Dangerous Prototypes Open Source Hardware

New User - Which files to upload?

June 23, 2016, 04:00:11 pm

I am currently using Diptrace as my preferred PCB designing software and I am wondering which Gerber files to upload? Am I correct to assume that I only need the:
- Top
- Through
- Top Silk
- Top Mask
- Board Outline
- Bottom Mask
- Bottom Outline
- Bottom

Or is there more or is this too much(2 Layer PCB)?

Re: New User - Which files to upload?

Reply #1 – June 23, 2016, 09:44:57 pm

What is Bottom Outline ?

I used absolute positioning, 2:4 inches, no trailing or leading zero suppression, for both excellon and gerber.
Your  excellon file should have all your round holes, both plated and unplated (i think dirty plates all of them regardless), not in separate files.
What i sent was: Board Outline (GKO), consisting of a thin outline around the board and any large holes i wanted cut, like this: http://docs.oshpark.com/submitting-orde ... and-slots/ but without any CUT OUT text
Top Copper (GTL), Bottom Copper (BTL) - same orientation as top copper, not mirrored
Top Soldermask (GTS), Bottom Soldermask (GBS)
Top Silkscreen (GTO), Bottom Silkscreen (GBO)
Round drills (TXT)

If you want any non-round drills like slots its best to make arcs and tracks around them in the Board Outline file, and not include them in excellon.
When you make an order on the new site (and every time you re-upload your zip file), a preview will be made for you automatically, holes should be white, and everything else should appear correctly as well. You can see larger images of your board if you go to My Account -> My PCBs and 3d Prints, not just Orders.
You can also try to upload the same file to OshPark, it should give you no warnings (like that it merged your drill files or ignored any TXTs), and holes should appear black.
ZofsPcb is also a fantastic 3d preview program for gerbers, even though it takes a while to process all the files. It should detect your outline and holes correctly if you just batch load all the files from your zip.

Re: New User - Which files to upload?

Reply #2 – June 24, 2016, 02:24:15 am

Below are the export settings from my most recent.  The gerbs marked in Export All are the ones that get sent, notice the extensions.

Note that the fractional mils are just because they were originally specified in mm.

The offset X and Y is just whatever the defaults are.  The tools in the drill export are just the result of clicking the Auto button (and again the fractional mils are because I specify holes in mm usually)

Note that I export gerbs and drills in Inches.

Re: New User - Which files to upload?

Reply #3 – June 24, 2016, 08:52:54 am

switch <layer> to <project> because you want all the file names to have the same name... just different extension (including the drill file)
And just preview in the viewers ive specified and see if it looks ok. I dont see where you specify 2:4 and zero suppression, if you get those wrong your drill holes could end up being squished down in the corner or missing proper Y or similar problems.