Gerber File

Gdsii Data Conversion from Any Format
Conversion to Gdsii from any format, guaranteed photomask ready. Fast turn times on translation and layout. We also supply low cost photomasks from quality vendors. Digidat, Inc. California.
www.digidat.com

Warning: mkdir() [function.mkdir]: Permission denied in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 12

Warning: mkdir() [function.mkdir]: No such file or directory in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 12

Warning: fopen(/home/templatecore2cache//*cluesnet.com/44/4461b96c538e4b3265bb81132260ef346236e4dc.tc2cache) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 130

Warning: fwrite(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 131

Warning: fclose(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /home/webs/affiliatelib2/CacheManager.php on line 132

A Gerber File is a standard file format used by printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication houses that contains information necessary for CNC machines to draw exact patterns for circuit boards. These patterns are typically used to assemble and electrically connect electronics assemblies. The patterns usually contain features such as land patterns, signal traces, drilled holes, milling and cutting information. The Gerber Format is originally a subset of G-code . Later the format was then extended by the so called "Mass Parameters" and was then also called RS-274-X.

History

On 1980-08-27 the first edition of the GERBER FORMAT, Plot Data Format Reference Book was published by Gerber Systems Corporation as a specification to drive the photoplotter of this company. At this time the photoplotter had a limited set of fixed apertures of different shapes (typically round and rectangular and a few others) in different sizes. An aperture could be exposed at a specific coordinate (flash) or the head was moved with open shutter from one coordinate to another to generate line or circular arc segments.
In 1986 the GERBER Format was extended to support apertures with variable sizes to produce rectangles of arbitrary sizes within a given range and tapered lines. This functionality is not in practical use any more.
On 1991-04-26 with the availability of raster-scan capability the GERBER Format was then again extended for polygon areas and Extended Mass Parameter, allowing to dynamically define apertures of different shape and sized and more.
The last edition of the GERBER FORMAT, Plot Data Format Reference Book was published on 1993-01-31 by Gerber Systems Corporation.
Later the Gerber Systems Corporation joined with Barco Graphics, Gent, Belgium, and on 1998-09-21 the RS-274X Format User’s Guide was published by the Barco Gerber Systems Corporation.
Again sometime later the rights on the specification turned over to ManiaBarco GmbH, Germany
On 2003-01-01 ManiaBarco GmbH, Germany was taken over by MANIA Technologie AG, Germany. Since then no "official" public documentation on the GERBER Format is any longer available.
Today, the Gerber Scientific Instruments Company, a pioneer in photoplotter manufacturing, and a former division of Gerber Scientific, Inc. is no longer in the business of photoplotter for printed circuit board

Around the year 1990 the GERBER Format was adopted by several other photoplotter vendors and also Computer-aided manufacturing tools for PCBs. It became a de-facto standard even if no official documentation is any longer available.

Usage of the GERBER Format These files are produced by PCB designers using specialized Electronic Design Automation (EDA) software, such as OrCAD, Altium Altium Designer (formerly Protel), Mentor Graphics Mentor Expedition, Cadence Design Systems Cadence Allegro, Eagle (program), TARGET 3001!, Zuken Cadstar or Zuken CR5000.

Since a PCB may have many layers, the older Gerber format Electronic Industries Alliance RS-274D always assumed a set of command files (one for each PCB layer) and one "tool" description file. The command files (consisting of short commands and X, Y coordinates) were called "Gerber files" and the tool files were called "aperture files". A standard for the latter was never established so every EDA software had its own file format which caused problems for the manufacturers. Often the aperture information had to be re-entered manually.

The newer Gerber format RS-274X, also known as X-Gerber or Extended Gerber, includes the aperture information into the file headers. With embedded apertures, this makes every X-Gerber file complete as to how each PCB layer should look. However, there are still problems with the interpretation of these files, such as on polygons, or the question of which file to use for which layer. Gerber file extensions are often .GBR, .GBX, .PHD, .SPL or .ART. Sometimes extensions such as .TOP and .BOT are used instead.

Some common XGerber extensions are:

.GBL - Gerber Bottom Layer
.GTL - Gerber Top Layer
.GBS - Gerber Bottom Solder Resist
.GTS - Gerber Top Solder Resist
.GBO - Gerber Bottom Overlay
.GTO - Gerber Top Overlay