Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

You ∗should∗ use the darkest setting your printer supports. If the
toner spreads, you're probably melting it instead of just softening
it. Try a lower heat setting. You want the toner to stick to the
paper ∗without∗ melting.

For home-brew, I leave very little clearance around pins and such.
Maybe a few thou. I use 13 thou drills for vias (unravel some 22
gauge stranded speaker wire), and usually 26 thou for pins (press
fit). For regular pin/wire holes, 35 thou is the biggest I'll use
unless the pin requires bigger.

Don't include the component outlines. Do those as a separate pass
after you etch, and just leave the toner on (black outlines).