Hello World,
Here is my latest creation! I have created a demo board to play with that will be an odd Purple PCB Color!
I plan on using this color for all of my designs because everyone always gets to see Green, Red, White, Black and Blue PCB's, but a Purple one is Rare!
Remember these views are just renders of what the board will look like. They are not exactly accurate, but very close!
I have included some tips and I can certainly answer any questions you may have, just reply to this post or email me!
Enjoy!
Top View:
- This is an render of what this board will look like after fabrication as viewed from the top.
Bottom View:
- This is an render of what this board will look like after fabrication as viewed from the bottom.
Top Copper:
- This is the top layer of copper on your PCB.
Bottom Copper:
- This is the bottom copper layer of the board.
Top Solder Mask:
- Soldermask layers are "negative" layers. This layer really designates where there shouldn't be solder mask. If you draw on the soldermask layer ("tStop" and "bStop" in Eagle), those areas won't have soldermask.
- TIP!! If you don't provide a soldermask layer, this entire side of the board will be coated in soldermask. You probably don't want this.
Bottom Solder Mask:
- Soldermask layers are "negative" layers. This layer really designates where there shouldn't be solder mask. If you draw on the soldermask layer ("tStop" and "bStop" in Eagle), those areas won't have soldermask.
- TIP!! If you don't provide a soldermask layer, this entire side of the board will be coated in soldermask. You probably don't want this.
Top Silk:
- Most of the time companies charge more for a bottom and a top silkscreen so be sure to check your fabrication place before design starts!
- The silkscreen is put on with what is basically a 200 dpi printer. Lines thinner than 5 mils will be fattened to 5 mils before printing.
- The fab will automatically remove any silkscreen that crosses drilled holes or exposed metal.
Bottom Silk:
- The silkscreen is put on with what is basically a 200 dpi printer. Lines thinner than 5 mils will be fattened to 5 mils before printing.
- The fab will automatically remove any silkscreen that crosses drilled holes or exposed metal.
Drills:
- For some companies your drill file needs to be in text "NC Drills" or "Excellon" format, generated with "2:4" precision, and with "no zero suppression".
- Make sure the center of your drill hits are all inside the board outline. Anything outside of the board outline is automatically removed.
- Usually overlapping drill hits aren't allowed.
- The usual minimum drill size is 13 mils. Maximum is 360 mils.
- Usually plated slots aren't supported.