Numerical Innovations - Help Center

Thanks for sending the sample file. 

IMPORTANT: Please keep in mind when designing PCB's in AutoCAD, that AutoCAD wasn't specifically made for PCB layouts, so there is no perfect 1:1 relationship when converting AutoCAD entities out to gerber objects. You will need to tell EasyGerb how to output your AutoCAD entities (like circles) or you will need change how you draw your layout entities in AutoCAD. 

1. If you draw a Circle in AutoCAD, you may want it to be outputted in gerber several different ways depending on the layer it is on: 

*For example:* If the circle is on a metal layer, most likely you will want the circle to represents a filled "Pad". In this case you will want to output the circles as Flashes. So in this case you will check the EasyGerb layer option "Flash Round & Donut Pads". 

*For example:* If the circle is on a SilkScreen Layer, you only want the outline of the circle drawn (with a default line width) - in this case you would uncheck the layer options "Flash Round & Donut Pads" and "Fill Closed Boundaries". 

Note: If the circle is on a drill layer, you will want to check the option "Flash Round & Donut Pads" and "Export Drill File" so that EasyGerb flashes the pads and also outputs a Drill file. 


OR 


2. On the silkscreen layer draw those circles as an AutoCAD donut (use AutoCAD command "Donut"). This way you can assign the circle OD and ID (and do not have to worry much about which EasyGerb layer option you choose). I notice in your AutoCAD drawing - on your metal layers that you use a filled circle but then on the silkscreen layer you use a 0-width circle (I recommend that you use Donut so you can also assign the line widths). The same holds true for the Rectangles used to outline your components (instead of using a 0-width line, make it a closed Polyline with Width). This way you can see exactly how your silkscreen will appear in AutoCAD and EasyGerb will know exactly what you require. 

After a few successful conversions it will become much easier to understand the relationship between what AutoCAD entities you choose to draw your layout with, and what EasyGerb options are available to control the AutoCAD entity results when exporting to gerber. 

I have attached a sample movie showing how output your Gerber files (based on the entities that you have chosen to layout EasyGerb). 
http://screencast.com/t/gqrHmD1UomC 

Conversion Notes: Hatches are for visual reference only and not processed by EasyGerb. I used "Fill Closed Boundaries" on your metal and mask layers because you had several non-conventional pads which need to be filled. On the silkscreen layer the large rectangles using for S/N, Date, would work best if you used a polyline with width to draw it (instead of drawing with a 0-width polyline outline, and then assigning hatch).