> First of all, from my previous background, I'm accustomed to running > routers that place pin-escape vias before actually starting the primary > routing. I just routed a board using PCB, and I had to place all of the > pin-escape vias manually before starting the actual route. Is this the > correct approach, or am I missing something?
Well, you could let the autorouter give it a try, but I doubt it would do as well. Alternately, the vias could be added to the footprint itself, so that the vias become the "pins" of the device. I don't think we have a way of adding the copper traces to the footprint though. So yeah, you're probably doing the Right Thing. > Secondly, I keep getting warnings that a short exists between my power > and ground planes. I suspect that this is a result of some closely > spaced pin-escape vias, but I've been unable to find the problem area on > the board. Is there an off-line method for checking DRC violations, and > if so, where can I learn about it? Zoom way in before running DRC; it might pan you somewhere. It's been a long time since I've been there. www.freedfm.com might be useful too.
