Homebrew PCBs

Is there a program/utility that would smooth out the tracks from a 
scanned PCB? After scanning there are usually dots that don't belong 
on PCB  and they can be 'erased' in picture editor, but the angled 
lines are not smooth on both sides. Is there any way to make them look 
like a regular line?  Mike

At 05:40 PM 10/22/2005, you wrote:
>Is there a program/utility that would smooth out the tracks from a
>scanned PCB? After scanning there are usually dots that don't belong
>on PCB  and they can be 'erased' in picture editor, but the angled
>lines are not smooth on both sides. Is there any way to make them look
>like a regular line?  Mike

Try     www.abacom-online.de      or
www.platincnc.com

Cristian

and then Raster should to some automatic magic to make the lines 
straight and beautiful. 

Anyone knows how to train a hamster in using a Photoshop?  

I'll give a good analogy to OCR and scan. If you scan a page it will 
scan not only text but many other dots and specs present on that page. 
OCR will take that page with many imperfections on it and output a 
text file as clean as the blank page in your printer

Mike

On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 16:52:02 +0200, mikezcnc <eemikez@...> wrote:

>
> and then Raster should to some automatic magic to make the lines
> straight and beautiful.
> Anyone knows how to train a hamster in using a Photoshop?
> I'll give a good analogy to OCR and scan. If you scan a page it will
> scan not only text but many other dots and specs present on that page.
> OCR will take that page with many imperfections on it and output a
> text file as clean as the blank page in your printer
> Mike
>


I had moderate success with the following:
Scan it, very well, as line art ad carefully set the treshold.
(Alternatively you may scan as image and convert to 2-color in your  
software.)

Now, increase color depth again in your software, and blur the image. This  
takes out many of the scanning artefacts ("stubble"), if you convert to  
2-color again and set the threshold, once more, very carefully. I would  
expect there's software specifically for removing "stubble" (the 1-pixel  
wide uncertanity around the contour).

This does work, but not too well, and a hamster can't be trained to do it.  
Batch processing might be set up but without user intervention i think it  
unlikely to work.


I have been paid in the past to convert pictures to a layout format  
(gerber output in the end), so there is no quick and easy way. What i  
usually do is import the "picture" as a unused layer for a ackground in my  
software.




ST

>
>I have been paid in the past to convert pictures to a layout format
>(gerber output in the end), so there is no quick and easy way.

Is it!! Try PlatinCNC from www.platincnc.com which is able to convert 
scanned images to Gerber.

Also you can use the SprintLayout from Abacom  www.abacom-online.de   to 
draw over the scanned image.
Cristian

Cristian, Stefan,

www.platincnc.com is definitely a good catch and even the price of 
$150 seems to be on a low end for that kind of sw. Actually, that 
package answered my next question: is it possible to get an NC drill 
file out of a bmp scan, sounds insane, doesn't it? In short: yes it 
does and very good, too! First I tried to do it  w/o platinum by 
converting PCB (in PDF) to DXF, my way. I used 
http://www.cadkas.com/downengpdf.php 'PDF 2 DXF 2.0', scroll down. 
The quality of the dxf conversion is amazing but a thick PCB line 
consists of a high number of thin dxf lines. That was the end of my 
trial although I can see a potential of that method, except for: no 
NC file would come out of it. 

Then I tried platinum. I got a very good conversion of a bitmap 
image into a NC drill file. Awesome! I couldn't view the NC file 
because a demo has this feature disabled but I clearly saw that the 
program did recognize all holes as holes, which was my next question!

I couldn't get the Gerber out of the program. I only got 'milling 
paths' and I think it refers to isolation milling and if so then I 
believe that having a TT with a laminator and a laser printer (all 
even low grade) will produce excellent results in the hands of a 
skillful TT-er :) Hey, I do TTs just to cheer me up.

So, I also have a problem getting rid of that heavy raster screen 
(background) on the screen  but it is probably my lack of experience 
with it. Not even knowing the details, it seems to me that that 
program is excellent.  Thank you guys for an enjoyable Sunday 
morning  Mike



>

>
>I couldn't get the Gerber out of the program. I only got 'milling
>paths' and I think it refers to isolation milling and if so then I
>believe that having a TT with a laminator and a laser printer (all
>even low grade) will produce excellent results in the hands of a
>skillful TT-er :) Hey, I do TTs just to cheer me up.

Try the Skeleton option too.
Cristian

Sounds like a great software.
I did not know about it, and i would have never thought there is one to  
detect holes.

ST

On Sun, 23 Oct 2005 17:50:38 +0200, mikezcnc <eemikez@...> wrote:

> Cristian, Stefan,
> www.platincnc.com is definitely a good catch and even the price of
> $150 seems to be on a low end for that kind of sw. Actually, that
> package answered my next question: is it possible to get an NC drill
> file out of a bmp scan, sounds insane, doesn't it? In short: yes it
> does and very good, too! First I tried to do it  w/o platinum by
> converting PCB (in PDF) to DXF, my way. I used
> http://www.cadkas.com/downengpdf.php 'PDF 2 DXF 2.0', scroll down.
> The quality of the dxf conversion is amazing but a thick PCB line
> consists of a high number of thin dxf lines. That was the end of my
> trial although I can see a potential of that method, except for: no
> NC file would come out of it.
> Then I tried platinum. I got a very good conversion of a bitmap
> image into a NC drill file. Awesome! I couldn't view the NC file
> because a demo has this feature disabled but I clearly saw that the
> program did recognize all holes as holes, which was my next question!
> I couldn't get the Gerber out of the program. I only got 'milling
> paths' and I think it refers to isolation milling and if so then I
> believe that having a TT with a laminator and a laser printer (all
> even low grade) will produce excellent results in the hands of a
> skillful TT-er  Hey, I do TTs just to cheer me up.
> So, I also have a problem getting rid of that heavy raster screen
> (background) on the screen  but it is probably my lack of experience
> with it. Not even knowing the details, it seems to me that that
> program is excellent.  Thank you guys for an enjoyable Sunday
> morning  Mike

Yes, the nc import is nice, but I still don't see it cleaning up 
bitmap.  The Sprint Layout is a nice PCB layout, like many others. Mike

Having trouble when installing the legally bought Easy PC and asking for 
assistance,
they responded as below, asking me to pay for an upgrade. I'm happy with 
the v5 facilities and don't need the
upgrade's new facilities. Is that software time-limited? Is that normal?


quote
X-Kaspersky: Checked
Delivered-To: cristianbip@...

From: "sales" <sales@...>
To: "cristian" <cristianbip@...>
Subject: RE: help
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 09:23:00 +0100
X-Mailer: MailBeamer v3.37
X-Pro-Net-MailScanner-Information: Please contact the ISP for more information
X-Pro-Net-MailScanner: Not scanned: please contact your Internet E-Mail 
Service Provider for details
X-MailScanner-From: sales@...
X-BitDefender-Scanner: Clean, Agent: BitDefender Courier MTA Agent on 
smtp.b.astral.ro

Dear Sir

Thank you for your enquiry.

I think you will need to upgrade to Version 9.0 of Easy-PC for it to work
on your new computer.
The cost is £69

If you have any questions please contact me.

Regards
Julie Flitter
Number One Systems
sales@...
T. +44 (0) 1684 773662
F. +44 (0) 1684 773664



  -----Original Message-----
From: cristian [mailto:cristianbip@...]
Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2005 8:59 AM
To: sales
Subject: help
Importance: High




I've just tried to install EasyPC v5 on my new computer XP SP2.
It not accepts the Product Key Code: invalid code, please reenter is what
I get.

My code is: 2368-G502-4713-3ETF
Router 8275003850
Library 0458-7Z26-VV91-789J
My ref is 33902

Regards,
Cristian



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Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.12.4/146 - Release Date:
21/10/2005

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unquote

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "cristian" <cristianbip@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2005 8:56 AM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Beware of Number One's Easy PC???


Having trouble when installing the legally bought Easy PC and asking for
assistance,
they responded as below, asking me to pay for an upgrade. I'm happy with
the v5 facilities and don't need the
upgrade's new facilities. Is that software time-limited? Is that normal?

I used EasyPC for many years, I use Pulsonix now.

I just phoned David at EasyPC, and he actually tried V5 on his WinXP 
machine. It worked OK, although he didn't try to install it. He'll talk to 
Julie and see if he can find out some more about the problem. It might be a 
good idea to contact them again.

Leon 

---
[This E-mail has been scanned for viruses but it is your responsibility 
to maintain up to date anti virus software on the device that you are
currently using to read this email. ]

I had a similar problem back in 2000 with Ranger2. After 2000 it blew up 
and started killing the drawing databases. Ranger's response was "yeah 
it does that - buy the Windows version". I managed to convince my boss 
to buy Orcad and never looked back :-)

Les

cristian wrote:
> Having trouble when installing the legally bought Easy PC and asking for 
> assistance,
> they responded as below, asking me to pay for an upgrade. I'm happy with 
> the v5 facilities and don't need the
> upgrade's new facilities. Is that software time-limited? Is that normal?
>
>   



-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.361 / Virus Database: 267.12.5/147 - Release Date: 24/10/2005

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 11:13:54 +0200, Les Newell <lesnewell@...>  
wrote:

> I managed to convince my boss
> to buy Orcad and never looked back
> Les


That i can believe easily. If only i'd win the lottery....


ST

Yeah, my boss almost cried when I told him how much :-)

Les

Stefan Trethan wrote:
>
> That i can believe easily. If only i'd win the lottery....
>
>
> ST
>   



-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.361 / Virus Database: 267.12.5/147 - Release Date: 24/10/2005

nobody is perfect. How about answering my email from Sunday, hehehe. 
Mike

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, cristian <cristianbip@b...> 
wrote:
>
> Having trouble when installing the legally bought Easy PC and 
asking for 
> assistance,
> they responded as below, asking me to pay for an upgrade. I'm 
happy with 
> the v5 facilities and don't need the
> upgrade's new facilities. Is that software time-limited? Is that 
normal?
> 
> 
> quote
> X-Kaspersky: Checked
> Delivered-To: cristianbip@b...
> From: "sales" <sales@n...>
> To: "cristian" <cristianbip@b...>
> Subject: RE: help
> Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 09:23:00 +0100
> X-Mailer: MailBeamer v3.37
> X-Pro-Net-MailScanner-Information: Please contact the ISP for more 
information
> X-Pro-Net-MailScanner: Not scanned: please contact your Internet E-
Mail 
> Service Provider for details
> X-MailScanner-From: sales@n...
> X-BitDefender-Scanner: Clean, Agent: BitDefender Courier MTA Agent 
on 
> smtp.b.astral.ro
> 
> Dear Sir
> 
> Thank you for your enquiry.
> 
> I think you will need to upgrade to Version 9.0 of Easy-PC for it 
to work
> on your new computer.
> The cost is £69
> 
> If you have any questions please contact me.
> 
> Regards
> Julie Flitter
> Number One Systems
> sales@n...
> T. +44 (0) 1684 773662
> F. +44 (0) 1684 773664
> 
> 
> 
>   -----Original Message-----
> From: cristian [mailto:cristianbip@b...]
> Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2005 8:59 AM
> To: sales
> Subject: help
> Importance: High
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've just tried to install EasyPC v5 on my new computer XP SP2.
> It not accepts the Product Key Code: invalid code, please reenter 
is what

> I get.
> 
> My code is: 2368-G502-4713-3ETF
> Router 8275003850
> Library 0458-7Z26-VV91-789J
> My ref is 33902
> 
> Regards,
> Cristian
> 
> 
> 
>   --
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.12.4/146 - Release Date:
> 21/10/2005
> 
>   --
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.1.361 / Virus Database: 267.12.4/146 - Release Date:
> 21/10/2005
> 
> unquote
>

At 01:59 AM 10/26/2005, you wrote:
>nobody is perfect. How about answering my email from Sunday, hehehe.
>Mike

Which one? That about the raster........?
Cristian

>
>I just phoned David at EasyPC, and he actually tried V5 on his WinXP
>machine. It worked OK, although he didn't try to install it. He'll talk to
>Julie and see if he can find out some more about the problem. It might be a
>good idea to contact them again.
>
>Leon

Done, immediately and no answer up to now.
Cristian

Leon Heller, G1HSM
leon.heller@...
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "cristian" <cristianbip@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 9:23 AM
Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Beware of Number One's Easy PC???


>
>>
>>I just phoned David at EasyPC, and he actually tried V5 on his WinXP
>>machine. It worked OK, although he didn't try to install it. He'll talk to
>>Julie and see if he can find out some more about the problem. It might be 
>>a
>>good idea to contact them again.
>>
>>Leon
>
> Done, immediately and no answer up to now.

As is the case with most other software, you can't really expect support for 
a very old version, especially if you don't have a maintenance contract. 
Current version is 9.0 and you are using 5.0 - it's four or five years old! 
I think your license will state that you must have the latest version for 
support.

Leon 

---
[This E-mail has been scanned for viruses but it is your responsibility 
to maintain up to date anti virus software on the device that you are
currently using to read this email. ]

>
>As is the case with most other software, you can't really expect support for
>a very old version, especially if you don't have a maintenance contract.
>Current version is 9.0 and you are using 5.0 - it's four or five years old!
>I think your license will state that you must have the latest version for
>support.
>
>Leon

Leon, I don't need support at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I need it working and that's all.
I need to install it, no more.
Five years old money have to be upgraded?
Cristian

I didn't realize until then that you own the platinum and I sent you 
email to company address with questions on translation. Like I said I 
liked the hole recognizing pattern but I couldn't figure out if it 
does cleanup and can transfer back to useable formate, dxf, bmp or 
gerber. I understand though that it is a product for people milling 
isolation traces - I don't because I beliee it is a very painful way 
of making PCBs, but I could use platinum's magic to produce clean 
tracks.

Maybe your company mail got lost?

Mike


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, cristian <cristianbip@b...> 
wrote:

>
> At 01:59 AM 10/26/2005, you wrote:
> >nobody is perfect. How about answering my email from Sunday, hehehe.
> >Mike
> 
> Which one? That about the raster........?
> Cristian
>

Not always, Leon. I had some other problems with Number One, which I 
don't remember now in detail. They have great advertisement in tech 
rags but they need to get their act together and support at least 
PAYING customers. many times other companies sent me even update 
versions when they clearly did not have to. One company got sold off 
and I bought a program on ebay- I only had adongle to an ancient 
program that cost $$$$+$ and guess what, the president himself called 
ma nd said: well, you realize it is the old version and that product 
is gone, but I happen to know a programmer and he has that old 
program... I am sending it to you by fedex...

I don't have that equipment, that program but I still remember that 
company... and smile when I recall that story. Number One it is a very 
unsusal name, I think and it obligates them to do extra work.  Mike