Numerical Innovations - Help Center

I have been using EasyGerb for years, and years. I have always been a big advocate of your product since I think working in AutoCad and converting to Gerber is the best way to work for the most part.  However I just got burned using EasyGerb. I converted a Silkscreen that used the Font Verdana. I didn't notice that the "&" symbol disappeared and sent out product missing that symbol. When I did some testing the "&" symbol converts perfectly fine with other True Type Fonts but always is just missing from Verdana. There is also an issue with converting the %. Is there a fix for this?

We're happy to know that you've been successfully using EasyGerb for so many years.

Why did it occur?
Occasionally some TrueType font glyph definitions will not be correctly ordered for each character as defined by the TrueType font specifications (i.e. Outermost glyph boundary is first defined as CW direction, followed by islands/holes in CCW direction); and that will cause irregular output when EasyGerb processes the TrueType font.  I'm almost positive the '&' symbol (for Verdana font) had an incorrect order or CCW direction.

If you wish to be successful with EasyGerb you must keep the design simple - as stated in our AutoCAD to Gerber conversion guidelines:

http://www.numericalinnovations.com/pages/dxf-dwg-conversion-secrets-for-gerber-gds-ii-odb-etc

Important: EasyGerb offers an easy convenience for AutoCAD users to convert AutoCAD entities to Gerber, and the resulting files are very optimized (with Circular Interpolation for arcs, Step/Repeat Codes with MInseted blocks, and more).  If you cannot simplify your AutoCAD drawings (i.e. use more generic fonts, close any open boundaries, etc.) or if you're using customer generated AutoCAD files; than we would recommend FAB 3000 which has a very powerful DXF & DWG import.   FAB 3000 has tools to "join" open boundaries; "de-embed" to automatically determine object polarity (i.e dark or clear- so you don't need to place objects into separate layers), and much more.  For more information about FAB 3000 please visit:

http://www.numericalinnovations.com/collections/fab-3000-gerber-cam

Thanks.

Simon