Help on etching a Gen7 1.5

I would like to start etching the Gen7 Board, I followed the instructions in the Gen7 Wiki page but there are no especifics on how to actually export the layout as a png image and print it. I have read about the topic and it says that the image should be mirrored. Could someone help me on this?

Thanks

Edit: I just realice in the repository are the png and pdf exports for the board . Althoug it would be nice to know how they were exported.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2013 08:28PM by davidsan242.

Open geda PCB and click File > Export Layout..., then select PS. At this point I'd recommend deselecting auto-mirror, since it mirrors exactly the opposite of what you would need if you're doing toner transfer. Then just print out the pages you need and mirror as appropriate.

Quote

Althoug it would be nice to know how they were exported.

With

for F in "${PART}"*.pcb; do
  PS_DOC="${DOC_DIR}/${F%.pcb} ${RELEASE} Layout.ps"
  pcb -x ps --align-marks --outline --auto-mirror --media A4 \
    --psfade 0.6 --scale 1.0 --drill-copper --show-legend \
    --psfile "${PS_DOC}" "${F}" >/dev/null
  cd "${DOC_DIR}"
  ps2pdf "${PS_DOC}"
  rm -f "${PS_DOC}"
  cd "${BASE_DIR}"
done

---

Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

Rezer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Open geda PCB and click File > Export Layout...,
> then select PS. At this point I'd recommend
> deselecting auto-mirror, since it mirrors exactly
> the opposite of what you would need if you're
> doing toner transfer. Then just print out the
> pages you need and mirror as appropriate.

Thanks for your answer. I didn't understand the mirror part, I think it shouldn't be mirrored at all.

Traumflug Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Althoug it would be nice to know how they were
> exported.
>
> With
> for F in "${PART}"*.pcb; do
> PS_DOC="${DOC_DIR}/${F%.pcb} ${RELEASE}
> Layout.ps"
> pcb -x ps --align-marks --outline --auto-mirror
> --media A4 \
> --psfade 0.6 --scale 1.0 --drill-copper
> --show-legend \
> --psfile "${PS_DOC}" "${F}" >/dev/null
> cd "${DOC_DIR}"
> ps2pdf "${PS_DOC}"
> rm -f "${PS_DOC}"
> cd "${BASE_DIR}"
> done

Thanks for your answer. This script is very handy. However I would like to ask about the mirror part, I don't understand if the images should be mirrored or not, I want to make a real test and see how it goes.

Are you using toner transfer? Think about how the image prints out vs how it must be oriented on the board. For the bottom of the PCB, you can just lay the PCB on the paper with the toner side facing up and everything is oriented correctly. Now if you lay the top image on top of the board, you'll see that to orient it correctly the toner side will be facing up away from the board, so you have to flip the paper over...but now it's mirrored from the correct orientation. So you have to mirror the top image before printing to correct for that.

If you're doing it via photoresist, the mirroring is less important, if not completely unnecessary.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2013 08:29PM by Rezer.

Mirroring is right if you can read the "RepRap" characters on the etched board right.

---

Generation 7 Electronics	Teacup Firmware	RepRap DIY

So, the image has to be mirrored bottom up. I was doing left-right flipping. Then the pdf in the repository is facing the correct direction for doing toner transfer(?).

Thanks


PS: Yes, i'm doing toner transfer.

Thanks i'll give it a try and see if the RepRap mark reads ok. I'll post some photos.

Mirroring's not picky, mirror on a diagonal if you want

Ok, thanks.