Odb and gerber files

This is the probably most significant data that illustrates just why Gerber is considered the industry standard. Gerber Scientific Instrument Company historically been the main producer of the photoplotters used for shooting film, back when mechanical vector type plotting was the only way to get accurate film masters.

Their dominance in production combined with being most accurate files on hand lead them to Gerber becoming an industry standard. This is also why many manufacturers require customers have Gerber files or be able to convert files to Gerber in order to proceed to manufacturing. This unfortunately can prove to be a challenge for some. Over the past few years, there has been a lot of excitement among PCB fabricators and designers.

This excitement rises from the industries progress and improvements when it comes to PCB design to manufacturing transitions. PCB is the backbone of all major electronic devices and is also responsible for making devices compact and efficient. A PCB manufacturer can achieve perfection only if the PCB designer provides a design data file or artwork, that completely describes the board specifications.

Design files, otherwise known as artwork, are the prime communication bridge between fabricators and designers. A manufacturer can check the manufacturability of a PCB by running some advanced design for manufacturability DFM checks.

Hence, design data files are the bridge between manufacturers and designers. Design files are the prime communication channels between fabricators and designers.

Initially, Gerber files ruled the industry since its introduction in Here is a list of the different files you can send your manufacturer for fabrication:. Once the layout design of a PCB board is completed and ready for fabrication. The design is converted into a standard file format called Gerber files which can be used by the PCB manufacturers to manufacture PCBs.

Learn more about the files submitted for a circuit board quote here, top missing information when requesting a PCB quote. The Gerber files are generated for each of the layers of the PCB.

The PCB manufacturer produces as many as 30 or more layer files to define different aspects of manufacturing. The main type of gerber files is generated for each layer in the PCB design, while there are files to describe procedures across different layers.

For example, files are generated for etching, silkscreen, drill files, etc.. And now there is the latest X2 version. The first form of Gerber file representation was designed as numerical control NC format. The RS D has provided simple plotting functionality such as truck drawing. It did not describe coordinates and drawing margins separately.

The RS D standard gerber files are responsible for the success and popularity of the gerber file formats. However, different design tools give different extensions. X-Gerber has introduced the use of metadata for the graphics description. This version incorporates all four components of the Gerber details in one file configuration parameters, apertures, XY coordinates, draw and flash commands.

This is the latest version of Gerber files which supports additional data. Gerber X2 files can contain details such as the layer function, entity functions like pad types, trace positions regulated with impedance, and much more.

This file format offers a stable framework for the required data. For almost every step in the process flow, IPC offers a guideline to help companies ensure superior manufacturability, quality, reliability and consistency in electronics assemblies built for their products.

The most widely used file format for PCB manufacturing is called Gerber. They drive the photoplotter to create the film that is used to expose each conductor layer in the board. A Gerber file has no idea about design rules, net connectivity, or component libraries; it is simply two-dimensional artwork that indicates where the manufacturing equipment will place copper, solder mask, or silkscreen.