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Can you help me to use Gerber tool ?

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boss492

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gerber layer mapping

Hi,

Can you help me to use Gerber tool??? Some one know some think about it???

Thank you for your reply
 

gerbertool merge

Ok thank you for your reply,

My problem with the import of file, I have some design with hfss I would obtain the layout using GerbTool so I import the file from hfss (*.dxf) and I try to export it under GerbTool but I don’t obtain the desired layout (it give me only the substrate and the ground plane only but not the structure on the top) so there is some technique to apply to have the desired layout??

Thank you for your reply,
 

gerbtool layer to raster

Each layer contained within the DXF file can be mapped to one or more GerbTool layers. This flexibility allows for duplicating information onto multiple layers when, for instance, a pad master layer is used which needs to be merged onto each layer containing traces. Likewise, more than one DXF layer may be mapped to a single GerbTool layer. Layers may also be mapped by color so that items of the same color are merged together onto a single GerbTool layer. This feature can be useful for viewing DXF files containing many colors or items which do not share the same color as the DXF layer in which they appear.

To import a DXF file:

If you plan to use the "Map by Color" option, make sure the Max Layers setting in the General Configuration Options is set high enough to allow for the number of colors expected; otherwise all items of the colors that exceed the number of layers this will appear on the last (highest-numbered) GerbTool layer. Many drawings use only colors in the range of 1 through 9; however, valid colors can be of any value in the range of 1 through 255.

Select the File|Import|DXF command. The Import DXF dialog box appears.

Click the Browse button next to the Input File box to select the DXF file to import.

The import function produces a report file, which contains a summary of the DXF file. Enter a name for the .rpt file in the Report File box. By default, the report is saved in the Samples folder. Click the browse button to select a different folder.

Click the Browse button next to the Font Directory box to specify the directory in which SHX font and shape files are to be found. Standard SHX font files and SHX Unifont files are supported both for text and shape entities. If text within the DXF file refers to a font that is not present on your system, or the font file is of an unrecognized type, a standard font will be used in its place.

The Source DXF Layers list shows the layers within the DXF file that you can map to zero or more Destination Layers in GerbTool. To map the layers, click and drag the source layers onto the desired Destination Layers. Multiple DXF layers can map to a single GerbTool layer. Also, a single DXF layer can map to multiple GerbTool layers.

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Click the Map All To Current button to automatically map all DXF layers to the currently active layer. The current layer that you are working on in the workspace. The currently active layer is displayed in the Layer Bar. This is required if no layer table exists in the DXF file.

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Click the Map Sequentially button to display a dialog box that allows you to sequentially map DXF layers to GerbTool layers. You first specify the initial destination layer, and are given the option to exclude DXF layer 0 from the mapping.

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Click the Map By Color option to have DXF file items mapped onto GerbTool layers based on color. Items of color 1 (red) will appear on GerbTool layer 1, those of color 2 (yellow) appear on GerbTool layer 2, and so on.

The Clear Map button can be used if you want to remove all the mapping currently defined, and start over.

Specify the scale factor used during merging. To keep your data the same size as is set in your DXF file, keep the default scale factor of "1".

Specify the Line Width, in inches, to use for zero-width lines. The default width is 0.01 inches. Zero-width, closed polylines create filled polygons in GerbTool.

Select the Place At Origin option if you wish to have the lower-left corner of the DXF design placed at the origin.

Select the Clear Merge Layer if you wish to empty all destination layers prior to receiving DXF information.

If you select Create Apertures, apertures for drawing lines are created when an equivalent aperture does not already exist in the currently loaded database (if there is one). The size of the new aperture is obtained from the DXF feature data. If this option is not selected, the next smaller existing aperture is used. If a next smaller aperture does not exist, then the smallest is used. If you do not select this option, no apertures already exist, and no block mapping is performed (see step 16), then all data are imported as zero-width lines, and assigned a round aperture of the size specified in the Line Width box.

Select Fill Polygons to convert DXF polygons to raster-filled polygons. Otherwise, the polygons will not be filled.

Warning: If you plan to export your files in 274-D format, do not select the Fill Polygons option. Raster filling is not supported in 274-D.

Select Metric to indicate that the coordinates in the DXF file are in millimeters. Do not select this option if coordinates are in inches.

For the Polylines To Draws options, select All to have your polylines converted to draws; select None to convert them to raster-filled polygons; or select If Width Less Than and specify a width limit (polylines with smaller widths are converted to draws, larger widths are converted to raster-filled polygons).

For the Circles Less Than option, circles smaller than the specified amount will be translated as round flashes. Circles larger than this amount will be treated as circular draws. Set the amount as desired.

The Map Blocks function is only used if two conditions apply: You already have another database loaded that contains aperture information, and the DXF file you are importing was originally produced by GerbTool. If both of these conditions do not apply to you, just click the OK button, and your data are imported. You are finished.

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If you have aperture information already loaded in GerbTool, and your DXF file was originally produced by GerbTool, click the Map Blocks button. The Map DXF Blocks dialog box appears, which allows you to map blocks in the DXF file to apertures in the currently loaded database.

When GerbTool exports DXF data, it names its blocks in a manner that identifies the D-code number, shape, and size of each aperture. If you wish to map each aperture by D-code number to the existing apertures, click the Auto Map button. After the D-codes are mapped, if you click on a Source DXF Block, its corresponding Destination D-code will also be highlighted. If you wish to change any assignment, click on the Source DXF Block in question, then click on the Destination D-code you wish to map it to.

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To manually map each block to its destination, first click on the desired Source DXF Block. Then click on its corresponding Destination D-code. After the D-codes are mapped, if you click on a Source DXF Block, its corresponding Destination D-code is also highlighted. If you wish to change any assignment, click on the Source DXF Block in question, then click on the Destination D-code you wish to map it to.

If you wish to remove all mapping assignments at any time, click the Clear Map button.

Click the OK to return to the Import DXF dialog box.

Click OK to finish importing your DXF file.
 

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