Schazamp made an instructable on how to get multiple PCB onto a single cheap PCB service, like Seeed’s Fusion, or ITead’s Open PCB. The process involves merging the gerber files with GerbMerge.
just wrote up an instructable about how you can easily panelize PCBs for SeeedStudio’s Fusion PCB service. I thought it might be of some interest here, especially considering that they are currently offering 10 count 10cm x 10cm PCBs for the same price as 10 count 10cm x 5cm PCBs.
Be sure to check out our “Get you PCBs made” tutorial.
Via the forum.
link to forum post goes to wrong place.
Seeed changed their policy on panelizing. Now I can order up some boards!
The latest gerbv version (2.6) also allows merging and provides a gui
So… have you tried it?
I doubt the results of that would be useful.
I have actually… merged 8 boards for Advanced Circuits 33$ special. The only quirk is that you have to manully make an outline gerber if that is required by your fab house, otherwise it works like a charm.
So… you open a layer and translate. Then do that again and again – for each layer?
I’m just asking. I use 2.6 too and I don’t see panelization functions that would create a result quickly.
I didn’t know about the new version of gerbv… Definitely gonna try it. But I usually just copy and paste in Eagle layout editor. Then it’s easy to get the outline right.
What’s wrong with just copy and paste?
Some PCB fab houses don’t like you doing this. They prefer to arrange boards from different order on their own panel in an optimal way. I’ve heard of people sending in panels of identical boards then getting back a stack of cut boards – though I’ve never tried it myself.
BTW, I hate Instructables – bloody Email harvesters.
They are email harvesters?
Drone: this is an option with many fab houses, but normally an expensive one. Robert: yes thats the idea. Make sure you save each layer after translating, or when you open them again theyll be back at the origin. Ialways stack my layers in the order of which they are stacked in reality (i.e. drill, silk, soldermask, copper) and color them as close as possible to the real things.
I like panelizing! I just have these boards from seeed and panelized them nicely but the thing is that i need to cut them with a hack saw :)
http://labratsgonewild.com/2012/05/filipinoduino-boards-from-seeed/
@drone Yea, copy and then pasteing in a new .brd-file works just fine. I run panelize.ulp to automagically copy tname&bnames to _tnames&_bnames before I copy from the original board to get the component names on another layer that doesn’t get autoincremented when pasteing. Then I have a copy of the original Seed .cam-file with 125/126 enables instead of 25/26 in the silk layers.
I usually draw a 5mil thick line on the tstop/bstop layers between the individual boards so there are a slight indentation on the pcb’s making it a little bit easier to cut straight when depanelizing them yourself. I also usually select the 0.8mm thickness pcb since they are so much easier to cut than the regular 1.6mm. A 0.8mm thick 10x10cm pcb doesn’t feel to flimsy, it’s actually quite rigid.