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INTRODUCTION Bad Film - Again Today's PCB CAD systems are rapidly growing in power and sophistication. Unfortunately, that power often does not apply to the next step in the PCB fabrication process: photoplot data. Any PCB designer will happily relate horror stories involving expensive and time-consuming mistakes made at the photoplot service bureau due to misunderstandings involving the photoplot data. These misunderstandings occur for several reasons. For one, many CAD users don't really understand the photoplotting environment, so they can't really check the data before sending it out to be plotted. For another, the data is by its very nature incomplete and requires more information to be sent along with it (the "Aperture List"). This information can easily be lost or mistranscribed by the photoplot vendor. Further, the data itself is often in a nonstandard format, or even wrong - a surprising number of high-quality PCB CAD packages have photoplotter output troubles. GC-PREVUE addresses these problems by looking at your CAD output just like a photoplotter does, then allowing you to inspect it in a WYSIWYG fashion on your PC's graphics screen. As you use GC- PREVUE, you will come to better understand the photoplotting process and will be better able to avoid plotting problems, thereby saving time, money and hassles. If your job looks good on the GC-PREVUE screen, you're on the way to getting good film. GC-PREVUE can produce checkplots on PostScript and HPGL devices, which you can FAX to the photoplot vendor. GC-PREVUE can create a single file completely describing your job. This file can be read by the photoplot vendor with another copy of GC-PREVUE, or any other GraphiCode software including GC-PREDITOR, GC-CAM and OEM versions of GC-CAM. This document explains how to use GC-PREVUE, and assumes that you know a little about Gerber photoplotter data. If you need information on basic photoplotting principles, please read the GERBER.DOC file before beginning. PREVUE Tutorial This tutorial will provide the necessary procedures to generate sample data for a board house. It is assumed that you have never used GC-PREVUE before. The following steps will help you learn many functions of GC-PREVUE as well as provide a process that will insure data integrity. For this tutorial, demonstration files will be used. They include: DEMODAT1.GBR and DEMODAT2.GBR which are CAD generated GERBER files; DEMODAT3.NC which is a NC drill file; the aperture list DEMO.APR; and the drill rack DEMO.RCK. Note: If you are running the automated tutorial demonstration, TUTORIAL.BAT, you need only follow along with the documentation and strike the <SPACE BAR> key when prompted by the program. Do not attempt to input values from the tutorial or other keystrokes, as it will create a confusing demonstration for you. Note: All keystrokes will be indicated with the words "Type" or "Press". "Type" indicates the following text in quotes must be entered (but don't actually type the quotation marks). "Press" indicates that a key or combination of keys needs to be pressed. Starting GC-PREVUE Once you have installed GC-PREVUE by running the MAKEPVU program: Type: "GCPREVUE". Press: Enter. The main GC-PREVUE screen will appear, with the cursor located in the Main Menu at "Layers". From top to bottom, notice: the Main Menu, the Help line, Layer list area, Aperture Lists area, and Configuration File area, which shows the current Drill Rack, Bed size and graphics card type. These areas define the complete working environment, including CAD data files, apertures, drills, and system parameters. In the Main Menu you will see the: Configuration, Layers, Apertures, and Drills fields. These are used to move the cursor to modify the areas mentioned above. Getting Started For the purposes of this tutorial, we need to load a special configuration file. Press: "C" to select Configure on the main menu. Press: "L" to Load a configuration. Type: "TUTORIAL" to specify our tutorial configuration. Press: Enter to load. Loading CAD Gerber Files Loading CAD files is performed in the layer list. To move the cursor into the Layer List: Press: L, or select Layers in the Main menu with the mouse (ClickLeft on "Layers"). The cursor will jump into the layer list, under the filename column. This field is where CAD data filenames will be entered for loading. Also, notice that the Layer List contains many different colored rows called "layers". GC-PREVUE keeps each loaded file on a separate a layer, and lets you tag each layer with one of 12 colors. To load the demo CAD files: Press: F10 to invoke the directory feature. The directory feature lists a directory of specified files. Type: "*.gbr" in the directory window. Press: Enter. A list of .GBR files will appear. Move: the cursor to DEMODAT1.GBR. Press: Spacebar to select the file. Move: the cursor to DEMODAT2.GBR. Press: Spacebar to select this file also. Press: Enter. Notice that the names of the files you selected are now on layers 1 and 2. Now that the filenames have been selected, we must load them. Press: CTRL M (or Click the middle mouse button) to bring up the Layer list menu. Functions may be selected from the menu by the mouse or by using single-key equivalents. Single key equivalents are designated in yellow next to the function name in the menu. Quick-keys will be used in this tutorial to invoke functions. Keep in mind that anytime you are not sure which features are available, Press CTRL-M. You can also pop up a menu using the mouse, using ClickCenter (or ClickBoth for two-button mice). Press: F1. This will start the loading procedure. A window will appear that asks for the data type. Press: "G" to select Gerber. The next window that appears contains fields which determine the CAD data format. In the Layers field: Type: "all". This will load all both our data files. Press: down arrow twice to move to the Plotter field. The Plotter field provides for easy save and restore of the various format settings specified in the remaining fields of this window. Since these fields (precision, zero suppression etc) don't change very often, you can save their settings to a file using the .PDF filename extension. Type: "GERBER.PDF". Press: down arrow. Notice how some of the below fields have changed to take on the parameters previously saved in GERBER.PDF. If the PDF doesn't have the correct settings, you can edit the fields to appropriate values. For this demonstration, all values in GERBER.PDF have been set properly. Press: Enter. Before DEMODAT1.GBR and DEMODAT2.GBR are loaded, GC-PREVUE will issue an error message saying that "Aperture list A is not loaded" and will prompt "Do you want to generate it from the input data? Press: Enter or "Y" to indicate "yes". GC-PREVUE will build an uninitialized aperture list which corresponds to the CAD Gerber data. As the aperture list is being created, a red scroll window will appear, indicating D codes that are missing from the aperture list. Do not be alarmed about these messages, this data is informational in this case, and does not mean that there is a problem. Once the loading is complete, a message will appear stating: "> Press any key to continue <". Press: Spacebar or any key on keyboard. Notice the Aperture List area. You now have an UNTITLED aperture list loaded in position A. Editing the aperture list. Both DEMODAT1.GBR and DEMODAT2.GBR layers are loaded, but the data will not have any size or shape to it, because the aperture list needs to be initialized. Press: left arrow key to move onto the "Aps" column of the layer list. Press: F10 to pop up and edit the aperture list. The aperture list will appear with multiple fields that are uninitialized. The cursor is located under the Code column. To illustrate how editing can be accomplished: Move: the cursor to the "Drl" column. The "Drl" column provides referencing of apertures to Drills. The number specified indicates the drill position on the tool rack. (The tool rack will be discussed in later sections). Type: "1". Now this aperture will use tool 1 as its drill. Move: the cursor to the R90 column. The R90 column specifies which aperture will be used to replace this aperture when it is rotated 90 degrees. Therefore, if you have a .1 X .05 rectangle, and you wish to rotate the data, you would define a .05 X .1 rectangle and use its position as the R90 value. Type: "2". Now, aperture 1 will be replaced with aperture 2 when rotated 90 degrees. Move to the Code column. This column indicates the Gerber D code associated with this aperture. You do not want to change this column. Move: to the Type column. Notice the yellow window below the aperture list window. You will see a list of aperture shapes supported by GC-PREVUE. Press: SHIFT F5. Notice how the Type has changed to Rectangle, and that the dimensions column has two parameters. Move: to the first dimension. Type: "0.1". Move: to the second dimension. Type: "0.05". You have just setup the first aperture to be a .1 inch by .05 inch rectangle. The rest of the aperture list can be defined in the same manner. For this demo, you are not required to initialize the entire list, because one has been setup for you. To load the provided aperture list: Press: Esc to get out of the aperture list editor. Press: Esc again to return to the Main Menu. Press: "A" to go to the Aperture list setup area. To save the work you've done on this untitled aperture list: Press: F4 to write to disk. Type: "DEMOTEST.APR" to indicate the aperture list filename. Press: Enter. The provided aperture list is called DEMO.APR. To load DEMO.APR: Press: Ctrl F1 to unload DEMOTEST.APR. Type: "DEMO.APR" Press: F1. The aperture list DEMO.APR is now loaded. To inspect the aperture list without editing: Press: F3. You will see the aperture list appear with all fields set to the correct values. Once, you are done inspecting the aperture list: Press: Esc to get out of the aperture list viewer. Press: Esc to go back to the Main Menu. Loading CAD Drill files Loading Drill files is very similar to loading Gerber files. The basic difference is the data type you are loading. From the main menu: Type: "L" or select Layers to move into the layer list. Press: the down and right arrows to move to the filename column on layer 3. Type: "DEMODAT3.NC" Before loading the drill data, the layer must be declared as using the tool rack instead of an aperture list. Press: the left arrow to move to the Aps column. Type: "T". Now, the layer is associated with the tool rack. Press: F1. This will start the loading procedure. A window will appear that asks for the data type. Press: "D" to select Drill. The next window that appears contains fields which determine the Drill data format. In the layers field: Type: "3". This will load only layer 3. Press: down arrow twice to move to the Plotter field. Type: "NCDRILL.PDF". Press: the down arrow. Notice how some of the below fields have changed to take on the parameters of NCDRILL.PDF. If the PDF doesn't have the correct settings, you can edit the fields to appropriate values. In this case all the values are correct. Press: Enter. Before DEMODAT3.NC is loaded, GC-PREVUE will issue an error message saying that "No drill Rack loaded" and will prompt "Do you want to generate it from the input data? Press: Enter or "Y" to indicate "yes". GC-PREVUE will now build an uninitialized tool rack which corresponds to the drill data. As the drill rack is being created, a red scroll window will appear, indicating T codes that are missing from the Tool Rack. Again, do not be concerned about these messages, this data is informational in this case, and does not mean that there is a problem. When loading is complete, a message will appear stating "> Press any key to continue <". Press: Spacebar or any key on keyboard. Notice the Drill Rack entry at the bottom of the screen. You now have an UNTITLED tool rack loaded. DEMODAT3.NC is loaded, but the drill data doesn't have a set size to it until the Drill rack is initialized. Editing the Drill Rack The Drill rack is a list which defines tools used by the drill data. With each tool is associated a diameter. To edit the drill rack, you could move the cursor to the Aps column again and press F10, but instead we will: Press: Esc to move back to the Main Menu. Type: "D" or select Drills. The cursor will jump into the Drill Rack menu. Type: "E" to edit the Drill rack. The Drill rack will appear with multiple fields that are uninitialized. The cursor is located under the diameter column. To illustrate how editing can be accomplished: Type: "0.05" which defines a 50 mil tool. Press: down arrow to move to the next tool position. For this demo, you are not required to initialize the entire drill rack since one has been set up for you. When you feel you understand how to edit the drill rack, save the work you've done by: Press: Esc to move back to the drill menu. Type: "S" to select Save. The save drill rack window will appear, prompting for the drill rack filename. Type: "DEMOTEST.RCK". Press: Enter. The provided aperture list is called DEMO.APR. To load DEMO.APR: Type: "L" to select the Load function. Type: "DEMO" Press: Enter. DEMO.RCK will now be loaded. The loaded tool rack will appear with its values initialized. Once, you are done inspecting the drills: Press: Esc twice to go back to the Main Menu. Verifying That the Data is Correct Now that all the CAD data is loaded, the data must be verified. This can be done by using GC-PREVUE's graphical editor, where the data can be viewed as true WYSIWYG. The Report and CheckPlot features in the Layer list add further checks. Type: "L" to select Layers in the Main Menu. The Report Function Report tells the extents of the layer, the aperture list used, how many of each aperture are used as pads or traces, and the total number of pads and traces. To invoke Report: Press: F3. The report window will appear. The report will be the first indicator whether your data is correct. Compare the Report information with that from the CAD package. If the dimensions are wrong, check the precision and zero suppression used when loading the data. If they seem correct, you may need to output the CAD data again. If the number of pads and traces do not match up, output the CAD data again. If the report data matches the CAD data specifications, then the data is ready to be viewed for checking. The Graphical Editor The graphical editor is accessed through the layer list. To move into the graphical editor: Press: F2 Notice that the screen is now in graphics mode, and the data you have loaded is drawn on the screen. The next move is to window a small area and zoom up on it so that it can be seen with much greater detail. To window data: The graphical editor contains several distinct areas: the main viewer window (the big part); the coordinate system window (the upper right part); the setup status window (the lower right part); and the ever-present Help line (the top part). Pressing Ctrl-M or clicking the center mouse button pops up a menu from which functions can be selected. The viewing window represents data in true WYSIWYG form. The coordinate system window displays three different coordinates: User, Absolute, and Relative, plus it displays the step grid and snap grid values. The setup status window indicates each layer's aperture list and view/hide mode. Just looking at your data is an excellent quality control step. Humans are exceptional at recognizing details of shapes and patterns. Subtle data errors can be found by scanning the data. To zoom in on a section of data: Move: the cursor to the lower left hand corner of the data, either with the mouse or the arrow keys. If you have a mouse: Drag (press and hold down) the left button on the mouse, move the cursor to the other corner of the zoom area, then let up on the mouse. Now Click the left key to execute the zoom in feature. If you don't have a mouse: Press: Ctrl W. Move: the cursor to the opposite corner of the zoom area. Press: Ctrl W again. Type : "+" to zoom up on the data. What you may have already noticed is that the drill data is obscured. This is due to the fact that data is drawn from the bottom layer up, and the drill layer is below the Gerber layers. Thus the drills are over-written by the pads. This can be remedied however, by moving the drill layer to the top. Type: "S" to move the cursor into the Setup Status window. Move: the cursor to layer 3. Press: F8. Notice that the old layer 3 is now layer 1. Press: Esc to move back to the viewing window. The drill data should appear, with the pad data below. Sometimes the data can become hard to view when several layers are drawn. GC-PREVUE will allow individual layers to be hidden. Press: "S" to move into the Setup Status window. Move: the cursor to layer 3, where the "V" resides. Press: Spacebar to toggle the "V" (view) to "h" (hide). Press: Esc to move back to the viewing screen. Now, you can scan through the data to look for possible errors. To scan through the rest of the data, the panning feature can be used. Pan shifts the viewer window from the start point of pan to the end point of pan. If you have a mouse: Move the cursor to the top of the screen. Drag (press down and hold) on the center button while you move the cursor to the bottom of the screen. Release the button. (For two-button mice, drag on both buttons at once.) If you don't have a mouse: Move: the cursor to the top of the screen. Press: "P". Move: the cursor to the bottom of the screen. Press: "P". What you see on screen is new data. Continue to use the Pan feature until all the data is viewed. When all of layer 2 is verified, hide layer 2, set layer 3 to View, and pan through its data. As you scan though the data, look for problems such as unterminated traces, insufficient gaps between entities, mis- registered layers, and annular ring errors. If data seems to be incorrect, check the following: The data may have been loaded improperly. The CAD package output the data incorrectly, or the design is wrong. To verify if the data is loaded improperly, ask yourself: Is data absolute or incremental? Was the whole digits or precision set improperly?; Was the zero suppression leading, trailing or none? Did I specify the wrong data type? If you are sure you have specified the correct format, the data from the CAD package could possibly be the culprit. Output the CAD data again, and reload. If the data is still wrong, then you probably have a design flaw. Using Checkplot CheckPlot will allow you to create a Postscript or HPGL file of your data. You can then send the files to a postscript printer or penplotter to get a hard copy of the design. From the copy, design flaws may be determined. To use Checkplot: Press: ESC twice to go back to the Layer list. Move: the cursor to layer 2, which is the top Gerber layer. Press: F4 to invoke Checkplot. The Checkplot window will appear with option fields that allow you to modify the output. Type: "DEMOTEST.PLT" in the Output file field. This will be the file saved to disk. If you have a postscript printer you could type "PRN" to plot directly to the printer. If the printer you have is not a postscript printer, the file must be written to disk and Postscript interpreter software such as GoScript will need to be used to generate a bit-mapped copy of the postscript data. For demo purposes, let's write the file to disk. Move: to the Layers field. Type: "2". Move: to the Plotter field. Press: F10. GC-PREVUE will bring up a directory of supported output devices. Select: Postscript. You may wish to select one of the penplotters from this list instead, depending on your application. Move: to the Style field. Press: Spacebar. Notice how the options are toggled through. The options available to you are Normal, Transparent, and Ball and Stick. Normal means that the data will appear as you saw it in the Graphical Viewer. Transparent mode, creates an outline of the data. And Ball and Stick gives center line information of traces and outlines of pads. Press: Spacebar until "Normal" appears. The other available features are set to the correct values. To find out about these features, you can access the information from the manual. Press: ENTER. The data will output a Postscript file to disk. Creating a Job (PWK) File for the Photoplot Vendor When the data is verified to be correct, it is time to create a PWK file to send to the photoplot vendor. This file will contain all loaded CAD data, aperture lists, drill rack, and configuration information. You will no longer need to relay to the vendor the format of the data. To create the PWK file, from the layer list: Press: F6, which is the Save All function. A window will appear that asks for the filename to save to. Type: "DEMO" Press: ENTER. Notice that GC-PREVUE adds the default extension to the filename. Remember that the single file feature is most useful if your photoplot vendor has GraphiCode's GC-Preditor or GC-CAM (or OEM equivalent) packages. Otherwise, along with the PWK file you will need to send all the other files, including the aperture list, drill information, and data formats (your photoplot vendor can use his copy of GC-PREVUE to make sure the other files make sense). Either way, GC-PREVUE should go a long way to reducing the possibilities of errors. Loading and Viewing a Single PWK File To demonstrate the capability of single file loading, we need to first exit the GCPREVUE program. Press: ESC You are now back to the Main Menu bar. You will now want to "Exit" the program. Type: "E" The program will now go through a series of prompts. The first prompt will ask "Do you really want to quit GC-PREVUE?" Type: "Y" The next prompt will ask "The system configuration has changed. Do you want to save it?:" Type: "N" to avoid overwriting the TUTORIAL configuration file. We are now back at the DOS level. Again, start the program. Type: "GCPREVUE" Press: ENTER We are now back into the GC-PREVUE program. To reload the work you just saved, complete the following sequence of keystrokes. Type: "L" We have now entered the Layers List Press: F7 This keystroke will bring up a window stating: "Read saved work from file:" Type: "DEMO" Press: ENTER You will now see DEMODAT3.NC, DEMODAT1.GBR, and DEMODAT2.GBR in the Layer list, and the files will be loaded. Additionally, DEMO.APR and DEMO.RCK will now be load in the Aperture List area and the Drill Rack. We will now enter the Graphical Viewer to inspect the data. Press: F2 You can now see all three data files displayed, in the same viewing order in which we saved them with the F6 command earlier. Imagine that you are the photoplotter operator receiving the data - you know EXACTLY what the designer had in mind! In this tutorial we covered the basics of plot data loading, aperture list & drill rack creation and editing, as well as graphical viewing and zooming. GC-PREVUE has many functions and capabilities not covered in this tutorial. We encourage you to read the manual, and try loading your own data and become more comfortable with GC-PREVUE. Remember that GC-PREVUE is shareware, so we encourage you to share it with your friends and colleagues in MAKEPVU.EXE form.