In order to setup new libraries in Eagle, we will walk through
- Eagle’s Control Panel
- creating additional folders for libraries and projects
- editing folder descriptions
- telling Eagle to use new libraries
When it starts, Eagle opens a window called Control Panel. In the picture below, we have expanded the first folder labelled “lbr” under the first entry of the Control Panel called “Libraries.” The libraries available on this site are shown as they appear once they have been installed. Below, we show one way to install these new libraries in Eagle.
Step One
First, before doing anything in Eagle, copy the libraries from the zip file into a subdirectory on your hard disk. Our example uses the subdirectory C:\Documents and Settings\gaussmarkov\My Documents\Circuits\Eagle\lbr
Step Two
Second, tell Eagle about the new subdirectory for library files.
To specify an additional library directory, choose the “Directories…” entry in the “Options” menu of the Eagle Control Panel. A “Directories” dialog like the one pictured here will appear. In this example, C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\Eagle\lbr has been added to the “Libraries” entry. The name of the subdirectory “lbr” appears as the name of the folder in Eagle.
Note that an additional directory is also specified for projects. As you can see in the picture below, adding the second projects directory shows up under the expanded “Projects” list.
Both subdirectories were given the name “projects” but the first one has the description “gaussmarkov projects” while the second one has the description “Project Folder” assigned by the software installation.
TIP: You can edit these descriptions by right-clicking on the folder names.
Step Three
Third, tell Eagle to “use” (or to activate) the new libraries.
In order to use the components in the libraries, you must tell Eagle to use them. After right-clicking on the “lbr” folder described as “gaussmarkov libraries,” choose “Use all.”
Note that we can also tell Eagle to “Use none.” This ability to deactivate libraries can simplify component selection when creating schematics.
TIP: Eagle is mouse-friendly. As you can see, right-clicking on objects brings up many of the features of this software. You can also right-click on a single library to use or not use that library.
The libraries that are in use have green markers beside them, as shown in the example below.
Now you can use the components in these libraries to create a schematic. That process is illustrated in eagle: schematics.