How to go from idea to hardware in hand for beginners - Introduction

I am making a mutli-post guide that will describe how to take a project from an initial idea to a piece of completed hardware in the hand. The guide is aimed at beginners who have some basic familiarity with electronics design. You have maybe done a few things on a breadboard and maybe even soldered something together. You are looking for the "next step" to make your projects better and more permanent. The goal is to end up with a completed PCB of your own design. The guide will eventually have the following parts

• Idea to a first concept draft link
• Make your draft into a functional schematic
• Create a custom PCB from the schematic
• Solder components to the PCB
• Troubleshoot and test