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Are these pdf track images not dense enough?

Are these pdf track images not dense enough?

2017-09-16 by chris@...

I had a kind guy in Germany offer to convert photos of three existing mint, populated PCB boards that are the same as three others in an obsolete power supply that have suffered damage over the years from repairs and lifted tracks. the pdf's looked great and were, when printed "actual size" absolutely spot on. But the images from the pdf whether on semi opaque "tracing" type paper or clear acetate sheet are not fully opaque, unlike some commercial ones that i found in my secondhand UV box when I bought it. I used an oldish HP B&W laser printer here at home, then sent the pdf files to a commercial printer who  used some sort of plotter to print to acetate, but still the tracks are only semi opaque, and when I expose photoresist board the pads and some tracks seem to have had patches exposed to some UV so they develop at different times to other regions. this the affects etching....

Could someone kindly look at the pdf's and say if it's an issue with the density of the black in them, as they sort of appear a bit greyish... I have etched boards in the past with photo resist and had no great issues, but these are being a pain! It may be nothing to do with the density of the tracks, it may be my techniques, but I thought i should start at the beginning as I am not sure just what magic he used to go from photos of the tracks on a populated board to pdfs. I can drill the finished boards on a mill with a DRO, all the components are leaded, save 2 small IC's that I will socket. I can use the DRO to perfect, accurate hole spacing for them. But first I need usable boards! The images in pdf form are at http://www.gatesgarth.com/traces.pdf  I am working with Page 4 the traces only, mirrored. I will try attaching, they may be too big.

Thanks you, I am new here and live in the UK, I have much to learn!


RE: [Homebrew_PCBs] Are these pdf track images not dense enough? [1 Attachment]

2017-09-18 by K5ESS

Chris,

Yes the black traces show a color of RGB = 31,30.33 when they should be 0,0,0 so they are not true black.  I’ll see if I can correct that for you with a photo editor.

Mike N.

 

From: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2017 15:53
To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Are these pdf track images not dense enough? [1 Attachment]

 

 

I had a kind guy in Germany offer to convert photos of three existing mint, populated PCB boards that are the same as three others in an obsolete power supply that have suffered damage over the years from repairs and lifted tracks. the pdf's looked great and were, when printed "actual size" absolutely spot on. But the images from the pdf whether on semi opaque "tracing" type paper or clear acetate sheet are not fully opaque, unlike some commercial ones that i found in my secondhand UV box when I bought it. I used an oldish HP B&W laser printer here at home, then sent the pdf files to a commercial printer who  used some sort of plotter to print to acetate, but still the tracks are only semi opaque, and when I expose photoresist board the pads and some tracks seem to have had patches exposed to some UV so they develop at different times to other regions. this the affects etching....

Could someone kindly look at the pdf's and say if it's an issue with the density of the black in them, as they sort of appear a bit greyish... I have etched boards in the past with photo resist and had no great issues, but these are being a pain! It may be nothing to do with the density of the tracks, it may be my techniques, but I thought i should start at the beginning as I am not sure just what magic he used to go from photos of the tracks on a populated board to pdfs. I can drill the finished boards on a mill with a DRO, all the components are leaded, save 2 small IC's that I will socket. I can use the DRO to perfect, accurate hole spacing for them. But first I need usable boards! The images in pdf form are at http://www.gatesgarth.com/traces.pdf  I am working with Page 4 the traces only, mirrored. I will try attaching, they may be too big.

Thanks you, I am new here and live in the UK, I have much to learn!

 

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Are these pdf track images not dense enough? [1 Attachment]

2017-09-18 by James

Black and White converted PDF, sizes is blown-out to 17MB because probably rasterisation or something...


[ sorry if that 17MB file just went out as an attachment on a previous message, I didn't notice the size until too late, but I think Yahoo will have rejected it anyway ]


On Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 9:53 AM, James <bitsyboffin@...> wrote:
Attached pdf with black and white only.




On Sun, Sep 17, 2017 at 8:52 AM, chris@... [Homebrew_PCBs] <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com > wrote:
 

I had a kind guy in Germany offer to convert photos of three existing mint, 




Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough?

2017-09-19 by chris@...

Wonderful, that looks perfect. Not saying this is the cause of my problems, but at least I now know the images are truly black. I have now managed to get a clear acetate sheet stuck in my laser printer! It's been one of those jobs <LOL> Once I get it out i will compare the images from your pdf's with the originals when actually printed. Sincerest thanks to you for doing this, and to everyone else who has replied, made excellent suggestions, and made images.

I would be curious as to HOW you altered the pdf, and what with, if you don't mind sharing this? My attempts have left images with poor resolution (jagged edges when blown to a larger scale).

Thanks again everyone, will report back once I clear the printer jam!

Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough? WHO is YOU

2017-09-19 by Rob

what looks perfect?
WHO is the YOUR PDF'S is it that you are talking about?
Please include a bit more of the original content when you reply to a message so we know what works.



On 09/19/2017 06:16 AM, chris@... [Homebrew_PCBs] wrote:
 

Wonderful, that looks perfect. Not saying this is the cause of my problems, but at least I now know the images are truly black. I have now managed to get a clear acetate sheet stuck in my laser printer! It's been one of those jobs <LOL> Once I get it out i will compare the images from your pdf's with the originals when actually printed. Sincerest thanks to you for doing this, and to everyone else who has replied, made excellent suggestions, and made images.

I would be curious as to HOW you altered the pdf, and what with, if you don't mind sharing this? My attempts have left images with poor resolution (jagged edges when blown to a larger scale).

Thanks again everyone, will report back once I clear the printer jam!


Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough?

2017-09-20 by James

> I would be curious as to HOW you altered the pdf, and what with, if you don't mind sharing this? My attempts have left images with poor resolution (jagged edges when blown to a larger scale). 

I used Imagemagick command line tool on my linux box...

  $  convert -density 600 traces.pdf -threshold 50% traces-bw.pdf





On Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 10:16 PM, chris@... [Homebrew_PCBs] <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 

Wonderful, that looks perfect. Not saying this is the cause of my problems, but at least I now know the images are truly black. I have now managed to get a clear acetate sheet stuck in my laser printer! It's been one of those jobs <LOL> Once I get it out i will compare the images from your pdf's with the originals when actually printed. Sincerest thanks to you for doing this, and to everyone else who has replied, made excellent suggestions, and made images.

I would be curious as to HOW you altered the pdf, and what with, if you don't mind sharing this? My attempts have left images with poor resolution (jagged edges when blown to a larger scale).

Thanks again everyone, will report back once I clear the printer jam!


Re[2]: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough?

2017-09-20 by Chris Wilson

Hello James,


Thanks for sharing the info James, Windows only here unless they do a
MS version? Thank you for the help, hopefully now I am set up to
receive mails and reply to them via e-mail proper quoting will result.
Before i was struggling with the forum web interface!

Wednesday, September 20, 2017




>> I would be curious as to HOW you altered the pdf, and what with, if
>> you don't mind sharing this? My attempts have left images with poor
>> resolution (jagged edges when blown to a larger scale). 



> I used Imagemagick command line tool on my linux box...


>   $  convert -density 600 traces.pdf -threshold 50% traces-bw.pdf



> On Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 10:16 PM, chris@...
> [Homebrew_PCBs] <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:


> Wonderful, that looks perfect. Not saying this is the cause of my
> problems, but at least I now know the images are truly black. I have
> now managed to get a clear acetate sheet stuck in my laser printer!
> It's been one of those jobs <LOL> Once I get it out i will compare
> the images from your pdf's with the originals when actually printed.
> Sincerest thanks to you for doing this, and to everyone else who has
> replied, made excellent suggestions, and made images.

> I would be curious as to HOW you altered the pdf, and what with, if
> you don't mind sharing this? My attempts have left images with poor
> resolution (jagged edges when blown to a larger scale).

> Thanks again everyone, will report back once I clear the printer jam!








--
Best regards,
Chris mailto:chris@...

Re: Re[2]: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough?

2017-09-20 by Donald H Locker

Imagemagick is available for Windows, no problem. <https://www.imagemagick.org/> for more information.

HTH,
Donald.

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Wilson chris@... [Homebrew_PCBs]" <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
> To: "James bitsyboffin@... [Homebrew_PCBs]" <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2017 6:43:05 AM
> Subject: Re[2]: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough?
>
> Hello James,
>
>
> Thanks for sharing the info James, Windows only here unless they do a
> MS version? Thank you for the help, hopefully now I am set up to
> receive mails and reply to them via e-mail proper quoting will result.
> Before i was struggling with the forum web interface!
>
> Wednesday, September 20, 2017
>
>
>
>
> >> I would be curious as to HOW you altered the pdf, and what with, if
> >> you don't mind sharing this? My attempts have left images with poor
> >> resolution (jagged edges when blown to a larger scale).
>
>
>
> > I used Imagemagick command line tool on my linux box...
>
>
> >   $  convert -density 600 traces.pdf -threshold 50% traces-bw.pdf
>
>
>
> > On Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 10:16 PM, chris@...
> > [Homebrew_PCBs] <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>
>
> > Wonderful, that looks perfect. Not saying this is the cause of my
> > problems, but at least I now know the images are truly black. I have
> > now managed to get a clear acetate sheet stuck in my laser printer!
> > It's been one of those jobs <LOL> Once I get it out i will compare
> > the images from your pdf's with the originals when actually printed.
> > Sincerest thanks to you for doing this, and to everyone else who has
> > replied, made excellent suggestions, and made images.
>
> > I would be curious as to HOW you altered the pdf, and what with, if
> > you don't mind sharing this? My attempts have left images with poor
> > resolution (jagged edges when blown to a larger scale).
>
> > Thanks again everyone, will report back once I clear the printer jam!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Chris mailto:chris@...
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
> Posted by: Chris Wilson <chris@...>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo Groups Links
>
>
>
>

Re[4]: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough?

2017-09-20 by Chris Wilson

Hello Donald,

Thanks for the link, I have downloaded this version, but may I please
just check this is the one to go for on Win 7 pro 64 bit, before i
press the install button? Thanks.

Win64 dynamic at 16 bits-per-pixel component with high dynamic-range imaging enabled



Wednesday, September 20, 2017



> Imagemagick is available for Windows, no problem.
> <https://www.imagemagick.org/> for more information.
>
> HTH,
> Donald.






--
Best regards,
Chris mailto:chris@...

Re: Re[4]: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough?

2017-09-20 by Donald H Locker

It depends on which Windows OS you have and what the specific pdf format is.
You'll have to do a bit of experimenting for the answer to the latter question. (Make a backup of your original pdf first!)

Donald.

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Chris Wilson chris@... [Homebrew_PCBs]" <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
> To: "Donald H Locker dhlocker@... [Homebrew_PCBs]" <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, September 20, 2017 8:14:41 AM
> Subject: Re[4]: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Are these pdf track images not dense enough?
>
> Hello Donald,
>
> Thanks for the link, I have downloaded this version, but may I please
> just check this is the one to go for on Win 7 pro 64 bit, before i
> press the install button? Thanks.
>
> Win64 dynamic at 16 bits-per-pixel component with high dynamic-range imaging
> enabled
>
>
>
> Wednesday, September 20, 2017
>
>
>
> > Imagemagick is available for Windows, no problem.
> > <https://www.imagemagick.org/> for more information.
> >
> > HTH,
> > Donald.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Chris mailto:chris@...
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
> Posted by: Chris Wilson <chris@...>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo Groups Links
>
>
>
>