Homebrew PCBs

I've been talking with Terje at gerbView
http://www.softwarecompanions.com/gerbview.html

The program is great for viewing and exporting gerbers to DXF, but I
asked if He could add an option to
add DXF exports as DXF outlines with simplified entities. He is working
on it and very supportive.

this would make it a killer affordable application
for milling pcbs that are high density. I'm not interested in clearing
lots of copper isolation, just one pass
at outlining traces.

I do very fine SMT work for my protos for home and work and the only
other tool
the does this well is "ACE Translator 3000" at $750. They also take
forever just to authorize you to try a
and download a hidden demo.

If Gerbview is great as is for comparing and viewing gerbers and this
would put it over the top. Their support
is excellent also: I found an odd case where my work Mentor BoardStation
generated gerbers had rectangular
items skewed and he fixed it almost immediately and sent me an update.

please email them and add you support of this idea.
Terje at gerbView http://www.softwarecompanions.com/gerbview.h

-Lee Studley

Thank you for the recommendation.

I'm still looking for a good gerber viewer, so far all I tried had
problems with one file or the other (gerber has too many ways to do
the same thing).
The best so far is Viewplot, the user interface is crazy but it opens
most of the files correctly.

I'll check out gerbView tomorrow and let the group know if there were
any issues.
It's good to know the support is responsive, but I'm really not in the
market for banana software in this case and problems with certain
files would be a no-go. I need a viewer to double-check gerber files
before sending them out and I can't be spending time trying to find
out if the file is bad or the viewer.

ST

On Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 8:15 PM, studleylee <indigo_red@...> wrote:
> I've been talking with Terje at gerbView
> http://www.softwarecompanions.com/gerbview.html
>
> The program is great for viewing and exporting gerbers to DXF, but I
> asked if He could add an option to
> add DXF exports as DXF outlines with simplified entities. He is working
> on it and very supportive.
>
> this would make it a killer affordable application
> for milling pcbs that are high density. I'm not interested in clearing
> lots of copper isolation, just one pass
> at outlining traces.
>
> I do very fine SMT work for my protos for home and work and the only
> other tool
> the does this well is "ACE Translator 3000" at $750. They also take
> forever just to authorize you to try a
> and download a hidden demo.
>
> If Gerbview is great as is for comparing and viewing gerbers and this
> would put it over the top. Their support
> is excellent also: I found an odd case where my work Mentor BoardStation
> generated gerbers had rectangular
> items skewed and he fixed it almost immediately and sent me an update.
>
> please email them and add you support of this idea.
> Terje at gerbView http://www.softwarecompanions.com/gerbview.h
>
> -Lee Studley
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

FWIW I use GC-Prevue and find it is excellent (so far it has eaten everything I threw at it). 

Cheers
Dave

A second suggestion for GC-Preview.

Bertho

From:  David C. Partridge   Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 15:37



FWIW I use GC-Prevue and find it is excellent (so far it has eaten
everything I threw at it). 
Cheers
Dave



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Re: GerbView is awesome:

I've had http://www.pentalogix.com/viewmate-deluxe-p-650.html for a few years and
it has never let me down. Very fast too. To get the extra export features adds
to the cost, that's why I like GerbView. It( gerbview ) can slow down with over
10 layers.

-Lee Studley

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...> wrote:

>
> Thank you for the recommendation.
>
> I'm still looking for a good gerber viewer, so far all I tried had
> problems with one file or the other (gerber has too many ways to do
> the same thing).
> The best so far is Viewplot, the user interface is crazy but it opens
> most of the files correctly.
>

GerbView wouldn't correctly display some oval pads, making it a no-go.

GC-Preview would not install (some error about a database).

Viewmate did everything OK so far. I'll keep testing it to see if it
offers any advantage over viewplot.

Thanks

ST

On 15/08/2012 23:30, Boman33 wrote:
> A second suggestion for GC-Preview.

I've used GC-Prevue for years.

Leon
-- 
Leon Heller
G1HSM

ST,
Glad ViewMate worked. What are you using to gen the gerbers?

If you email Gervbiew an example file with an short explanation of the issue, they'll fix it fast, in my experience.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...> wrote:

>
> GerbView wouldn't correctly display some oval pads, making it a no-go.
> 
> GC-Preview would not install (some error about a database).
> 
> Viewmate did everything OK so far. I'll keep testing it to see if it
> offers any advantage over viewplot.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> ST
>

I used Pulsonix to make the files.

Yes I know they'll fix it, but I want no banana software for this
(that is software which ripens at the customer).
My purpose is to proof files, not to advance software development.

ST

On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 6:40 PM, studleylee <indigo_red@...> wrote:
> ST,
> Glad ViewMate worked. What are you using to gen the gerbers?
>
> If you email Gervbiew an example file with an short explanation of the issue, they'll fix it fast, in my experience.
>

At the same time I think if they do fix issues fast that's pretty good, most software companies seem to ignore everything but the worst issues!

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...> wrote:

>
> I used Pulsonix to make the files.
> 
> Yes I know they'll fix it, but I want no banana software for this
> (that is software which ripens at the customer).
> My purpose is to proof files, not to advance software development.
> 
> ST
> 
> On Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 6:40 PM, studleylee <indigo_red@...> wrote:
> > ST,
> > Glad ViewMate worked. What are you using to gen the gerbers?
> >
> > If you email Gervbiew an example file with an short explanation of the issue, they'll fix it fast, in my experience.
> >
>

I have been using Viewmate since 2002, so far it is easy and good...
Also tried protel, cam350, and altium, but Viewmate is easy to launch for
a lazy guy like me.

--- 12年8月16日，周四, Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...> 写道：


发件人: Stefan Trethan <stefan_trethan@...>
主题: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: GerbView is awesome:
收件人: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
日期: 2012年8月16日,周四,下午4:07



  



GerbView wouldn't correctly display some oval pads, making it a no-go.

GC-Preview would not install (some error about a database).

Viewmate did everything OK so far. I'll keep testing it to see if it
offers any advantage over viewplot.

Thanks

ST







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]