Electronic – Altium – cannot find standard parts

altiumcomponentslibrary

I am slightly new to Altium and I've not run into such a problem with other EDA software.

I use version 20. I can find simple stuff like resistors in the included library and at least a few footprints for them. The manufacturer part search is more extensive, but by far does not include every part with a model, so I could directly place it.

I couldn't even find a specific TI dual opamp with a model, so I went through the trouble to create my own symbol for dual opamps.

Then I found out that even completely standard footprints such as MSOP/TSOP/VSSOP-8 used for dual opamps are not in the default library! I will not go through the trouble to redraw all possible parts in the world just to use Altium.

Also I cannot use only the footprint from manufacturer parts. I can only use entire manufacturer components, if they exist.

Is this all a joke or am I not getting something? It is not even possible to construct the most basic circuits without drawing half of your components. I couldn't find any comprehensive PCBlib file which includes all standard footprints either.

Please tell me what am I doing wrong. Also please don't tell me that "I usually draw all components myself." I know, I've drawn many components in my life in different tools but never did I have to draw an opamp before. In this is one of the most expensive softwares out there.

In case there is no useful remedy to this problem in Altium other than in fact drawing all the parts, what other software can you suggest that has useful hierarchical design capabilities across schematic and PCB?

Best Answer

You can right click on the Component in the Manufacturer search and click on download. You'll get a zip file with symbol and footprint. This way you can download all footprints.

Alternatively you can use a library loader like this one.