Gerber

Archiver

On a completely different topic...

Does anyone know anything about gerber format? I'm outsourcing a stamp
project to a board house. I'm using eagle cad, and it seems to output some
files, but I'm having 2 issues

1) The pads don't seem to be included

2) the different gerber layers aren't aligned.

I tried 2 different preview programs, 'gerbview' and 'gerberview'. Both
show a consistency here.

I'm not sure what's going on , whether this is an eagle issue or just my
lack of understanding of the format, or a bug in 2 different preview
programs. Is gerber supposed to include pads/vias in the output? Also, is
it necessarily going to be aligned in the preview software?

Thanks.


Sean T. Lamont, CTO / Chief NetNerd, Abstract Software, Inc. (ServNet)
Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver - Portland - Everett - Tacoma - Bremerton
email: lamont@a... WWW: http://www.serv.net
"...There's no moral, it's just a lot of stuff that happens". - H. Simpson

Archiver

Never mind about the alignment point - I was using negative coordinates on
a horizontally-symmetrical board. I'd still like to know whether gerber is
supposed to include the pads, though.

THanks.

Sean T. Lamont, CTO / Chief NetNerd, Abstract Software, Inc. (ServNet)
Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver - Portland - Everett - Tacoma - Bremerton
email: lamont@a... WWW: http://www.serv.net
"...There's no moral, it's just a lot of stuff that happens". - H. Simpson

Archiver

Yes pads should be included. Gerber uses apetures, and the softwareshould
generate an apeture list.

M0 30mil circle
M1 40mil square ...

You need to load the apeture file into the viewing software.

Yes, the layers should register.

Stew Benedict

The power in technology lies in getting it to
work the way you do, we can help.
Stew Benedict *** AYS Enterprises *** stewb@e...
home.earthlink.net/~stewb ICQ: 18063833
Phone/Fax: 216-228-3983 Pager: 440-302-6438

On Thu, 4 May 2000, Sean T. Lamont .lost. wrote:

>
> On a completely different topic...
>
> Does anyone know anything about gerber format? I'm outsourcing a stamp
> project to a board house. I'm using eagle cad, and it seems to output some
> files, but I'm having 2 issues
>
> 1) The pads don't seem to be included
>
> 2) the different gerber layers aren't aligned.
>
> I tried 2 different preview programs, 'gerbview' and 'gerberview'. Both
> show a consistency here.
>
> I'm not sure what's going on , whether this is an eagle issue or just my
> lack of understanding of the format, or a bug in 2 different preview
> programs. Is gerber supposed to include pads/vias in the output? Also, is
> it necessarily going to be aligned in the preview software?
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Sean T. Lamont, CTO / Chief NetNerd, Abstract Software, Inc. (ServNet)
> Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver - Portland - Everett - Tacoma - Bremerton
> email: lamont@a... WWW: http://www.serv.net
> "...There's no moral, it's just a lot of stuff that happens". - H. Simpson
>
>
>
>
>

Archiver

On Thu, 4 May 2000, Stew Benedict wrote:

>
> Yes pads should be included. Gerber uses apetures, and the softwareshould
> generate an apeture list.

I'm not positive, but I think that gerber 274X has the aperture list
imbedded.


> You need to load the apeture file into the viewing software.

I did - still no pads. Or rather, when I generate gerber 274X format, it
works on one piece of software and not another. When I generate gerber
274D format, it works on both, but the pads aren't included in either
case.


Sean T. Lamont, CTO / Chief NetNerd, Abstract Software, Inc. (ServNet)
Seattle - Bellingham - Vancouver - Portland - Everett - Tacoma - Bremerton
email: lamont@a... WWW: http://www.serv.net
"...There's no moral, it's just a lot of stuff that happens". - H. Simpson

Archiver

>Never mind about the alignment point - I was using negative coordinates on
>a horizontally-symmetrical board. I'd still like to know whether gerber is
>supposed to include the pads, though.
>
Haven't used Eagle, but...

Typically there is a file for the top/component layer
and another file for the bottom/solder layer. These
usually have the pads included, although I have used
one program where the pads were a separate file all by
itself. Then there will be a file for each silk screen,
and one for a drill template if you need it. The board
fabricator also needs an aperture list and a drill file.

The program that generates those files often gives you
the option of changing the coordinates of the origin,
so it is possible to create alignment problems by
choosing different origins for each file. Otherwise,
they should align automatically.

Hope this is helpful,
Reg Neale

Archiver

>On Thu, 4 May 2000, Stew Benedict wrote:
>
> >
> > Yes pads should be included. Gerber uses apetures, and the softwareshould
> > generate an apeture list.
>
>I'm not positive, but I think that gerber 274X has the aperture list
>imbedded.
>
>
> > You need to load the apeture file into the viewing software.
>
>I did - still no pads. Or rather, when I generate gerber 274X format, it
>works on one piece of software and not another. When I generate gerber
>274D format, it works on both, but the pads aren't included in either
>case.

Sean:

As somebody (probably on this list) recently said, the
wonderful thing about standards is that there are so
many to choose from :-) Your viewer may just have a
standards conflict. Also, pads are flashed rather
than drawn. Maybe your viewer isn't picking up the flash
codes from the aperture file.

Most PCB vendors are able to handle a wide variety of
inputs. If your goal is just to get working boards,
let your vendor have a look at the files you have before
you waste a lot of time trying to make them work with one
particular viewer.

Reg Neale