--- In [email protected], "apluscw" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > OK guys, that's enough off topic discussion. Please close this thread. > > > > May we please continue converstations related to PCB-pool and other > vendors?
I think Ian was not really referring to the subject of the thread insofar as it is related to the production of our KiCAD boards. He did speciffically refer to the off topic discussion, i.e. the metaphysical sub thread. I think transatlantic culture is also a bit OT. Going back on topic I would say that I have recently subjected a board to PCB POOL using GC-Prevue. I used to think that it was somehow more reliable to submit boards using native board formats, as I have done in the past. But after using GC-Prevue I am not so sure. GC-Prevue lets you build up your board in Gerber layers and overlay the drill format. You see the whole board together along with the names you assign to each layer. This is the form the CAM operator will be using to lay up the panels, so you see exactly what you will be getting. I did have some problems with offsets, the drill table was misalligned with photoplots, but I replotted everything using a secondry axis and it came out fine. This supprised me, I should have thought the absolute axis would have been the "reliable" one! I suppose in the long term it would be nice if all this could be done in KiCAD's built in Gerber viewer and that this could present a single file packet for PCB vendors to use, but in the meantime all I can say is that it worked fine for me.
