[sdiy] osx pcb jpg and other TLA

[Bert Schiettecatte]

Hi Mark,

> This may be a tall order but.....
> 
> Is there a PCB layout program for Mac OSX that will allow you 
> to load in 
> a graphic file as a guide to trace an existing board? I mean, can you 
> take a PCB foil from a magazine page, scan it, load it into 
> some program 
> and trace it to be manufactured by a pro board house?
> 
> it seems that transfering my hundreds of Illustrator files visually 
> could be risky at best and hopeless at worst.

You can run Eagle on Mac OSX. There are user language programs for Eagle
You can download for free that let you import BMP and DXF. That way you 
Can route over the graphics if you put them in a separate layer when you

Import them. 

You can also try to write a program (in Eagle ULP or other programming 
Language) that will read your illustrator files (EPS?) and output a 
.SCR file (Eagle Script) that will route all the traces. It's probably 
Not easy, but very useful later on and I think it should be possible. 

Good luck,
Bert Schiettecatte