Necessary/Unnecessary Files

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Unnecessary Files

May 10, 2010

We are no longer accepting any floating files during the upload process. Please take a look at the list below.

We are only accepting the following file extensions:

  • TopCopper - “.gtl” , “.cmp”, “.top”

  • BottomCopper - “.gbl”, “.sol”, “.bot”

  • TopSolderMask - “.gts”, “.stc”, “.smt”, “.stoptop”, “.tsm”

  • BottomSolderMask - “.gbs”, “.sts”, “.smb”, “.stopbot”, “.bsm”

  • TopSilk - “.gto”, “.plc”, “.sst”, “.positop”, “.leg”, “.slk”

  • BottomSilk - “.gbo”, “.pls”, “.ssb”, “.posibot”, “.bsk”

  • Drill - “.drl”, “.txt”, “.tap”, “.drill”, “.gdd”, “.drd”, “.cnc”, “.exl”

  • KeepOut - “.gko”

  • MiddleCopper1 - “.g2”

  • MiddleCopper2 - “.g3”

  • BottomStencil - “.gbp”

  • TopStencil - “.gtp”

  • Outline - “.outline”, “.oln”

Please ensure that you include files that are necessary for manufacturing.

Thanks,

BatchPCB Support

This is a useful list. I have some observations and some implied questions.

  1. BottomStencil - “.gbp” and TopStencil - “.gtp” would appear to be the same as Bottom Paste and Top Paste based on the filenames. (ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerber_File) These would seem to be unnecessary files for a BatchPCB order, but I expect they can optionally be carried along for convenience. If it is provided, would be important that this file, and all files, not have anything outside of the board area.

  2. KeepOut - “.gko”. I did not provide such a file, and I don’t know what BatchPCB would do with this. Based on search engine searches, I see some people use this layer to represent the board outline.

  3. Outline - “.outline”, “.oln”. The outline seems to be an item that has significant ambiguity. Using a rectangular board as an example, this file could contain a line outlining a rectangle. In that case, the line has width. That width brings about ambiguity about the board size. An alternative is to use a file that would represent a filled-in rectangle. That is what I provided, and it seems to me to be the unambiguous solution. Both gerbv and the BatchPCB bot seemed to handle this well, except the dimensions listed seemed to bumped up to the next 0.010 inches. 2.850 by 2.780 became 2.86 by 2.79. I hope this is only the billing calculation, in which case it is de minimus, and that the actual boards come in closer to the smaller numbers. Other discussions seem to make the outline file optional. viewtopic.php?p=75532 viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21349 viewtopic.php?f=16&t=21662&p=100392 are some of the threads where this has come up.

It might be good if BatchPCB would identify files that are needed if relevant ( such as TopCopper), which files are optional but used if present (such as Outline), and which will be tolerated but ignored on a typical build (such as BottomStencil).

Comments?