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Provide Complete Gerber Data to Avoid Delays and Other Hassles

Your printed circuit board manufacturer wants to get it right. But the reality is, particularly with quick-turn orders, they won't have much time to interpret your files and count on you to provide the needed files, complete and unabmiguous, via some online means. Even if your manufacturer processes new orderby by hand getting them everything they need on the first go-round can save hours at minimum, and very costly rework in some cases.

This page helps make sure you have the basics covered -- it will even generate a nice little PDF for you to download (button at the bottom of the page) and include with your order just to make sure everything is clearly stated.

Contact Information:

Technical Contact:

Billing Contact:

Backup Contact:

General Board Characteristics:

Some extra information that isn't (shouldn't be) included in your Gerber files:

Finished board thickness:
Color of Solder mask to be used:
Color of the printing (aka. silk or nomenclature):
Copper thickness for outer layers (often specified in ounces per square foot):
Copper thickness for inner layers:
Core material to use:
The addition of theiving (extra copper to improve overall plating) by the manufacturer is allowed.

Provide the Needed Gerber or CAD Files:

Some manufacturing steps require "pictures" of the material (copper, ink or solder mask) as it should appear in the final product. The imagery can be supplied as Gerber files which are supported by the broadest range of manufactureers, or by providing native CAD files.

Double-check Gerber Files:

If any information needed to build your PCBs is missing, or if information is not consistent, your order will probably be delayed and may be incorrectly constructed. Go over your files to be sure that everything is consistent, including:

Titleblocks, instructions and other such extra content has been removed from gerber files.
Netlist file matches the gerber files (same P/N, same version, etc.).
No redundant files are included. For example, if Gerber and Excellon files are included there is no need for CAD, ODB++ files, PDFs or pictures unless they serve a different purpose.
The board ouline is specified only once (hopefully in a separate file). If the outline appears in multiple files such as layer or detail drawings, be sure they are consistent in shape and dimensions.
All version numbers in file content or in file names are consistent with the version number for the purchase order.

Drill and Outline File Checks:

Drilling holes is a mechanical operation that requires information not traditionally specified in Gerber files. The most common format for specifying hole locations and sizes is Excellon format. Check your files to be sure that:

Hole sizes are specified per the manufacturers requirements (drill file includes tool sizes)
Smallest and Largest hole sizes are within manufacturer's capabilities
All hole sizes match manufacturer's capabilities where only a fixed set drill sizes are available
Plated and non-plated holes are sepatarated by file
Route-paths for slots and cutouts (if provided) are specified in a separate file (perhaps with the outline)

Design for Manufacturability:

Following some simple rules in your design can help lower your costs and your manufacturers yeild. Here are a few basic ones:

Use traces as wide as is reasonable. Shoot for 6 mil (0.006") traces for economical manufacturing.
Maintain 10 mil (0.010") spaces between traces and other features for the most economical manufacturing
Keep "webs" of solder mask between pads to at least 4 mil (0.004") thickness
Avoid making copper shapes that are concave (watch joints between traces and rectangular pads)
Keep all features at least 30 mils from the edge of the board (except pads for edge connections)
Avoid drawing silkscreen on pads. Pre-clipping your silkscreen layers to the soldermask layer helps avoid delays and prevents issues with testing and assembly of the board.

This is just a partial list of things to consider. If you have suggestions for generally appropriate items that should go on this list, please send us an email and we'll consider adding them.

or download as plain text or PDF

Thanks to all the manufacturers that have provided feedback and suggestions for this list, including: Matthew Kesling of FTG Circuits Inc. If you have suggestions for helpful hints for this list, please send them our way.