VeroDes - Veroboard design software

Welcome to VeroDes
latest version 1.37 (2011/04/03)

VeroDes is an easy-to-use design program for those wishing to design circuits on "veroboard"™ (also known as "stripboard").

Now veroboard is great for putting together prototype circuits, but it has one big disadvantage. Because the copper tracks are fixed, it can be a real pain to convert schematics to veroboard. I know, I’ve had to do it numerous times.

This is where VeroDes comes in!

Not only can you make good looking board designs – quite an improvement over diagrams scribbled onto graph paper – but you can also instruct VeroDes to print out an "overlay" of either side of the board. This can then be stuck to the board to guide you to placing components and cutting tracks.

Before we start, let's clear up a few misconceptions...

I am placing this section right at the top following a look at a few sites linking to VeroDes.

Firstly, anywhere that states that the licence does not permit redistribution of this software is just plain wrong. I used to say this for early versions of the software, but now I feel that it is at a level where it may be passed around. Feel free to do so.
Secondly, yes, this software does call home. THIS CAN BE TURNED OFF. Before you start screaming about your privacy, please be well aware of two things - the first is that pretty much any package that "checks for updates" is doing the exact same thing, and that the only difference between most of those and myself is that I am being completely up-front about it. The phone-home is to provide me with a basic check on how popular VeroDes is, and to provide you with immediate notification as updates are available. I cannot personally identify you from this information, and I have no wish to.
But, if you still do not want to trust me, just turn off the "check for updates". Yes, it is really that simple.
Finally, the trojan virus in my software. This was actually a false positive reported by ClamAV, Jiangmin, TheHacker, and recently Symantec (is this Norton?), following an update to the version of InstallCreator that I am using. I would have hoped that people would report this to the antivirus creator, as false positives are about as useful as not detecting at all... but after a little bit of quiet contemplation, I figured most anti-virus products are not the slightest bit subtle in warning the user of impending cataclysm. As such, I have reverted to an older version of Install Creator which doesn't sound alarm bells....
<sigh>

Create veroboard circuit designs with ease! Board sizes up to 70 holes by 70 tracks can easily be accomodated (in fact, VeroDes will go as far as 128×128).
View both sides of your circuit; with links, breaks, and component pins clearly marked in either view.

Here is the top, component, side of the board. This is probably how you will use VeroDes most of the time.

Here is the bottom, copper, side of the board. This will be useful for placing track breaks (you can place those in the other view too!) and for checking the board without the clutter of the component side view.
Print the circuit in a variety of ways. Perhaps you wish to look over your design as it appears on screen (as above) without the tiring effects of staring closely at the screen. No problem!
You can also draw on, mark off, or make notes on a paper copy!

Perhaps you'd like to print a 'template' so that you may rough out your design before working on it in VeroDes? No problem!
VeroDes can print a template sheet that is around 5/6ths larger than actual veroboard; so it is big enough to work with easily, yet covers enough board space to be useful. You should be able to print around 90 holes by 55 tracks (depending on the margins of your printer) onto a piece of A4.
Click to view or download a 92×57 template as a PDF document (242Kb)
The above document was printed to a PDF generator directly from VeroDes.

How above going for the whole "Blue Peter" vibe and printing out an overlay of either side of the board, precisely matched to the board scale, so you can Pritt-Stick™ it to your board and know exactly where to place your holes, links, and components? Say it with me: No problem!
Here's what the component-side overlay looks like:
The above picture is not very good as the display bitmap offers a resolution of 96dpi. Printing this to a printer that can achieve better, 300dpi at least (which is most printers!) will produce much nicer results. This picture is only an example so you can see what I mean.
Why didn't I print an overlay to paper and scan it? It'd be a piece of cake, but the image filesize will be somewhat larger than 5K for both images. Oh yes, I'll show you the copper side overlay too. Here it is:
There are lots of useful little features. For example, in the picture below we have asked VeroDes to highlight everything that is directly connected to the GND pin. You will notice that it has followed a wire link too, of course.
If you think the magenta is too garish for words, you'll be pleased to know that you can tweak the colours as you see fit. Perhaps highlighting would be better in brown... or Hello Kitty™ bright pink? Your choice!
For the more advanced, you can create your own components, up to 25 pins by 25 pins (dimensions, or up to 600 pins in total) along with lines and rectangles and circles for drawing the component 'body'.
You can easily share your designs with others, including any custom components that you design.
For the geekier among you, board files are textual 'descriptions' which may be read, edited, or created in a text editor. The specification is completely documented in the help file. You can read an example file if you like!

WARNING! Privacy nuts should be aware that this version of VeroDes, and ALL future, have the ability to communicate with this server. Please read the specifics before sending nasty emails! ☺
Note, also, that everything that prompts you "there is an update available" is doing the exact same thing. The only difference here is that I am documenting the process.

VeroDes v1.37 download

verodes137.exe (1,365K)

Version 1.37
2011/04/03

Latest VeroDes distribution. Self-installing .EXE file, just download it and run it. Follow the on-screen instructions.

THIS SOFTWARE IS INTENDED
FOR MICROSOFT WINDOWS