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File Menu: Gerber Out

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The Gerber Out function is used to create a set of data files on disk in RS-274-D (sometimes incorrectly referred to as RS-274-X) format for subsequent plotting by a Gerber photo plotter.

When you select this function, a dialog box will appear for the specification of the desired output data files.

An aperture list (wheel) is automatically created by the program before the Gerber output files are written.

Hover over the image for pop-up help, or click on the tabs for navigation.

Board:
The Board tab defines the general parameters of the Gerber generation process.

Excellon Drill Data
This group controls the creation of the Drill Holes output file. It contains a CAM data set in Excellon format and can be directly processed by the circuit board shop. Generally speaking, this is a required data file and circuit board cannot be built without it.

Printed Reports
This group controls the creation of the printable reports output file. It contains a series of humanly readable summaries of data created in the Gerber file generation process. Since the data file contains purely ASCII text, it will be universally accepted and can be sent to the board shop along with the other Gerber files. Although this file is not strictly necessary, it is desirable and helps promote a pleasant "feel-good" relationship with your chosen circuit board shop.

Data Format
This group sets unit of measure for the entire set of Gerber output files.

Drill Symbol Legend
This group controls the creation of the Drill Symbol Legend output file. It is a graphical representation of the actual Excellon drill data. Although this file is technically not required for the creation of a circuit board, many questions can be answered and many problems can be averted if you create this file with an adequate set of instructions for the board shop.

Source Layer Table
This multi-selection list box shows the current layers that have been selected for inclusion into the graphical output data. The standard setup has both the Symbols and the Cam Control layers activated. Traditionally, the Cam Control layer contains the the outline of the circuit board and the Symbols layer contains the drawing sheet outlines, along with a legend, a set of circuit board parameters, and an "empty" drill table. The drill table will be filled with a list of drill sizes used with hole counts for each when the output file is created. You may select additional source layers at your discretion, and those layers may contain any set of graphical objects that you desire. Layer zero contains pad and component data and may not be included into into this group.

Related functions:

Printer Out

Isolation Output