I have wanted to dabble in making my own PCBs and I have always wondered about the steps beyond the PCB. As in, is there a good small-run manufacturer for doing the pick and place of the components?
Fritzing (FOSS) does single and double sided boards and has an almost child-easy interface and they have a pcb fab service
4pcb, PcbExpress, and many other board houses have their own Windows software they give away, but they usually don't let you export your data.
DipTrace is surprisingly good for the cost, runs in WINE, renders 3D models of your PCB.
gEDA - Get ready to spend years of your life editing PCB files, running scripts, generally being an errand boy for your PC, but you can do amazing things with it after you learn to make it sing. (FOSS), but the price you pay is in the thousands of hours you'll spend.
Kicad - (FOSS) - Recently adopted by CERN, I used to consider it less capable than gEDA, probably worth a second look.
4pcb, PcbExpress, and many other board houses have their own Windows software they give away, but they usually don't let you export your data.
DipTrace is surprisingly good for the cost, runs in WINE, renders 3D models of your PCB.
gEDA - Get ready to spend years of your life editing PCB files, running scripts, generally being an errand boy for your PC, but you can do amazing things with it after you learn to make it sing. (FOSS), but the price you pay is in the thousands of hours you'll spend.
Kicad - (FOSS) - Recently adopted by CERN, I used to consider it less capable than gEDA, probably worth a second look.