But other then that it works just fine. I most > heartedly suggest > that all design, checking and editing be absolutely complete before you > merge boards because after merging editing or DRC checking and other > operations can become very complex because of unrouted nets > between boards, > duplicate designators and the likes. Keep your original singular boards to > work on for future editing, keep the merged boards as a separate panelized > file, edit only the original singular boards when editing is required. > The problem with merging boards which contain differing or split > planes is very much more complex. Basically it probably shouldn't be > attempted unless you are quite experienced or the boards are absolutely > identical. For this very reason I usually use Mid-layers rather then Plane > layers and I draw my planes as polygons. This is much more conducive to > merging multiple boards into a panel. It also gets you around some of the > limitations/bugs associated with "Planes" not being DRC'ed > properly for all > possible errors. >
Brad, I agree save your orig file after you run drcs, then create a new file to panelize. So how difficult is it to toggle thru the plane layers, view them and reconnect planes? Not hard at all maybe two or three keystrokes. I don't see it as a problem. Sure its not perfect but panelizing would be hard to implement to satisfy everyone's idea of how it should work especially when you expect drcs to work also. The point is you can do it accurately, and it really isn't that much of a hassle. The other option is to use Camtastic, I never use pours on mid layers because most of the board houses I have experience with, not only frown upon it, I had one refuse to fabricate the board because it compromised their lamination process. Mike Reagan EDSI * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
