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PCB
PCB, Printed Circuitboard, printed wiring or circuit board are all names for a board with holes and copper traces. A printed circuit board is useful if you want to build a circuit with multiple components and gives your circuit stability, making it easy to build. You can use pre-drilled experimental PCB to quickly build a circuit, or you can design your own PCB and have it professionally made by a factory. This is easier and cheaper than you think.
Design your own PCB
Is designing it yourself complicated? Not really, there are many programmes you can do this with. One of d best open source and free-to-use PCB design programmes is KiCad, it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux. There is a good tutorial that introduces you to all aspects of PCB design and teaches you how to design a simple PCB in an afternoon.
PCB creation
It doesn't have to be expensive to have your self-designed PCB produced professionally. There are several suppliers, but prices vary. One of the cheapest is PCBWay. PCBWay will make five copies of your double-sided PCB design for less than €20 - this includes soldermask silkscreen and shipping costs. The delivery time is about two weeks. It can be done faster, but then you pay more shipping costs.
There is a free PCBWay plugin for KiCad, which you can easily download from the plugin menu in KiCad. With this plugin, you can upload your design to PCBWay with a single click, and then via your web browser, easily choose production and shipping options.