Hi Louis Sure I shall be glad to submit a Panelize how-to and sample files.
However I dont want to make a mistake which is duplicated by others when they follow the process. So that is the reason I asked for expert opinion here on- why the steps - > > * Edit the excellon (.drl) file > > (a) to remove code: G05 > > after first % and before T01 > > (b) to remove: T0 > > before the the M30, which is at the end of file. work for GerbMerge ? These steps "work", but I don't know why, and thus I fear I maybe messing up something the "standard" excellon format. GerbMerge , according to its author's website, is also a work in progress and thus may not work with Cad programs other than he has listed (Geda, Orcad, eagle). I luckily got it working for kicad gerber, but wanted to be sure if got it right. Anyway, if you just need the output panelized gerber's screenshot quickly let me know. I shall be sending the panel to pcb maker in few days due to a change in design. Ill update here if the pcb maker complains etc. Best Regards, Vivek --- In [email protected], "SuperLou23" <super...@...> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "fuzzyviv" <fuzzyviv@> wrote: > > > > Hi > > > > I was recently successful in panelizing KiCad output Board with other cad > > output boards in one panel by using GerbMerge. > > I am posting the steps I took to achieve this. > > > Hi Vivek, > > > > I've been working on a Kicad support site that I'm hoping to make a little > more public when I figure out if it would be useful at all. I was wondering > if you would be interested in submitting your panelizing work for the site. > Write now, the demo is running locally on my server (screenshot: > http://personal.stevens.edu/~lsimons/kicademy.png) since I don't want to step > on anyone's toes until I get some responses from the community. I believe a > more newcomer friendly support site would go a long way to increasing and > satisfying the userbase. > > I welcome any comments and suggestions. > > > > > (Had it been all KiCad boards, i would have used the append board option > > within KiCad.) > > > > In the process I found that the KiCad excellon drill file is not acceptable > > to either GerbMerge or Gerbv. > > ("Gerbv" shows excellon drill files, which kicad's internal Gerber Viewer > > (gerbview) does not show, i think. it is a feature request please.) > > > > Steps--- > > 1. Create Gerbers from KiCad. > > 2. Create Drill file with settings - > > # Drill Units: inches > > # Zeros Format: supress leading zeros > > # Precision: Either 2.3 or 2.4 > > # Drill Origine: Absolute > > # Drill Sheet: None > > # Mirror Y Axis: OFF > > # Minimal Header: ON Drill file from KiCad with following settings - > > (reference: http://forum.sparkfun.com/viewtopic.php?t=1980 ) > > > > - the .drl file produced by these settings is acceptable to gerbv, and > > shows out correctly, however editing this file is required for it to work > > with GerbMerge as follows. > > > > * Edit the excellon (.drl) file > > (a) to remove code: G05 > > after first % and before T01 > > (b) to remove: T0 > > before the the M30, which is at the end of file. > > > > Now all the KiCad files can be read by GerbMerge. > > > > --caution: I dont know if removing these codes harm the standard format. > > They "looked" ok to me after generation. > > Tool T0 was not defined so Gerbmerge did not like it. > > I dont know why Gerbmerge did not like G05. > > (can anybody explain both) ? > > > > Any pointers on this shall be helpful. Thank you. > > > > References: > > GerbMerge > > http://claymore.engineer.gvsu.edu/~steriana/Python/gerbmerge/ > > Gerbv > > http://gerbv.sourceforge.net/ > > > > Best Regards > > Vivek > > > > -- > > If bored watch my robot dance: > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqlawTD_9B0 > > > > > > Regards, > Louis >
