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Generating laser-printer outputs for DIY fabrication

awardautomation

I have finished the layout of my board, now I want to etch using photo sensitive etch-resist.

For this I will need to print the top and bottom layer on a transparent sheet, expose the board, develop, and etch

I can print the multilayer composite print from the "Generate output files" dialogue but I need to print the layers individually.

If I use Printing -> Final (from the outputs ribbon):  I get individual layers but they are scaled incorrectly and there doesn't seem to be an option to change this.

What am I missing?

  • 0

    If using Generate Outputs you set the scaling option, either fill the sheet or print at a specified scale factor.

    image

  • 0 in reply to e14softwareuk

    Thanks Peter

    I did find that but it wanted to give me a composite output with all layers on one page, what I needed to generate individual layers on separate sheets was right click and select Create Final.

    What I'm struggling to do now is to create a negative image that I can print onto transparent sheet for photo etching.

    Is this possible or do I need some third party software?

     

  • 0 in reply to awardautomation

    Have you tried using the Configure link (next to page setup)? If you right click on the dialog that opens you get to add in more prints and have a choice of what to print on the page, this might get you what you need.

  • 0

    It may be a round about way to accomplish what you want but I know you can output the gerber files (one for each layer) then use a free gerber viewer, then print from the viewer. I use Viewmate by PentaLogix. It gives the ability to print black on white or white on black for each gerber file. It can also be set to print to scale but I do not know how accurate it actually prints to scale. I printed off a layer with a connector with 0.1 inch spacing and matched up with my ruler for at least 1.5 inches.

  • 0

    One option seems to be using a Gerber to PDF converter. See https://sourceforge.net/projects/gerber2pdf/

     

    You can specify white on black/black on white and can set mirroring options for the back side. The Windows powershell command would be like .\Downloads\Gerber2pdf.exe --% -output=c:\temp\pulse_gen.pdf -background=0,0,0 -colour=255,255,255 C:\temp\pulse_gen.GTL

     

    The --% tells powershell to not parse what follows, which is needed to get these command line options exactly passed to the program.

     

    You can then print the PDF with 100% scaling.