What post-sales technical support do I get?
Post-sales support is available free for the life of the product, by telephone, facsimile, e-mail or letter. As we are the sole authors of the software we are confident that you will find us both helpful and knowledgeable about our subject.
Is a printed manual supplied with Proteus VSM Professional/Proteus PCB Design Professional?
A Getting Started Guide is supplied (at extra cost outside of the UK). Context sensitive help and detailed online help is also included with all the Professional products.Post-sales support is available free for the life of the product, by telephone, facsimile, e-mail or letter. As we are the sole authors of the software we are confident that you will find us both helpful and knowledgeable about our subject.
Is there a recognised upgrade path for the Professional versions of the software?
Yes, all upgrades are charged at the price difference between your existing package and that to which you want to upgrade. The sole proviso is that you must be current with the last major release of our software. If this is not the case you will have to pay an upgrade charge to the current version and then the price difference between levels as normal.
Will your software produce files that I can send to a PCB manufacturer?
Yes. All versions of Proteus PCB Design Professional can produce Gerber photoplot and Excellon drill files which are the industry standard way of doing this. Output is available in both the 274D and 274X Gerber formats. The PCB design software also includes a Gerber Viewer which enables you to verify that the Gerber artwork is correct before sending it off for manufacture.
Information about board manufacturers recommended by Labcenter can be found here.
What is your policy on updates and upgrades?
The term update implies bug fixes and minor enhancements of the software and is usually signified by a change in the minor version number of the software (e.g. 7.11, 7.12, 7.13, etc.). The term upgrade implies new releases of the software that provide improved functionality, new features or support for new operating systems and is signified in by a change in the major version number of the software (for example 7.03 to 7.10 or 7.2 to 8.0).
Updates to the current release of the software are uploaded to the website and are freely available for download to all customers who have a valid Update Service Contract.
Upgrades to the software will uploaded to the website at Beta launch. Users with a valid Update Service Contract are free to download it at this time. On official release of an upgrade all customers who have a valid Update Service Contract will receive a system CD by mail.
Customers who do not have a valid Update Service Contract or whose contract has expired will have to reactivate their contract in order to install and use software that were released subsequent to the expiry of their USC. Such customers can use the software they currently have indefinately but will not be entitled to avail themselves of features and maintenance issues resolved in new releases.
Please note, that, like most companies, our support for older versions of our software is limited.
Can I buy multiple licences and do I get a discount?
Yes. Having bought a licence for one copy of the Professional software, additional licences for software at the same or lower feature level attract a 30% (Thirty percent) discount. For example, having bought a Proteus PCB Design System at Level 2 you can then buy additional copies Proteus PCB Design System at Level 2, Level 1+ or Level 1 with a discount of 30% on their list prices. The additional copies are identical to the original and include CDs and manuals.
How extensive are your libraries and can I create my own parts?
Proteus includes a comprehensive set (over 14000 parts) of schematic devices and PCB packages with the same libraries included at all levels of the software. The schematic libraries include TTL, CMOS, memory, analogue and microprocessor devices, whilst the PCB libraries include a footprints for a wide range of standard packages together with a near-complete set of all industry standard SMT discrete and chip packages.
All our software packages support creation of new schematic devices and symbols and new PCB packages and symbols. ISIS provides the means to create not only new schematic devices but also your own pin types, port types and terminals, allowing you complete flexibility in the appearance of new components. ARES supports an unlimited number of pad styles based on the built-in shapes. Both products support creation of new objects directly on the schematic or PCB with no need to exit the package or start a separate program. This allows you to create new devices, packages, etc. by decomposing and recomposing existing objects on the fly as you need them.
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