In Eagle PCB when im creating the board how can i tell which side the copper will be on i cant really tell and i need some to be on top and some to be on bottom how can i tell which side they will be on and how do i change it
Thanks in advance
Hmmm… you seem to be an excellent candidate for one of the many Eagle tutorials on the web - both sparkfun and instructibles have them.
As a hint though - in Eagle if there is a trace or pad that is blue then it is on the bottom layer, if it’s red then it on the top layer. Green joins different layers.
So wait green pads are on both sides im just trying to understand that and which layers do what so any help you can give on layers would be helpfull
Predefined EAGLE Layers. Here is a huge list of Eagle layers - you won’t use all of them
Layout
1 Top Tracks, top side
2 Route2 Inner layer (signal or supply)
3 Route3 Inner layer (signal or supply)
4 Route4 Inner layer (signal or supply)
5 Route5 Inner layer (signal or supply)
6 Route6 Inner layer (signal or supply)
7 Route7 Inner layer (signal or supply)
8 Route8 Inner layer (signal or supply)
9 Route9 Inner layer (signal or supply)
10 Route10 Inner layer (signal or supply)
11 Route11 Inner layer (signal or supply)
12 Route12 Inner layer (signal or supply)
13 Route13 Inner layer (signal or supply)
14 Route14 Inner layer (signal or supply)
15 Route15 Inner layer (signal or supply)
16 Bottom Tracks, bottom side
17 Pads Pads (through-hole)
18 Vias Vias (through-hole)
19 Unrouted Airwires (rubberbands)
20 Dimension Board outlines (circles for holes)
21 tPlace Silk screen, top side
22 bPlace Silk screen, bottom side
23 tOrigins Origins, top side
24 bOrigins Origins, bottom side
25 tNames Service print, top side
26 bNames Service print, bottom side
27 tValues Component VALUE, top side
28 bValues Component VALUE, bottom side
29 tStop Solder stop mask, top side
30 bStop Solder stop mask, bottom side
31 tCream Solder cream, top side
32 bCream Solder cream, bottom side
33 tFinish Finish, top side
34 bFinish Finish, bottom side
35 tGlue Glue mask, top side
36 bGlue Glue mask, bottom side
37 tTest Test and adjustment inf., top side
38 bTest Test and adjustment inf. bottom side
39 tKeepout Nogo areas for components, top side
40 bKeepout Nogo areas for components, bottom side
41 tRestrict Nogo areas for tracks, top side
42 bRestrict Nogo areas for tracks, bottom side
43 vRestrict Nogo areas for via-holes
44 Drills Conducting through-holes
45 Holes Non-conducting holes
46 Milling Milling
47 Measures Measures
48 Document General documentation
49 Reference Reference marks
51 tDocu Part documentation, top side
52 bDocu Part documentation, bottom side
But which ones are actually going to effect the pcb
Well…let’s READ thru them and figure it out, shall we?
1 Top Tracks, top side - tracks on the top side
2 Route2 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
3 Route3 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
4 Route4 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
5 Route5 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
6 Route6 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
7 Route7 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
8 Route8 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
9 Route9 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
10 Route10 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
11 Route11 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
12 Route12 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
13 Route13 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
14 Route14 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
15 Route15 Inner layer (signal or supply) - tracks on an inner layer
16 Bottom Tracks, bottom side - tracks on the bottom side
17 Pads Pads (through-hole) - pads for a through-hole
18 Vias Vias (through-hole) - vias for a through-hole
19 Unrouted Airwires (rubberbands) - unrouted airwires, wires that are “in the air”, so you know they have to be routed yet
20 Dimension Board outlines (circles for holes) - dimensions for various components on the board, or the board itself
21 tPlace Silk screen, top side - silk screen on the top side, you know, letters and stuff
22 bPlace Silk screen, bottom side - silk screen on the bottom side, can you guess?
23 tOrigins Origins, top side - origin, as in the beginning, maybe a reference point of some sort
24 bOrigins Origins, bottom side - origin, as in the beginning, maybe a reference point of some sort
25 tNames Service print, top side, I could go on but I’m not going to go on
26 bNames Service print, bottom side, maybe this link will help http://www.sparkfun.com/tutorials/108
27 tValues Component VALUE, top side, maybe this link will help also http://www.edaboard.com/thread135818.html
28 bValues Component VALUE, bottom side, but if that fails http://lmgtfy.com/?q=eagle+pcb+layers
29 tStop Solder stop mask, top side, by now there should be some good info presented
30 bStop Solder stop mask, bottom side, by now the O/P should have started doing some reading
31 tCream Solder cream, top side, and should have a good idea of what’s what
32 bCream Solder cream, bottom side, and by now I start stopping
33 tFinish Finish, top side, and I’ve stopped
34 bFinish Finish, bottom side, and left the rest of the layers to the O/P’s imagination
35 tGlue Glue mask, top side, yep done
Whichever ones you select when generating the gerber files.inkspell4:
But which ones are actually going to effect the pcb
It is finishing plating, for example gold plating for connector.skimask:
33 tFinish Finish, top side, and I’ve stopped34 bFinish Finish, bottom side, and left the rest of the layers to the O/P’s imagination