Q) How much does Scheme-It cost? What sort of licensing options are available?
A) Scheme-It is a freely available tool customers can use as much as they like without charge. There is no Scheme-It ‘license’, and you can use it to design schematics, flow charts, diagrams, and anything else they need for your business or any projects you might have without any legal entanglements. So long as you don’t try and sell access to Scheme-It yourself, you should be good to go.
Q) How do I download Scheme-It to my PC so I can use it on the go/offline?
A) Scheme-It is free to use in any customer’s browser and can be accessed easily from Digi-Key’s website. Unfortunately the program cannot be downloaded for use offline; it runs in an Internet-enabled browser off of our servers.
Q) How do I change the colors on a Scheme-It wire? I want to use different colors for ground and different voltage rails.
A) Unfortunately, there is currently no way to change the color of a wire in Scheme-It. Wire can be labeled the same way any other part can be labeled, but it cannot be recolored.
Q) Where’s ‘Ground’? I can’t find it!
A) In Scheme-It, Ground is considered a port. Go to Schematic Symbols > Ports, and you’ll have your pick of several Ground options.
Q) How do I add text to my schematic?
A) There are two ways to do this. In the topmost toolbar, right next to the Undo/Redo curvy arrows, there’s an ‘Insert’ drop-down key. You can use this key to insert pictures, web links, and text boxes in your schematic, all of which can be resized and moved around as needed like any other part. Currently, the Insert method brings up a text box with the word “HEADING” followed by a bunch of Latin. If you see Latin, you’ve got it right.
There’s also a ‘Label’ item in Diagram Symbols > Basic Shapes, which acts much the same way as the ‘Insert’ text box, without the Latin. Again, the label can be moved and resized as needed.
Q) Where’s the schematic symbol for my IC?
A) Most specific ICs don’t have their own individual icon you can drop onto schematics in Scheme-It. What you can do instead is build your own IC with the custom symbol system. Go to Custom Symbols > Symbol Primitives, and you’ll see different shapes of Part Body, as well as Top/Bottom/Left/Right legs. The body can be dragged onto the schematic, and the legs can be dragged onto the appropriate spots on the custom part body. Using this system, you can build most any IC schematic symbol you should need.
Q) How do I edit [Thing]?
A) For any given object in Scheme-It, there’s a Properties menu with tabs relevant to that object on the right-hand side of the program’s interface. Electronic devices can be named, given reference numbers, and have their values adjusted, as well as having areas to specify manufacturer, MPN, DKPN, and other useful little tools. Things such as labels or flowchart blocks can have their font and colors adjusted, as well as being resized or flipped around as required.
Q) How do I print out just the circuit I drew in Scheme-It? When I go to print, it tries to print a huge white sheet and my circuit is just a little squiggle in the corner!
A) Printing directly from Scheme-It is not currently advised, unless your circuit is large enough to use Scheme-It’s entire drawable space. Instead, we recommend exporting your schematic as a PDF and printing from that. Starting with the ‘Export’ command in the top toolbar of Scheme-It, you set the export type to “Document (PDF)”, and in the PDF Options, you set the Export Area drop-down menu to “Active Area”. This results in a PDF document with just your circuit on it and not the rest of Scheme-It’s drawable area, perfect for printing.
