John, You have a very good point. I forgot all about the paste stencil. Although I had no intention of placing the logo in the middle of the board, I can see where a large un-solder masked area could cause problems. The solder mask could, I guess, peel at the edges. Ugly. Thanks for setting me straight. Also, I think I'll go for your first suggestion by putting it on the Top Overlay layer. Probably the lowest risk solution.
Thanks again, Richard. -----Original Message----- From: John Haddy [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: September 3, 2002 5:13 PM To: Protel EDA Forum Subject: Re: [PEDA] Company logo Oooh... bad idea! Any artifact on the Top Paste layer will result in an aperture opening on the paste stencil (assuming that the board will be reflow processed). Apart from the fact that you'd end up with solder paste on the board that isn't associated with a copper pad (so the solder would reflow and run to wherever it would be least convenient :-), an enclosed boundary such as you describe would cause the interior space of the stencil to drop out, since there would be no mechanical support for the interior! There are a few effective means of doing what you describe: 1/ put the logo on the Top Overlay layer, so that it will be printed (most commonly in white) along with the rest of the silkscreened overlay text; 2/ draw the logo in copper on the top layer (with a bare surrounding space) and then cover with soldermask. This will give a subtle result that'll still be legible. Beware of doing this if your board is for microwave use though! 3/ draw the logo in the soldermask. This can work but you need to be carefull to avoid placing any copper features (e.g. tracks) where the soldermask has been removed. This can especially be an issue during future revisions of the board, since the SolderMask layer may often not be visible while you're editing the copper traces, and it's easy to forget to go back and check! I would suggest adding a top layer keepout fill if you want to use this method. Cheers, John Haddy -----Original Message----- From: Richard Stevense [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, 4 September 2002 8:40 AM To: Protel EDA Users Group Subject: [PEDA] Company logo Hello all, I need to add a company logo (just the company name, nothing fancy) to the PCB I've layed out. I put the company name on the TopSolder mask layer and drew a fat trace, that surrounds the name, on the TopPaste layer. Has anyone tried this and does it create a nicely embossed effect on the PCB? I envision a light green name on a somewhat darker green background. One other thing, where can I find the BMPTOPCB.EXE programme? I've looked on the Yahoo Protel users group site and, of course, Protel.com does not carry it any more. Thank-you, Richard Stevense. Calgary, Alberta. ************************************************************************ * Tracking #: 3895F9EF1CA3254489BFDE802EAA4EEB4FCF807D * ************************************************************************ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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/proteledaforum@techservinc.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
