Electronics-Lab.com Blog

A great online PCB verification service for free…

For added peace of mind now you can verify your PCB data prior to placing your order. PCB Visualizer is an automatic tool for data input and manufacturability analysis. Clear graphic presentation pinpoints any issues found. You can then fix them up front, helping to avoid delays to your time-critical deliveries. Upload your Extended Gerber (RS274X) or CadSoft EAGLE V6 files and let us surprise you.

pcbvisualizer.com – Free online PCB data verification service - [Link]

3D Gerber Viewer

With this free viewer, you can upload your Gerber files and have a 360 degree view of your PCB design.  Launch the viewer to load your own design or view one of the example boards.  So simple yet so effective! Worth a donate.

3D Gerber Viewer in your browser - [Link]

ZofzPCB is a gerber viewer geared to make verification quick and easy. It shows the board and layers in 3D so it’s easier to spot errors. It can also make each trace a different color so the location is clearer. [via]

• ZofzPCB 3D Gerber Viewer can display 3D PCB model, using your design CAM files.
• Gerber and Excellon files are assigned to layers in auto or manual mode. – Stackup dimensions are fully editable.
  3D approach allows more direct visual examination of your design.
• ZofzPCB 3D Gerber Viewer aided by DirectX and modern graphic hardware, brings impressive real-time images to your desk.
• ZofzPCB recreates netlist and can mark each net with different color.
• ZofzPCB allows you to take mechanical measurements, also between layers.

ZofzPCB 3D gerber viewer - [Link]

Mayhew Labs writes:

Whether you’re a first-time circuit board designer or you’ve been doing it for years, you know how difficult it can be to visualize layout, spacing, and relative size in PCB layout software.  You might have also experienced that uneasy “I hope everything is right” feeling when you submit your design files for manufacturing.  You’re not alone!  I’ve ordered boards with silkscreen text way too small to read, components on the wrong side of the board, and even had my silkscreen and soldermask layers reversed by mistake!  Each of these times, the real problem was not having a good view of the design.

I came up with a solution to these problems and designed (with the help of a web developer) an online 3D Gerber viewer that anyone can use.  If you’re not familiar with Gerber files, they are the files that layout software (like Eagle, Altium, etc) export for manufacturing.  They describe everything pertinent about your board that will be required to actually create your PCB.

View Your PCB Design in 3D Online for Free - [Link]

View and share gerber files for your printed circuit board design online. So simple!

Circuitpeople.com – View and share gerber files online - [Link]

Visualizing EAGLE Edits with a Gerber Viewer, westfw writes… [via]

I’ve written a shell script that will process EAGLE’s backupfiles into gerbers, and then load them up into the open source gerber viewer (gerbv) in a way that highlights that have been made between the backup revisions. More explanation, example, and the code are here

Visualizing EAGLE Edits with a Gerber Viewer - [Link]

CircuitPeople – Free Online Gerber File Viewer… [via]

CircuitPeople – Free Online Gerber File Viewer - [Link]

adafruit.com writes:

Gerber Viewers. Nothing makes an engineer more nervous than a “tape-out” – that moment you send files off to a manufacturing house for PCBs (or chips). Will the returned product be correct, letting you continue onto manufacture? Or will there be a (dumb) mistake, setting you back 3 weeks and hundreds to thousands of dollars? Even the best engineers I know still get antsy and nervous in the lead up to a release!

That’s why its so important to do everything you can to avoid problems. Now, there’s not one engineer out there who has done nothing but fab perfect designs each time. Heck, even Microsoft had XBox manufacturing problems, they happen! But every step you take to avoid an easily-fixable problem is worth your attention.

Before we send of PCBs, of course we do a ERC/DFM check inside the software but even then, we always take a look at the final GERBER files before they are zipped up and sent off to the fab house.

Gerber Viewers - [Link]

A how-to guide to taking your electronics project from prototype through to high volume PCB manufacture. Covers component selection and purchasing, SMD, DFM, PCB panelisation, gerber generation, drill files, pick and place files, and more.

PCB Design For Manufacture Tutorial – [Link]

Cadsoft Eagle is a freeware circuit and PCB layout program well known among electronic hobbyists. One way to turn your design in actual PCB is to submit it to a PCB manufacture and have it shipped to you. But what files you should submit? This article discuss about how to save Eagle designs as industry-standard gerber files that are accepted by every manufacturer. Check the steps needed to save your design on gerber on the link below.

How-to: Prepare your Eagle designs for manufacture - [Link]