first sorry for hijacking the post but it showed up some additional software packages also i think.
nice to see there has one done the "scratch 'n etch" tool i asked a few days ago.
my programming isn't too good (i would rather center punch all the holes per hand).
how do you detect when a line is on the outside of a trace/pad and when a line/arc is the outermost?
so you can tell what actually is the outline?
i first thought of plotting the layer with the drill drawing on it to get the holes "punched".
i'm really wondering how you can tell when a line is only a fill line and when it is a outline.
how is the match on the edges of tracks? i know one in australia who has written a similar tool but for
the "positive" plot with resist ink attempt i want to use. the problem with this tool is when the tracks
have angled edges and it can't do the holes open. but it uses gerber as input not hpgl.
regards
stefan
12.05.2003 21:39:08, Brian Schmalz <
brian.s@...> wrote:
>I use Eagle for my boards. I have written/modified a User Program (sort of
>an interpreted C language built into Eagle) that outputs HPGL plot files
>specifically for my use. I don't use a mill, I use an HP plotter with a
>scratching tip instead of a pen. I put paint on my copper boards, then run
>them through the plotter. The plotter 'scratches' away all of the paint
>where I want the etchant to etch.
>
>I have a program that I wrote (in Liberty Basic) that takes the HPGL output
>from Eagle, and the NC Drill file from Eagle, and puts filled in circles
>inside each drill hole. Then when I scratch the board on the plotter, each
>drill hole has a copper-free circle in the middle of it.
>
>None of the stuff I've done is ready for any type of wide-spread use yet.
>I'm still working out lots of bugs. But I'm writing this to you-all so that
>you know it can be done, and it isn't all that hard to do. My Liberty Basic
>program parses the HPGL file from Eagle (which contains many concentric
>'rings' of scratch lines since each scratch line is only about 2-4 mil wide)
>so that areas can be 'filled-in' with scratch lines) and then parses the
>drill file and combines them, does rotates, scaling, and translation, and
>then writes out a new HPGL file that I can directly use on my plotter.
>
>∗Brian
>
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