Homebrew PCBs

Hi, I wanted to know your opinions on a good low cost or free program
to panelize/print accurate 1:1 panels of PCB layers for my diy pcbs.

I like to take the gerber outputs and organize to get all layers on a
single panel in different sections and flipped as needed. For direct
etching using my inkjet setup( per volkan inkjet method )

Thanks for you ideas and suggestions,
-Lee

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Lee Studley" <indigo_red@...> 
wrote:
>
> Hi, I wanted to know your opinions on a good low cost or free 
>program
> to panelize/print accurate 1:1 panels of PCB layers for my diy pcbs.
> 
> I like to take the gerber outputs and organize to get all layers on 
>a
> single panel in different sections and flipped as needed. For direct
> etching using my inkjet setup( per volkan inkjet method )
> 

If your definition of low cost extends to $49, there's a very good 
Gerber editor called ViewMasterEZ available for download from the 
site:

http://Pentalogix.com 

To get a feel for using it, you may want to download and try out 
their free ViewMate Gerber viewer download.


On the free end of things, there's GerbMerge at this site:

http://claymore.engineer.gvsu.edu/~steriana/Python/gerbmerge

I haven't used this but it's apparently a popular package since it 
always seems to get mentioned whenever panelizing boards is discussed.



Regards, Bob

Thanks Bob,
That looks perfect. I just tried the free viewer and it feels good, 
so I'll get the $49 version. The only drawback is the node locking
license. I could see it if it were a $1K program. Not a show-stopper:-)
Thanks!  -Lee

> http://Pentalogix.com 
> 
> To get a feel for using it, you may want to download and try out 
> their free ViewMate Gerber viewer download.
>

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Lee Studley" <indigo_red@...> 
wrote:
>
> Thanks Bob,
> That looks perfect. I just tried the free viewer and it feels good, 
> so I'll get the $49 version. The only drawback is the node locking
> license. I could see it if it were a $1K program. Not a show-
>stopper:-)

Yeah, the only reason I can think of for using a node lock is that they 
wanted to maintain source code consistency with their higher-end 
products. (And their higher-end products *do* cost quite a bit more 
than $49.)


Regards, Bob