here is the Arduino file from Eagle 6.2.0, converted from the original .brd file into a .eip file that can be opened from Pulsonix. I was able to unroute it and autoroute it to 65% without optimising any settings.

If the OP provides his file, I'll autoroute it for him.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Good to know. I'll check out Pulsonix. \$\endgroup\$
    – mr_schlomo
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 19:52
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    \$\begingroup\$ Just installed the Pulsonix trial. Unfortunately it can only import Eagle v5 BRD files. \$\endgroup\$
    – mr_schlomo
    Commented May 14, 2012 at 14:14
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    \$\begingroup\$ This doesn't help the OP autoroute Eagle v6 board files in any way. It reads like little more than a plug for Pulsonix. \$\endgroup\$
    – Kevin Vermeer
    Commented May 15, 2012 at 1:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ Why the downvote? I just imported an Eagle V 6.2.0 .brd file into Pulsonix and autorouted it with Electra. \$\endgroup\$
    – Leon Heller
    Commented May 15, 2012 at 3:00
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According to the FreeRouting website, there exists an Eagle to DSN converter script. see This Link

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  • \$\begingroup\$ From the original post: "I've tried using the brd_to_dsn.ulp script on the freerouting website, but it's broken." \$\endgroup\$
    – Kellenjb
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 12:44
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Answer 2:
Eagle -> AD -> DSN -> Router -> ?????

You can indirectly convert your Eagle design to Altium Designer using third party scripts for Eagle (info here)

Once in AD, Altium Designer can read and write .DSN files. Though if you have access to Altium you might be better using that to start with!

Also, after being routed, I don't know of a way to get your board back into Eagle.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Myro free scripts look fairly complete, but who knows what your design rules use for key attributes. \$\endgroup\$
    – D.A.S.
    Commented May 13, 2012 at 8:11
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I have not used it, but I see www.logicswap.com has all the tools for format conversion. Nothing is lost in the conversion. Good tools cost money.

We used PADS in the old days, but I only did hand routing on boards up to 50 IC's in the 70's. Back then we did not have any tools, and used 0.1" grid Mylar with coloured pencils and then sent out for digitizing using say 10x scale. The pro's could do a complex board in a few days manually with designated using more of one axis than another and vias to interconnect. If you are truing to minimize via's or keep on one layer, then more powerful tool rules($) are needed.

Unfortunately proprietary greed & averace a.k.a. friendly competition created no industry standard. So Logicswap created many modules. They can design any protocol conversion in a couple weeks. added

As Protel file format is proprietary, ""use of this script for purposes other than migrating from Eagle to Protel may be illegal due to copyright laws. The author will not be liable for any illegal use of this script." Author: Alex Galakhov avg6f4(at)umkc.edu

logicswap also has free IDF to 3D PDF online service. to view layout in 3D and rotate inside a PDF.

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