Support

TurboPCB 1.0 for macOS 26 and later, and for Windows 10 (version 1809) and Windows 11

Found a bug, or want a part added to the library? Get in touch through the Desirable Apps contact page. Project files are plain JSON and contain nothing but your design, so attaching one is safe.

Getting started

Draw. Click a part in the sidebar to place it, press W to draw wires between pins, R to rotate, and double-click a part to rename it or change its value. Tidy Schematic in the Layout menu arranges the sheet.
Lay out. Choose Layout › Auto Layout. The board view shows the parts placed and the copper routed. Drag anything you want elsewhere and press Auto Route again.
Export. From the File menu (or, on the Mac, the share button), choose G-code for the Makera Carvera or GRBL, SVG layers for other desktop CNC software, or Gerber + Drill when you want a board house to make the board. A parts list and assembly sheet PDF go out with every export.

Board settings and design rules

The inspector on the right sets the board size, thickness, trace width, clearance and edge clearance. The defaults suit a 0.1 to 0.2 mm V-bit on a desktop CNC. Commercial fabs allow 0.15 mm traces, so you can tighten the rules for a smaller board. If the layout uses only part of the board, the banner above it offers Shrink to Fit.

Wire links

On a single-sided board some connections cannot be routed in copper. Instead of failing, the router adds a wire link: two extra holes with an orange arc between them. Solder a piece of bare wire between those holes on the component side. The assembly sheet lists every link as W1, W2 and so on.

AI Designer

The AI Designer has two options on the Mac, chosen from the menu at the top of its window. On Windows it uses Claude only; the AI menu holds the AI Designer, New Part with AI, Web Download and AI Settings.

Apple Intelligence (Mac only) runs on your Mac, is free, and sends nothing anywhere. It handles parts from a description. This needs an Apple silicon Mac with Apple Intelligence turned on in System Settings.
Claude handles whole circuits and explains the design. It needs a Claude API key, which means a paid account with Anthropic that is separate from TurboPCB. Anthropic bills that account for what you use; a typical circuit costs a few cents.
Web Download reads a parts list from a project web page. Paste the address and say what you want done with it.

Setting up a Claude API key

Create an account at the Claude Console. A claude.ai chat subscription does not include API access; the Console account is billed separately, by prepaid credits, so add a small amount of credit under Billing.
Open the API Keys page and create a key. Copy it straight away; the Console will not show it again. Anthropic's own guide is Get your Claude API key.
In TurboPCB choose TurboPCB › Settings › AI on the Mac, or AI › AI Settings on Windows, and paste the key. It is stored in your macOS login Keychain or in Windows Credential Manager, and is only ever sent to api.anthropic.com.
Open the AI Designer, on the Mac choose Claude (your API key) at the top, and describe a circuit.

Printing

On the Mac, ⌘P prints whatever the window is showing: the schematic, the board or the parts list. The print panel's PDF button saves the same page as a file. On Windows, Ctrl+P (File › Print to PDF) saves the current view as a PDF, which you can print from any PDF viewer. The first time you print on the Mac, macOS may ask whether TurboPCB can look for printers on your local network; that is for AirPrint discovery and the app receives nothing from it.

Opening exports elsewhere

Board houses. Zip the Gerber and drill files together and upload the zip. JLCPCB and PCBWay both accept them. Order a 1-layer board.
Snapmaker Luban, Carbide Create, LightBurn. Import the SVG copper layer for isolation, the drill layer for holes and the outline for the cut-out. All three share the same origin.
Makera Carvera. Load the G-code in Carvera Controller. The file includes the tool changes, probing and grid levelling.

Frequently asked

The router left a connection unrouted. Enlarge the board a little or loosen the clearance, then run Auto Route again. Moving the crowded part by hand usually helps too.
I want a part that is not in the library. Ask for it through the contact page below, naming the part and its footprint, and it will be added to the library. Custom footprints are coming in a later release.
Where are my files? Wherever you saved them. TurboPCB documents are ordinary files with the extension .turbopcb; the app has no library or cloud of its own.
Can I move a project between Mac and Windows? Yes. The project file is the same on both, and both versions run the same placer, router and exporters, so the output is identical. Only the Apple Intelligence option and autosave with versions are Mac features.

Contact

TurboPCB is made by Desirable Apps. Use the Desirable Apps contact page for questions, bug reports and part requests. Include the macOS or Windows version and, for layout questions, the project file.