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geda:faq-pcb

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pcb FAQ

What is pcb ?

“pcb” is software to help you draw (“lay out”) the wires for a custom “printed wire board” (“PCB”).

How do I install pcb?

How many layers does PCB support?

“Out-of-the-box”, pcb supports 16 copper layers. It has been patched by some users to support more, however.

Is it true that pcb has no way to make a "mechanical layer" to show the physical outline of the board and its dimensions ?

No. Lines on a layer with layer name outline will be interpreted as physical edges of the board. Also see this note in the more comprehensive PCB tips

How do I design a PCB?

This is well beyond the scope of this FAQ. There are a few tips at

Yes, but how do I design a PCB with pcb?

Generally, you start with a schematic, run gsch2pcb to generate the netlist. See FAQ-gsch2pcb. Then you might go through the gsch2pcb tutorial

Then you … Hey, did you know about the PCB manual, the PCB tips, and the PCB-quick reference?

What about footprints?

See PCB footprints.

There are also some unofficial gEDA footprints at Open Circuits http://opencircuits.com/PCB_Footprints.

I had a hard time to find info on pcb due its ambigous name. Why don't you rename the app?

The application is a fairly old project, with roots way back in the era of Atari home computers. Its name has always been “pcb”. The current developers have no intention to break that tradition.

Is there any relation between the gEDA PCB and the opencircuitdesign PCB?

geda/faq-pcb.1357847130.txt.gz · Last modified: 2013/01/10 14:45 by ptay