how to print pcb artwork

Hi Sami,

When you say it is for priting pcb art work, do you mean you want to etch your own PCBs? If so, the toner transfer method of PCB etching is typically done with a laser printer, not an inkjet.

This webpage walks you through the steps of doing the toner transfer method. http://makezine.com/projects/pcb-etching-using-toner-transfer-method/ or also http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-and-Easy-Toner-Transfer-for-PCB-Making/?ALLSTEPS

Cheers!

Matthew

On 17/10/13 06:31, Matthew Lange wrote:

If so, the toner transfer method of PCB etching is

typically done with a laser printer, not an inkjet.

The fact that Sami asked about transparency paper strongly suggests he's

not intending to use "toner transfer" but rather has photo-sensitive

board and a UV light box. That can be done with either laser or inkjet

(or any other printing technology) but only if the image is very dark

and high contrast.

Am 17.10.2013 06:49, schrieb SAMI AHMAD:

I bought this printer officejet 8600 Pro , for sole purpose of printing

pcb art work  , tried few didnt work, looked online and saw a product

"HP Inkjet premimium transparencies" product code C3834A but this

product is discontinuted and out of stock.

which transparency i can use with this printer which is equally good as

C3834A ?

or if anyone can recommend me a printer which is good for this work it

will also help and i will dump this printer .

I need to print circuit diagrams for making printed circuit boards and

looking for any printer / transparency combination that will do it.

Printing PCBs onto transparencies is NOT an easy thing to do, just

because this is NOT what today's printers are usually designed for, so

printer information on this subject is practically non-existent. You

probably need to experiment with lots of different transparency/printer

combinations, because even a transparency from the printer manufacturer

does NOT necessarily yield usable results. Our own experiences on this

subject are as follows:

  - Laser printers do usually NOT create the necessary black level on

    the transparencies, resulting in cloudy printouts and crappy copper.

    Therefore, we use an InkJet.

  - About 12 years ago, Epson InkJets produced the best results with

    the blackest printouts, but NOT together with the Epson

    transparencies (they were completely unusable), but some other

    manufacturer I cannot remember.

  - 7 years ago (or so), Epson changed their inks, and the transparency

    printouts turned out COMPLETELY UNUSABLE, independent of the type

    of transparency - the blackness was still wonderful, but the ink

    either never dried, or flowed across the transparency, creating

    short-circuits in the copper.

  - We switched to a Canon printer after that, making it necessary to

    change the transparency type as well (the old one didn't work with

    the new printer).

  - After some time, the transparency manufacturer ALSO changed their

    products, so we had to change transparencies again. After EVERY

    change the printout quality got worse, because black level NEVER

    got back to the quality of 12 years ago, and lighting time must be

    VERY tighly adjusted now.

  - Trying to switch to an Epson Laser printer produced crap again:

    The printouts got VERY distorted due to the paper transport not

    being well designed. A board with 200*200mm came out with

    200*201.5mm instead.

  - Additionally, in case you want to create large (>160*100mm)

    double-sided boards, the printer SKEW might become a problem:

    Paper transport is never EXACTLY perpendicular to the printing

    cartridge, so the resulting angle error might create around

    0.2mm displacement error on a 200*200mm board. For double-sided

    boards, this error is multiplied by 2, because one transparency

    needs to be printed mirrored. To solve this, we are printing into

    a PostScript file with user-defined skew transformation matrix,

    which effectively cancels the printer skew again...

  - At the moment, we're using a

      Canon i560

    printer (I hope it lasts eternally) with

      Folex BG-32.5 RS PLUS

    transparencies, which does NOT create the best results one can

    think of, but at least better than anything else I've tested at

    the moment.

This is all very complicated, and the best thing you can perhaps do is:

  - Buy several transparency types you think might be suitable.

  - Ask your friends and colleagues to make printouts with THEIR

    printers (which hopefully can still be bought) with different

    printer settings on your several transparency types.

  - Etch the boards (it is NOT necessarily clear that a black-LOOKING

    transparency also cancels the UV light from the lighting machine).

    Compare the results. Buy the best printer and use the best

    transparency.

  - Yes, this procedure will take several days. But otherwise, you

    either have to buy thousands of test printers, or you might get

    crappy results.

The best of luck for you - perhaps your OfficeJet together with the

mentioned Folex transparencies will do the trick. If not, try

experimenting as suggested. If you DO find a usable combination, please

tell me about it - since our Canon printer is rather old now, I fear it

will NOT work eternally...

Andreas Weidner

Thanks Andres if i find an answer i will let you know also.

I am surprised as so many people must be using this method to make their own pcbs but only you answered .

lets hope we get more feedback from users.

On 18/10/13 01:41, SAMI AHMAD wrote:

Thanks Andres if i find an answer i will let you know also.

I am surprised as so many people must be using this method to make their

own pcbs but only you answered .

lets hope we get more feedback from users.

 

Well, even apart from Andreas's observations on compatibility, the last

lot of transparency stock I had to buy for my own home-etching (or the

teenage technology holiday I help with) was several years ago and I

can't remember where I bought them. They're also for laser printers, not

inkjet.

SAMI AHMAD Inscribed thus:

Thanks Andres if i find an answer i will let you know also.

I am surprised as so many people must be using this method to make

their own pcbs but only you answered .

lets hope we get more feedback from users.

If its any help I use the Laser printer and glossy paper method !

Though it hadn't occured to me to try a magazine page...

Best Regards:

             Baron.