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Standard Clarity
Engineering tools

PCB Design Calculators

Calculators for laying out copper - trace sizing, via-current estimation, resistance and impedance - with explicit links to the IPC references and equations they use. IPC-2221C is actively revised; IPC currently lists IPC-2141 and IPC-2152 as No Longer Maintained, so those documents are presented as historical/published references rather than current-maintenance claims.

Choose the calculator from the design decision

Use trace width for temperature-rise sizing, trace resistance for voltage drop and loss, via current for barrel heating, and impedance for transmission-line geometry. These calculations answer related but different questions and should not be substituted for one another.

Choose the right path

Start here

Current capacity

Size a copper trace

Estimate the width needed for current and permitted temperature rise.

 Voltage drop

Calculate trace resistance

Estimate DC resistance, voltage loss and power dissipation from geometry and copper temperature.

 Signal integrity

Estimate controlled impedance

Start microstrip or stripline geometry before field-solver verification.
Tool selection

Which PCB calculator should you use?

Pick the tool from the quantity you need to control.

Design questionUse this toolPrimary output
How wide should a current-carrying trace be? PCB trace width calculator Minimum starting width
What voltage drop and heat will this trace create? Trace resistance calculator Resistance, voltage drop and power
How much current can a plated through-via carry? PCB via current calculator Estimated current capacity
What geometry gives the target impedance? PCB impedance calculator Microstrip or stripline impedance
Calculators

PCB calculation tools

PCB Trace Width Calculator

IPC-2221

Compare the familiar legacy trace-current relationship with a published approximation based on IPC-2152 data. Solve width, current or…

PCB Trace Resistance Calculator

IPC-2221C

Find the DC resistance, voltage drop and power loss of a copper PCB trace from its width, copper…

PCB Via Current Calculator

Barrel-as-trace estimate

Estimate a plated via or an equal-sharing array with an unrolled-barrel trace analogy. Solve current, via count or…

PCB Impedance Calculator

IPC-2141A

Estimate microstrip, stripline, grounded coplanar or differential impedance, or solve a microstrip width for a target. Each mode…

Context

Standards and practical guides

Governing standards

  • IPC-2221 explainedGeneral printed-board design guidance and the legacy external-trace current relationship.
  • IPC-2152 explainedPublished test-based current-carrying reference with board and copper environment effects. IPC currently lists IPC-2152 as No Longer Maintained, so use it with that status explicit.

Guides