ExpressPCB to Gerber file converter?

L

Leland C. Scott

Guest
Does anybody have or know where to get a utility to convert from ExpressPCB
file format to a standard Gerber file? If not any info on the file format
itself?


--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"The most reliable components are
the ones you leave out."

By Gordon Bell, father of the
minicomputer at DEC.
 
"Leland C. Scott" <kc8ldo@arrl.net> wrote in message
news:JLWdnYFglb9gdK7XnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
Does anybody have or know where to get a utility to convert from
ExpressPCB file format to a standard Gerber file? If not any info on the
file format itself?

Yup. You can pay Express PCB for the file. (No utility) $75 the last time I
Click to expand...
bought one.

W4ZCB
 
"Harold E. Johnson" <W4ZCB@mchsi.com> wrote in message
news:INSYl.740928$yE1.253509@attbi_s21...
"Leland C. Scott" <kc8ldo@arrl.net> wrote in message
news:JLWdnYFglb9gdK7XnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
Does anybody have or know where to get a utility to convert from
ExpressPCB file format to a standard Gerber file? If not any info on the
file format itself?

Yup. You can pay Express PCB for the file. (No utility) $75 the last time
I bought one.
Click to expand...
That's not going to happen. I know I can get some reverse engineering
software that will import the layout as a graphic then trace over it using
the PCB layout software to generate standard Gerber files. I'm looking for
something easy and I'm not paying them $75 a pop for each small board to
convert.

I also found out there maybe some utilities out, still looking, there that
can convert from an exported PDF, or EPS file, to a Gerber format too.
Getting a PDF printer driver is easy. Use the driver when printing out a
copy of the board layout.

--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"Brilliance is typically the act of an
individual, but incredible stupidity
can usually be traced to an
organization."

Jon Bentley
 
On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:36:40 -0400, Leland C. Scott wrote:

"Harold E. Johnson" <W4ZCB@mchsi.com> wrote in message
news:INSYl.740928$yE1.253509@attbi_s21...

"Leland C. Scott" <kc8ldo@arrl.net> wrote in message
news:JLWdnYFglb9gdK7XnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
Does anybody have or know where to get a utility to convert from
ExpressPCB file format to a standard Gerber file? If not any info on
the file format itself?

Yup. You can pay Express PCB for the file. (No utility) $75 the last
time I bought one.

That's not going to happen. I know I can get some reverse engineering
software that will import the layout as a graphic then trace over it
using the PCB layout software to generate standard Gerber files. I'm
looking for something easy and I'm not paying them $75 a pop for each
small board to convert.

I also found out there maybe some utilities out, still looking, there
that can convert from an exported PDF, or EPS file, to a Gerber format
too. Getting a PDF printer driver is easy. Use the driver when printing
out a copy of the board layout.
Click to expand...
Reverse the "Express" and the "PCB" and you'll find a really nice little
company that will take Gerber files and make boards for you. Eagle PCB
is free for small two-layer boards, includes schematic capture, and works
well once you get your brain wrapped around their way of doing things.

http://www.pcbexpress.com/

--
http://www.wescottdesign.com
 
On 13 June, 20:36, "Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote:
"Harold E. Johnson" <W4...@mchsi.com> wrote in messagenews:INSYl.740928$yE1.253509@attbi_s21...



"Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote in message
news:JLWdnYFglb9gdK7XnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
Does anybody have or know where to get a utility to convert from
ExpressPCB file format to a standard Gerber file? If not any info on the
file format itself?

Yup. You can pay Express PCB for the file. (No utility) $75 the last time
I bought one.

That's not going to happen. I know I can get some reverse engineering
software that will import the layout as a graphic then trace over it using
the PCB layout software to generate standard Gerber files. I'm looking for
something easy and I'm not paying them $75 a pop for each small board to
convert.

I also found out there maybe some utilities out, still looking, there that
can convert from an exported PDF, or EPS file, to a Gerber format too.
Getting a PDF printer driver is easy. Use the driver when printing out a
copy of the board layout.

--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"Brilliance is typically the act of an
individual, but incredible stupidity
can usually be traced to an
organization."

Jon Bentley
Click to expand...
Use Advanced Circuits. Their PCB Artist software is much better than
Express PCB's (it's actually a special version of Easy-PC) and you get
the Gerbers free with a second order for the same board, IIRC.

Leon
 
"Leon" <leon355@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:a3dcb9c9-811e-486a-8c74-d0791c8c4e0f@y10g2000prc.googlegroups.com...
On 13 June, 20:36, "Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote:
"Harold E. Johnson" <W4...@mchsi.com> wrote in
messagenews:INSYl.740928$yE1.253509@attbi_s21...



"Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote in message
news:JLWdnYFglb9gdK7XnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
Does anybody have or know where to get a utility to convert from
ExpressPCB file format to a standard Gerber file? If not any info on
the
file format itself?

Yup. You can pay Express PCB for the file. (No utility) $75 the last
time
I bought one.

That's not going to happen. I know I can get some reverse engineering
software that will import the layout as a graphic then trace over it
using
the PCB layout software to generate standard Gerber files. I'm looking
for
something easy and I'm not paying them $75 a pop for each small board to
convert.

I also found out there maybe some utilities out, still looking, there
that
can convert from an exported PDF, or EPS file, to a Gerber format too.
Getting a PDF printer driver is easy. Use the driver when printing out a
copy of the board layout.

--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"Brilliance is typically the act of an
individual, but incredible stupidity
can usually be traced to an
organization."

Jon Bentley

Use Advanced Circuits. Their PCB Artist software is much better than
Express PCB's (it's actually a special version of Easy-PC) and you get
the Gerbers free with a second order for the same board, IIRC.

Leon
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advise.


--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"The most reliable components are
the ones you leave out."

By Gordon Bell, father of the
minicomputer at DEC.
 
"Tim Wescott" <tim@seemywebsite.com> wrote in message
news:h-KdncQ1TbGa_qnXnZ2dnUVZ_ohi4p2d@web-ster.com...
On Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:36:40 -0400, Leland C. Scott wrote:

"Harold E. Johnson" <W4ZCB@mchsi.com> wrote in message
news:INSYl.740928$yE1.253509@attbi_s21...

"Leland C. Scott" <kc8ldo@arrl.net> wrote in message
news:JLWdnYFglb9gdK7XnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
Does anybody have or know where to get a utility to convert from
ExpressPCB file format to a standard Gerber file? If not any info on
the file format itself?

Yup. You can pay Express PCB for the file. (No utility) $75 the last
time I bought one.

That's not going to happen. I know I can get some reverse engineering
software that will import the layout as a graphic then trace over it
using the PCB layout software to generate standard Gerber files. I'm
looking for something easy and I'm not paying them $75 a pop for each
small board to convert.

I also found out there maybe some utilities out, still looking, there
that can convert from an exported PDF, or EPS file, to a Gerber format
too. Getting a PDF printer driver is easy. Use the driver when printing
out a copy of the board layout.

Reverse the "Express" and the "PCB" and you'll find a really nice little
company that will take Gerber files and make boards for you. Eagle PCB
is free for small two-layer boards, includes schematic capture, and works
well once you get your brain wrapped around their way of doing things.

http://www.pcbexpress.com/

--
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Click to expand...
I'm going to check them out. I do some small one-off PCB's to test some
ideas out. I would like to have the Gerber files when I'm done in case I
want to incorporate it in a larger design.


--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"The most reliable components are
the ones you leave out."

By Gordon Bell, father of the
minicomputer at DEC.
 
Great. Thanks for the input. One other thing. I have a buddy who was looking
for a free Gerber editor for making minor artwork changes. He had some
boards done outside and needs to make some changes to fix a few boo-boos
when he did the design. You know of any? He only has Windows. I run Windows
and Linux so either would work. I could make the changes for him.

--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"The most reliable components are
the ones you leave out."

By Gordon Bell, father of the
minicomputer at DEC.



"K7ITM" <k7itm@msn.com> wrote in message
news:1d7c600d-08b1-46dd-baeb-c2acc11634f2@g15g2000pra.googlegroups.com...
On Jun 13, 12:36 pm, "Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote:
"Harold E. Johnson" <W4...@mchsi.com> wrote in
messagenews:INSYl.740928$yE1.253509@attbi_s21...



"Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote in message
news:JLWdnYFglb9gdK7XnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
Does anybody have or know where to get a utility to convert from
ExpressPCB file format to a standard Gerber file? If not any info on
the
file format itself?

Yup. You can pay Express PCB for the file. (No utility) $75 the last
time
I bought one.

That's not going to happen. I know I can get some reverse engineering
software that will import the layout as a graphic then trace over it using
the PCB layout software to generate standard Gerber files. I'm looking for
something easy and I'm not paying them $75 a pop for each small board to
convert.

I also found out there maybe some utilities out, still looking, there that
can convert from an exported PDF, or EPS file, to a Gerber format too.
Getting a PDF printer driver is easy. Use the driver when printing out a
copy of the board layout.

--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"Brilliance is typically the act of an
individual, but incredible stupidity
can usually be traced to an
organization."

Jon Bentley
Click to expand...
FWIW, I've been using FreePCB for layouts the past year or so, and
find it's pretty well documented and easy to use. It produces
Gerbers, and of course you already know that once you have those, you
can find lots of different places to order boards, some faster than
others, some cheaper than others. I do end up having to build
footprints for FreePCB fairly often, but even that's not too bad, and
once built, I have them for the future.

Cheers,
Tom
 
Tim Wescott
Reverse the "Express" and the "PCB" and you'll find a really nice
little company that will take Gerber files and make boards for you.
Eagle PCB is free for small two-layer boards, includes
schematic capture, and works well
once you get your brain wrapped around their way of doing things.

Leland C. Scott wrote:
I'm going to check them out. I do some small one-off PCB's
to test some ideas out. I would like to have the Gerber files
when I'm done in case I want to incorporate it in a larger design.
Click to expand...
When someone gets hot to trot for the Cadsoft product,
I like to remind him that he may find the same situation:
*His* work product tied up in **their** proprietary format:

The Downside of EAGLE aka ''The EAGLE virus'' by Markus Zingg
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.arch.embedded/browse_frm/thread/f794e82d26b59e18/d7cf4149edb93ac7?q=*-*-website+reuse+paying.*+*-I-will-switch+cracked-*+*.would.not.help.*+zzz+after-*-*-version-*+copied+*.*.unlock.*.designs+*-*-*-*-exchange-*-*-*-*-third-party+reused+qq+*-*-single-bit-*-*-*-*+useless+*-*-*-projects-could-no-longer-be-opened
 
On Jun 15, 9:06 pm, "Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote:
Great. Thanks for the input. One other thing. I have a buddy who was looking
for a free Gerber editor for making minor artwork changes. He had some
boards done outside and needs to make some changes to fix a few boo-boos
when he did the design. You know of any? He only has Windows. I run Windows
and Linux so either would work. I could make the changes for him.
Click to expand...

....
Well, I'm using ViewMate from PentaLogix. I don't do anything very
complex with it, basically just view my FreePCB outputs to make sure
everything is OK. I also use it to print the Gerbers for assembly
documentation and to make my own boards at home--I like the immediacy
of being able to make a board in an hour or two. ViewMate's free...
BUT it won't let you save changes. You have to spring for the upgrade
to ViewMaster EZ for $50 to be able to save (and do some other
things). There may be free solutions, but since ViewMate does what I
need, I haven't gone looking for them.

For fixing boo-boos, I'd a lot rather go back to the PC design program
and make the changes there, rather than hand-editing Gerbers, but I
suppose there are good reasons to modify the Gerbers directly. I do
recall some hassles trying to get my layout program do what I wanted
with a solder mask recently, and was really tempted to try to modify
the Gerbers!

Cheers,
Tom
 
Tom;

I understand your points. My buddy does not have access to the software that
was used for the layout. That's why he wanted the Gerber editor.

What I have found so far is a free (GPL'd) Gerber file viewer, no editor.

http://gerbv.sourceforge.net/

There are both Windows and Linux versions available for down load. It has a
few bugs but so far as a viewer it works remarkably well.

--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"Brilliance is typically the act of an
individual, but incredible stupidity
can usually be traced to an
organization."

Jon Bentley

"K7ITM" <k7itm@msn.com> wrote in message
news:4cb8be89-5209-4c67-be77-65015d644d63@w40g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
On Jun 15, 9:06 pm, "Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote:
Great. Thanks for the input. One other thing. I have a buddy who was
looking
for a free Gerber editor for making minor artwork changes. He had some
boards done outside and needs to make some changes to fix a few boo-boos
when he did the design. You know of any? He only has Windows. I run
Windows
and Linux so either would work. I could make the changes for him.
Click to expand...

....
Well, I'm using ViewMate from PentaLogix. I don't do anything very
complex with it, basically just view my FreePCB outputs to make sure
everything is OK. I also use it to print the Gerbers for assembly
documentation and to make my own boards at home--I like the immediacy
of being able to make a board in an hour or two. ViewMate's free...
BUT it won't let you save changes. You have to spring for the upgrade
to ViewMaster EZ for $50 to be able to save (and do some other
things). There may be free solutions, but since ViewMate does what I
need, I haven't gone looking for them.

For fixing boo-boos, I'd a lot rather go back to the PC design program
and make the changes there, rather than hand-editing Gerbers, but I
suppose there are good reasons to modify the Gerbers directly. I do
recall some hassles trying to get my layout program do what I wanted
with a solder mask recently, and was really tempted to try to modify
the Gerbers!

Cheers,
Tom
 
"JeffM" <jeffm_@email.com> wrote in message
news:9f6d3303-beb7-4aba-8c82-9caaaa662c36@x5g2000yqk.googlegroups.com...
When someone gets hot to trot for the Cadsoft product,
I like to remind him that he may find the same situation:
*His* work product tied up in **their** proprietary format:
Click to expand...
Boo! Hiss! Kick the dog. Well the dog isn't to blame , maybe not a good idea
to kick it.

Check this out.

http://gerbv.sourceforge.net/

http://pcb.gpleda.org/news.html#20090202

http://www.gpleda.org/index.html

I haven't tried out most of these tools. It would be interesting to get
somebody's comments who has used them for a project.


--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"Brilliance is typically the act of an
individual, but incredible stupidity
can usually be traced to an
organization."

Jon Bentley
 
What I have found so far is a free (GPL'd) Gerber file viewer, no editor.
Click to expand...
How much editing do you want to do?

Gerber files are just text. You can edit with a normal text editor.
As long as you have a good viewer you can see if your edits did what
you want.

--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.
 
On 16 June, 05:06, "Leland C. Scott" <kc8...@arrl.net> wrote:
Great. Thanks for the input. One other thing. I have a buddy who was looking
for a free Gerber editor for making minor artwork changes. He had some
boards done outside and needs to make some changes to fix a few boo-boos
when he did the design. You know of any? He only has Windows. I run Windows
and Linux so either would work. I could make the changes for him.
Click to expand...
The Pulsonix software I use has can import Gerber files and edit them,
but it isn't free.

Leon
 
Hal;

May have to reroute a few traces that cross a significant length of the
board to fix some design errors. I haven't looked at the raw Gerber files to
see how easy doing the editing by hand word be to do.


--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"The most reliable components are
the ones you leave out."

By Gordon Bell, father of the
minicomputer at DEC.

"Hal Murray" <hal-usenet@ip-64-139-1-69.sjc.megapath.net> wrote in message
news:WMKdnZGBOo69s6XXnZ2dnUVZ_r5i4p2d@megapath.net...
What I have found so far is a free (GPL'd) Gerber file viewer, no editor.

How much editing do you want to do?

Gerber files are just text. You can edit with a normal text editor.
As long as you have a good viewer you can see if your edits did what
you want.

--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.
Click to expand...
 
"Leon" <leon355@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:5fd970fa-feb9-41b1-b078-e9960f0de82e@k8g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...
The Pulsonix software I use has can import Gerber files and edit them,
but it isn't free.
Click to expand...
You have a rough idea as to the cost for the bare-bones PCB core? I didn't
see any prices on the web sites from a quick look..


--
Regards;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"The most reliable components are
the ones you leave out."

By Gordon Bell, father of the
minicomputer at DEC.
 
On Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:40:28 -0700 (PDT), JeffM <jeffm_@email.com>
wrote:

Tim Wescott
Reverse the "Express" and the "PCB" and you'll find a really nice
little company that will take Gerber files and make boards for you.
Eagle PCB is free for small two-layer boards, includes
schematic capture, and works well
once you get your brain wrapped around their way of doing things.

Leland C. Scott wrote:
I'm going to check them out. I do some small one-off PCB's
to test some ideas out. I would like to have the Gerber files
when I'm done in case I want to incorporate it in a larger design.

When someone gets hot to trot for the Cadsoft product,
I like to remind him that he may find the same situation:
*His* work product tied up in **their** proprietary format:

The Downside of EAGLE aka ''The EAGLE virus'' by Markus Zingg
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.arch.embedded/browse_frm/thread/f794e82d26b59e18/d7cf4149edb93ac7?q=*-*-website+reuse+paying.*+*-I-will-switch+cracked-*+*.would.not.help.*+zzz+after-*-*-version-*+copied+*.*.unlock.*.designs+*-*-*-*-exchange-*-*-*-*-third-party+reused+qq+*-*-single-bit-*-*-*-*+useless+*-*-*-projects-could-no-longer-be-opened
Click to expand...
Poxy hell mate. Have you never heard of tinyURL?
 
On Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:40:28 -0700, JeffM wrote:

Tim Wescott
Reverse the "Express" and the "PCB" and you'll find a really nice
little company that will take Gerber files and make boards for you.
Eagle PCB is free for small two-layer boards, includes schematic
capture, and works well
once you get your brain wrapped around their way of doing things.

Leland C. Scott wrote:
I'm going to check them out. I do some small one-off PCB's to test some
ideas out. I would like to have the Gerber files when I'm done in case I
want to incorporate it in a larger design.

When someone gets hot to trot for the Cadsoft product, I like to remind
him that he may find the same situation: *His* work product tied up in
**their** proprietary format:

The Downside of EAGLE aka ''The EAGLE virus'' by Markus Zingg
http://groups.google.com/group/comp.arch.embedded/browse_frm/thread/
f794e82d26b59e18/d7cf4149edb93ac7?q=*-*-website+reuse+paying.*+*-I-will-
Click to expand...
switch+cracked-*+*.would.not.help.*+zzz+after-*-*-version-*+copied
+*.*.unlock.*.designs+*-*-*-*-exchange-*-*-*-*-third-party+reused+qq+*-*-
single-bit-*-*-*-*+useless+*-*-*-projects-could-no-longer-be-opened

Ah, I forgot about that issue.

So, any _other_ PCB layout program that coughs up a Gerber. Or be
careful of what you copy into your schematics.

--
www.wescottdesign.com
 
In article <9ZmdneaPuo1w3aXXnZ2dnUVZ_rednZ2d@giganews.com>,
"Leland C. Scott" <kc8ldo@arrl.net> writes:
Hal;

May have to reroute a few traces that cross a significant length of the
board to fix some design errors. I haven't looked at the raw Gerber files to
see how easy doing the editing by hand word be to do.
Click to expand...
It's not the length that matters but the number of segments.

I didn't mean to suggest that it would be simple. It would take
a bit of trial and error to get going. You would probably have
to find some specs for the gerber file format.

I'd probably do the routing on paper and then transfer it to
the gerber file. The important point is that you can use the
viewer to show what you have so you know if you got it right.

--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.
 
Hal;

I'll suggest that to my buddy and see if he has any luck. I didn't consider
trying that method. The board he has is about 10 by 12 inches, double sided
with around 40 through hole chips on it with several dozen discrete
components sprinkled around them. That could get very interesting.

Thanks for the suggestion and this may be what he will have to do. The free
Gerber viewer I found will come in handy for checking the results as you
pointed out. I'm sure I can find the spec's for the Gerber file format on
line some place so that shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks;

Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO

"The most reliable components are
the ones you leave out."

By Gordon Bell, father of the
minicomputer at DEC.


"Hal Murray" <hal-usenet@ip-64-139-1-69.sjc.megapath.net> wrote in message
news:QpqdnU3sNZt7AqXXnZ2dnUVZ_jti4p2d@megapath.net...
In article <9ZmdneaPuo1w3aXXnZ2dnUVZ_rednZ2d@giganews.com>,
"Leland C. Scott" <kc8ldo@arrl.net> writes:
Hal;

May have to reroute a few traces that cross a significant length of the
board to fix some design errors. I haven't looked at the raw Gerber files
to
see how easy doing the editing by hand word be to do.

It's not the length that matters but the number of segments.

I didn't mean to suggest that it would be simple. It would take
a bit of trial and error to get going. You would probably have
to find some specs for the gerber file format.

I'd probably do the routing on paper and then transfer it to
the gerber file. The important point is that you can use the
viewer to show what you have so you know if you got it right.

--
These are my opinions, not necessarily my employer's. I hate spam.
Click to expand...
 
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