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Old June 15th 09, 11:18 PM posted to rec.radio.amateur.homebrew,sci.electronics.cad
K7ITM K7ITM is offline
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First recorded activity by RadioBanter: Jul 2006
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Default ExpressPCB to Gerber file converter?

On Jun 13, 12:36*pm, "Leland C. Scott" wrote:
"Harold E. Johnson" wrote in messagenews:INSYl.740928$yE1.253509@attbi_s21...



"Leland C. Scott" wrote in message
m...
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


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