Couple of points how to create PCB at home. I am not talking about double sided PCB’s for Arduino or other big stuff. It is better to order them already ready from China or SparkFun. But sometimes you need small board for some additional stuff.

So how to do it easily :

1. Let’s use SMD – 1206 sized and SOIC chips are fully ok for home use and soldering

2. Install CAD Soft Eagle – free version is enough for target boards

3. Prepare board in Eagle – if you need cross lines (one side PCB), you can use wire or you can use 0R as bridge and you can have it wire less

4. Print it on normal paper with your standard InkJet printer, mirrored and with max available DPI

5. Use PCB with some positive layer – in Europe is available “Positiv 20″ spray which will put positive layer on pure board , in size which you want

6. Make paper transparent – I am using mighty WD-40 oil. Just spray it, take down exceeding oil and paper is transparent enough

5. Put paper with inkjet down to board and let UV light work on it. UV light can be tricky – it is not to easy get but you don’t need special UV light. For example – lot of halogen lights or cheap desktop lamps with G23 bulbs produce enough UV light to work with PCB with distance like 5 cm /2″ and for 5 minutes or so (test your own to get proper timing). I am using cheap IKEA lamp for light over table. I just put it closer to PCB if I want to develop PCB. Perfect 2in1 solution

6. Follow manual for your positive spray to make it finished (7% of sodium hydroxide)

7. Make PCB etched with FeCl (slower but safer than other more aggressive etching agents)

On the end , you will get really nice PCB developed at home, without special stuff like laser printer, transfer foils or UV light.