: Software/Images for making semi-realistic looking circuits? I'm a design newbie trying to make a logo for a video game I wrote. The game is centred around robots, so I wanted to make the logo

@Jessie844

Oh, there are so many ways to attack this, I hardly know where to start.

However, I think that because you are going to make a logo, you want a stylised circuit board, and an actual photo will just make it muddy. You need to decide the general idea of your logo first, scribble some sketches, find some ideas, and preferably show us. A "real" circuit board will NOT make a good logo: it is way too many murky fiddly bits. Consider what elements the logo will consists of (text? initials? web address? letters?) and how a circuit can be combined. Maybe the title/name can be the circuit itself? Rather than starting with a PCB, start with the name. I urge you: keep it simple.

There are free-use vector and bitmap circuit board images out there, the searches might benefit from variations on "circuit board", pcb, "mother board" etc. This site collects vectors from all over, and you need to check for licensing for each one, but I some free-beer-free ones. Check the tag-cloud at the bottom, and note that if you follow some of the links to their origin, you might find more.

And there are tutorials too:

Here is one that makes RAM chipset in Illustrator:


Here is one that makes "letters" on a circuit board:


If you want to make it yourself from the bottom, my best suggestion is that you find/take a large photo of a circuit board, take it into Illustrator, and play with the live trace settings.

If you are willing to pay for vector files, the options increase a good deal.

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