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Thieving

PCBTech

Thieving or Copper Thieving is a process of adding circular/square copper areas to large blank spaces on a layer to even out the copper distribution. The copper that is added is not connected to any nets on the board and should not affect the functionality.

Reasons to add copper thieving to a PCB:

  • Even out the copper distribution across a layer
  • Achieve consistent finished thickness of the PCB on all sides
  • Minimize Bow and Twist
  • Control dielectric thickness between layers
  • Reduce cost due to excessive etching

Proper care should be taken to ensure that the copper thieving does not interfere with any impedance-controlled lines or RF-signal lines in the design. You can always provide fabrication notes to avoid copper thieving on certain areas of the design. Thieving can contribute to EMI problems. It would be much better for you to add copper pours and tie them to ground on the areas where thieving can cause problems.

The following options can be used while adding copper thieving on a PCB using Allegro PCB Editor:

Team PCBTech

Cadence Design Systems

  • Mhawley1

    how do you save your thieving settings so it pre-populates some values ? 

  • PCBTech
    in reply to Mhawley1

    Thieving patterns adhere to the parameters you specify in the Options tab, regardless of DRC rules. The parameters remain in effect until you change them.

    If you want to set them in same design, One way is to set them in the options tab while you are in the command and other way is to edit thieving parameters by using the Design Parameter Editor. Choose Setup – Design Parameters then click Edit thieving parameters under the Mfg Applications tab.

    To reuse in other designs, you can export the parameters file from Allegro (File > Export > Parameters) with the option "Application or Command Parameters" enabled and then can import it in other designs.

  • Daniel

    hi,

    I think adding thieving by Sofware allegro takes a lot of time to create. Which other way we can add thieving a quickly?

  • geda
    in reply to Daniel

    I do not see any other way to add copper thieving. If you are seeing slowness on your designs, you may report this to Cadence.

  • Schulz Jordan
    in reply to Daniel

    Usual approach, rename pcbenv & try. Update to latest hotfix 17.4 S030 & 17.2 S083

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