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Film Creation

FH202409063758

Greetings,

I have been doing PCB layout for a few years now working in a two person team. Each of us has been on our own with creating films. Now, we would like to attempt a "standard" of film content.

The etch layers are mostly simple. Included are tooling corners, etch/layer, pin/layer, via class/layer. Although, I am open to improving etch artwork. Solder, silk, and paste art are similar

The other artwork is more in question.

What films do you usually make and what layers are you adding to each film?

Thank you!

Best regards,

Fred

  • 0

    Same layers/films, but it seems that I always have to create a "board outline" (BOL) layer before the design goes to the board house. I also use ViewMate Pro for the final film editing, on the recommendation of a board house that found a bunch of DRC errors on a board (things like clipping silk that was on top of etch).

    Like you, I've been starting PCB design as a "team", and it's been interesting. I *think* that using "technology" files can help with having

    consistent design parameters. 

    But what I'd really like is to switch between space/trace criteria, so that a 'digital' board can be 5/5, but a high-voltage analog board can be 12/12 or the like,

    redirecting the PCB editor to a different footprint directory that is set up appropriately.  Doable, but haven't gotten all the details worked out yet.

  • 0

    Depending on your specific design needs and manufacturing process, you may also consider creating additional films for:

    • Via layer: Defines via locations and dimensions.
    • Plating layer: Specifies plating requirements for through-hole components.
    • Keepout layer: Defines areas where components cannot be placed.
    • Route layer: Specifies routing paths for traces.
  • 0

    Hi Fred,

    So at my end I basically split the files out. What I mean by this is that basically the board house gets everything they need to make the physical board only and the same applies to the Assembly house. For example usually the Assembly house gets component outline with ref-dez for top and bottom of the board. I also generate a PDF of these layers for the Assy House. Any layer I output gets the board outline.

    The generation of the final package can be somewhat involved. It is very easy to miss something. To solve this potential problem I created templates for the common board types. 2, 4,6,8 Layer boards and saved these out as a board file. The physical board files contain everything such as title block and a generic board outline and the actual gerber settings too. Doing this means ya dont have to spend alot of time setting up output files. It also helps with things like revisions etc. In a team environment it can help keep designs consistent.

    One could call this a standard of sorts. I call it, I don't want to screw with this every time I do a board... Slight smile

    Here is a picture by way of an example.



    In the picture yo can see the title block with it's revision top right in red so as to keep track of any eco's etc. Also in the picture you can see the fab drawing setup. This
    would be the board outline with drill sizes and notes. company logo, board stack up etc.

    Basic idea is to convey the board intent to the fabs as simply as possible.

    Maybe this will help you out. All the best.

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