Getting Started with Logisim-evolution: Your First Circuit

This tutorial walks you through building your first working circuit in Logisim-evolution: two switches feeding an AND gate, with a lamp showing the result. It takes about ten minutes and needs no prior experience.

What you need

Download and install Logisim-evolution first (version 5.0.0 or newer). If you grabbed the portable .jar file, make sure Java 21 or newer is installed — the .msi, .dmg, .deb, and .rpm packages already include Java, so they run on their own.

Download the universal .jar (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Step 1: Open a new circuit

Launch Logisim-evolution and choose File → New. You get a blank canvas. On the left is the explorer pane: a tree of component libraries (Wiring, Gates, Plexers, Arithmetic, Memory, I/O). Below it sits the attribute panel, which shows the settings of whatever you have selected.

Step 2: Add two input pins

In the explorer pane, open the Wiring library and click Pin. Then click twice on the canvas, a little apart, to place two pins. Each pin works as an input switch.

Click a pin and check the attribute panel: Type should be Input.

Step 3: Add an AND gate

Open the Gates library, click AND Gate, and click on the canvas to the right of the pins to place it.

Step 4: Add an output lamp

Open the I/O library, click LED, and place it to the right of the AND gate.

Step 5: Wire everything up

Select the Wiring tool in the toolbar. Click the small square at the end of the top input pin and drag to the top input of the AND gate, then release. Do the same for the bottom pin and the gate’s second input, then connect the gate’s output to the LED.

A wire only connects when it touches the small connection square on a component. If the LED stays dark gray, a wire probably missed its target — delete it and draw it again.

Step 6: Test your circuit

Select the Poke tool in the toolbar (the hand icon). Now click each input pin: it toggles between 0 and 1. The LED lights up only when both inputs are 1 — that is exactly what an AND gate does.

Try replacing the AND gate with an OR gate (delete it, place the OR gate, rewire) and watch how the behavior changes.

Step 7: Save your work

Choose File → Save and save with a .circ extension. That is the Logisim-evolution project format — use File → Open to load it again later.

Common first-time mistakes

  • Wires that look connected but aren’t. Always start and end a wire on the component’s connection square.
  • Two outputs on one wire. Never connect two outputs to the same wire — it turns red to warn you.
  • Wrong tool active. If clicks keep placing components instead of toggling inputs, switch from the Edit tool to the Poke tool.

Keep learning

Want a structured course?

If you prefer video lessons, a full digital design course covers everything in this tutorial series and more. Browse digital design courses on Udemy.

Disclosure: As an affiliate partner, we may earn a commission on qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you.